[Mar. 2024] The reason why we chose Torquay, a town in southwest England, as our last domestic trip in the UK is because there was someone we wanted to meet.
My husband meets her every day through a screen because of his work, but this was the second time we’ve actually met her.
She and her husband are locals who were born and raised in Torquay.
At the seaside restaurant she took us to on the first day, she said, “I used to swim from this beach to that pier.”
The restaurant is The Cary Arms, located in an area called Babbacombe, away from the centre of town.
Torquay is a town made up of separate villages that came together, and Babbacombe is one of them.
It’s by the sea, so we had seafood.
We chatted so much that it’s a shame that I didn’t take many photos, but I had scallops as a starter and scampi as the main course.
My husband’s starter was a slightly unusual dish of smoked salmon and eggs, which he said was delicious.
As for the main course, he had fish and chips, as usual.
It is not likely that we would be able to have fish and chips once we moved away from England.
I was told that the view of the sea from here was also a treat, but it was already dark and we couldn’t see anything, which was a shame.
We stayed in Torquay at a hotel called Hampton, which is close to the centre of town.
It was a newer hotel with a similar atmosphere to the hotel we stayed in in Glasgow about six months before.
Torquay is currently undergoing a building boom.
In addition to new hotels being built one after another, redevelopment of the town centre is also progressing, and we had to make a long detour to get to the hotel, which was only a short distance from the station.
The next morning, we walked around the port for a while.
I took a lot of photos, but unfortunately, it was a grey day that looked like it was about to start raining at any moment, so all I got were photos of the dull seascape.
The rows of yacht masts seem to represent a wealthy resort, but the land side gave a shabby impression.
Our friends warned us not to go to the town centre itself because there are a lot of drunks and homeless people, but we walked around a little.
Indeed, the streets that may have once been lively were now deserted.
The buildings themselves were not bad, but the shops were too cheap and not pretty.
They said that drug problems are rampant in coastal towns in the UK, and we passed two people who seemed to be involved.
However, the image may change once the redevelopment currently underway is completed.
By the way, Torquay was the setting for the comedy “Fawlty Towers“, which is well known in the UK.
Apparently, the hotel that was modelled after was actually existed.
