Falmouth, U.K.

We had no expectations for Falmouth, outside of the historical significance of sailors who have adventured through these waters for hundreds of years.  Well, as it turns out, it is every bit as awesome as it was centuries ago.

We started exploring by just walking up and down the streets, talking to locals and reading guide books.  The first pub we ventured into, 5 Degrees West, we thought we might be able to sit on the patio with Kala, as in Ireland, but it was rainy and we weren't sure we were in the mood to duck under the umbrella when it started to pour but we soon learned that not only was Kala welcome on the patio, but she could come inside (o'carse ye can) but they had a bag of treats ready for her too.  High points for Falmouth!!  It turns out Falmouth is cool for people and also very extremely doggie friendly, which makes the people's lives easier.

Now that we were on the mainland, we also needed to get a few things in order.  Our US phones were older (iPhone 5s) and we were not in the mood to upgrade a US number and have to pay international rates for the next year, so we just cancelled our US plans.  We replaced the iPhones with a circa 1990 Nokia flip phone with a UK sim card and saved money each month.  Anything that needed to be done smart phone-ish, we could do with our iPads and a wifi connection - now that we were near land, we should be able to get wifi fairly easily.

It was also time to learn how to food shop in England.  Every country has a different layout to their grocery stores and there are items in one place that you can't get in another, so we toured around understanding what is and isn't available in the UK.  We also learned that Cornwall (Falmouth's county) is proud, like Texas kind-of proud, of everything Cornish.  So we enjoyed the vibes and looked forward to sinking more into the culture.

Nice morning walk for Kala overlooking Falmouth

Doggie's are allowed - inside!

Furry Friends Welcome!!

It's really all we need to make voice calls

Main Street in Falmouth

Everything Cornish...very Cornwall proud

This is just a really cool building that was converted into flats (apartments) with great views of the harbour

This is the dinghy dock with the bridge to the marina - this is low tide.....you can use the dinghy heights (about 1.5 ft off the water or the building on the top left for perspective).  The tide is usually about 4-5 meters

This is high tide - compare to pic above to see the tidal height differences

Dry dock in Falmouth.  You can see at the stern of the boat the boat is on hard ground.  It looked like they were doing repairs on the thrusters but you can't see that in this picture.

Some days it is cold and rainy.  The frost collected on Kala's whiskers but she was still smiling and happy to go for a run.

A sunny day on a morning walk

I thought this was pretty neat and something good for the US to adopt.  Charities open up stores (similar to Goodwill) and resell donations in order to raise money.  They are all over the place and include all kinds of different charities.