2 Days in Cornwall

Today I want to share my travel itinerary for 2 days in Cornwall, England with you. This part of the UK is packed with beaches and natural beauty, and there are plenty of things to do indoors, too.

I didn’t think I would ever travel to Cornwall in the winter. My last visit took place in the warmth of summer, and my inner sun worshiper figured if I ever returned, it would be at a similar time of year.

But I was only thinking in terms of outdoor pursuits. It never occurred to me that there could be just as much to do indoors in Cornwall.

I was recently invited on a press trip to spend 2 days in Cornwall at the Bedruthan Hotel in Mawgan Porth near Newquay.

I was going to participate in some indoor activities, and I was excited to see what the experience had in store.

Day 1 in Cornwall

I met my fellow participants in London and we flew to Newquay. When we arrived we were met by a taxi that drove us the short five minutes to the Bedruthan Hotel, which was just above the beach.

After checking into our rooms, which had beautiful views over the water, we met in the bar for a late lunch. Outside the sky was impossibly blue. Had it not been January, I would’ve been tempted to go for a dip in the sea.

As a welcome gift, we were offered massages and facials in the Bedruthan Hotel spa.

My therapist met me in the waiting area and asked me what I would like to get out of the treatment, which was an hour-and-25-minute massage-and facial-combination called the Maharlika Ritual.

She must have taken me seriously when I told her “relaxation”, because I was so relaxed by the end that I almost fell asleep.

After the treatment I floated back to my room in a zen-like state. An hour later I met the rest of the group at the bar for a pre-dinner drink before our meal at one of the Bedruthan Hotel’s restaurants.

Next to the bar was a cozy sitting room with a fire burning in the fireplace, and we decided to have our drinks there. By the time we finished them, we were so comfortable the staff let us have our dinner fireside as well.

Day 2 in Cornwall

The next morning our 2 days in Cornwall continued with a bread making class with Tom Hazzledine, the power behind the local chain of Baker Tom’s shops and cafes.

Having never baked bread before, I was a bit nervous. My legendary lack of culinary prowess had me feeling particularly intimidated when several of the others in my eight-person class mentioned they had prior baking experience.

I didn’t have to worry, though. Tom was a great teacher, and he had us mixing, kneading, and getting creative with our extra ingredients right away.

Starting with basic breads like whole meal and Irish soda bread, we learned various bread-making techniques. He also taught us how to divide up the dough to make everything from olive rolls to braided baguettes.

In the middle of the day we took a break to have lunch. The highlight was getting to eat our fresh-from-the-oven Irish soda bread, which was piping hot and delicious with lots of butter.

The rest of the food was also great, and as usual, I ate more than I needed to.

But it was a good thing I did, because the rest of the day required a lot of energy. We made more loaves of bread than I could count, some filled with olives and sun-dried tomatoes, others sprinkled with flour or dusted with seeds.

There was gooey focaccia dough that looked good enough to eat in its raw form as we covered it with rosemary and doused it with olive oil, and sturdy ciabatta rolls that were perfect for sandwiches.

At the end we had just enough time to make bagels. We took turns boiling our circles of dough as the rest of our bread baked in the ovens.

Unfortunately the ovens were a bit finicky, and my focaccia ended up slightly burned. The rest of my bread was fine, though, and I walked back to my room with a huge white box in each arm.

After we cleaned all the dough off our hands, we continued our 2 days in Cornwall by hopping in a taxi and going a short distance to our dinner venue for the evening.

The interior of the restaurant was decorated in cool grays and bright pinks, and large teardrop lamps hung from the ceiling.

The open kitchen on one side gave us a view of the chefs, and the expansive windows on the other had views out over the water.

Dinner in Cornwall was excellent, and I was really impressed with the quality of the food. The menu was a tasting menu with two or more options for each course, and we sampled everything from scallops to risotto.