London one-way!

It’s another three hours on the train until I get to London. I’ve finished my week in Prussia Cove with a grand finale at the Maestri concert.

I’ve only ever seen the students play, but this time around I was fortunate to hear – and see a bit of – the Maestri. Steven was, of course, the star of the show, which was all based around Mendelssohn’s works. In the program, he also claims to be a distant relative of the famous composer. It wasn’t just Felix Mendelssohn’s work we listened to, but a composition of his sister Fanny as well.

Fanny composed quite a few works under her brother’s name, which would never have gained as much attention in those times with the way women were seen. I enjoyed Fanny’s piece, as well as the Piano Trio in C minor, Op.66 with Katherine Gowers playing the violin, Steven Isserlis on the cello and Dénes Várjon on the piano. You know, I have absolutely no idea what that means, but it sounded bloody good. I couldn’t see the others but I really enjoyed watching Kathy play.

We’re rolling along the coast, already past Plymouth, and there are about 12 ocean liners sitting out on the horizon. The tracks are literally right next to the ocean.

Last night’s concert was held in St John’s Church in Truro, which is a 40 minute bus ride, but we break up the concert with an interval at the pub, where they do a roaring trade for twenty minutes then go back to being the sleepy little town pub it was before, with slightly frazzled staff.

I have literally been swimming all week. Richard, the lunch chef, does a half hour midday yoga class on the flat area by the garden beach and then we all go for a dip. I’ve refused to swim anywhere but Greendolls because it’s the best safe place for jumping into the water – if I was going to walk in inch-by-inch I don’t think I would have made it. The first time I jumped in I had shooting pains of cold throughout my body that felt like being electrified or something similar. It got easier after that.

I was going in up to three times a day. It’s been a very active week. If I haven’t been swimming, I’ve been hiking – Jo and I did the breakfast shift, swam, and set off at 1pm, hiking along the coastline to Marazion and back again. It was a four-hour round trip. Then another day Miles drove John, Sophie, and myself to St Michael’s Mount, which we can walk to when the tide is low, but is covered like an island when it’s high tide. We watched a film about the history of the Mount, and then had cream teas in a little cafe. When it was time to go, John dropped me and Miles off at the coast path from Marazion and we hiked back to Prussia Cove. I also jogged from PC to Praa Sands and back in forty minutes, which some people take an hour just to walk there. Sascha, Caedie, Imy and I also walked there one day, it was our first really nice sunny day that we had. We sat outside at the pub and had a drink and a few laughs before walking back.

Tags: Travel

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