St Michael's Mount

Bill prepared us the most delicious English breakfast. Terri had already gone to Art College to finish getting her end of year show ready for the opening in the evening. We arranged to go to the college later in the day to see her work and view the work of other art students too.
Our main objective today was to visit St Michael's Mount which has been on my list of places to see since I was at Primary School. We set of for the village of Marazion which is just along the Cornish coast from Penzance.
As the tide was in when we arrived, we joined with some other folk and went in a small boat. As we set off, the boatman asked if we'd like to see some dolphins - so he took a detour out in the bay and we followed the dolphins quite closely. There seemed to be about 10 or 12 altogether.
It was a beautiful morning and the sea was sparkling. We left the dolphins and headed for the Mount where we disembarked quite close to the spot where Victoria and Albert had also disembarked many years before.
As we approached the castle, we walked up the Pilgrim Steps near the old dairy, past the Giant's well. The oldest surviving buildings date from the 12th century when a Benedictine priory was founded here. After the Civil War, the land was acquired by the St Aubyn family who still live in part of the castle.
There is also a church which has beautiful stained glass windows. The views from the top of the castle down onto the gardens and the rocky shore are spectacular. We explored all of the rooms and spaces before descending to the restaurant for a coffee and a snack. We then set off to explore the gardens. We entered the garden through a gate and followed a grassy pathway near the water where there were plantings of New Zealand flax. We explored the east terraces, the walled gardens and part of the west terraces.
The bees were very active and the flowers were superb ... so we took many photos of the flowers as well as views of the castle and church from below.
We returned to the main entrance. By this time, the tide was out, so we were able to return to Marazion along the stone causeway.