Plymouth & Ivybridge: Historical Town & The English Seaside

Plymouth: History & Sky Ride

Last weekend Kiara and I spent a beautiful few days visiting Cherry and Jonny at their home in Ivybridge, a town near Plymouth (on the west coast of England). What a beautiful part of the country!  We took the train down and the landscape literally changed in a minute --from deep forest to a beautiful, red, sandy sea!  We spent Friday evening on the moors. (It rained, but it was incredibly beautiful; the pics are in the slideshow at the bottom of this post). Now, these are not the Wuthering Heights moors, but a completely different type! I plan to see the Yorkshire moors before I leave the UK in the Autumn (*gasp*, I know, but more adventures lie ahead...)

Kiara Ready for her Road Trip!

Dawlish/Teignmouth - Where the forest turns into the sea!

By Saturday morning, Kiara and Daisy the Westie were best buds (up to mischievous behaviour while we were out, of course). They even posed for a photoshoot!  

Kiara and Daisy - Posing for the Camera!

Then, Cherry, Jonny and I went on the Plymouth Sky Ride , an annual cycling event that just happened to be this weekend. Basically, the city closes down the roads to cars for a few hours so cyclists can cycle the 6 mile circuit alongside the ocean. Cherry and Jonny just happen to do triathalons, so they had an extra bike and helmet for me to borrow. So beautiful!

I had a chance to spend the afternoon and have lunch with Tina, who is in Plymouth doing her PhD. So lovely to see you, Tina! Thank you  for treating me to lunch at the Original Pasty House Company where we enjoyed delicious paninis and salads! 

 Tina and I walked to the university campus and then down to the water-  the site where the first explorers set off to discover America!  

Jacket Potatoes at Cherry's Mum's place & A War Bunker

We had a lovely dinner on Saturday night with Cherry's family. I have never had jacket potatoes made in the oven before! SO much better than the microwave. Wow! It was a summer salad and stuffed jacket potato spread. 

You're not going to believe this.  Cherry's family's house was the site of the neighbourhood war bunker in World War II. Unfortunately, as a sea port, Plymouth was heavily bombed during the war. The bunker is used for storage now, but here it is:

WWII War Bunker at Cherry's family home

Slapton Sands & Cream Tea

On Bank Holiday Monday, we had a lovely day --the weather was gorgeous! So, Cherry took Kiara, Daisy and I on a road trip through many beautiful towns (such as Dartmoor, and a few other tiny places). The River Dart is a beautiful, deep, ocean blue and the town has the Royal Naval College, which adds to the atmosphere. 

We decided to meet up with Cherry's family again and enjoy a picnic on the beach at a place called Slapton Sands. There is a monument there to the intercepted D-Day training exercise, in which more people lost their lives than D-Day itself. A historical and beautiful place to be.

Kiara even took her first steps into the ocean!  

Mmmm....salty ocean water! 

We also stopped at a small,picturesque town called Totnes so I could have Devonshire cream tea. Yes, the cream tea tastes better on this side of the country!

Check out the slideshow below for the best summary I can provide of this amazing weekend!