London's Calling

So the time has come to hit the big town. leaving the car in storage with Andy & Lisa, we get dropped off at the railway station in Bracknell, on we hop and away we head to Clapham junction and a change to Victoria station. well that was a bit of a culture shock. the people and noise of the station was a little overpowering to the senses, leaving Victoria station we used the GPS to help us find our accommodation. As per usual she takes us on the long way round.

    As we were early we dumped our bags and headed to Westminster Abbey ( strictly no photo's) never mind. So much to take in it was an eye opener into history, well worth using the audio device to get the facts on different parts. Big Ben has been turned off for 4 years to undergo restoration work ( 60 Million pounds worth) so got to take photo's of my favorite thing Scaffolding. The evenings event was Phantom of the Opera so we booked a Taxi for the trip, our driver was a lovely man originally from Ethiopia who gave us a guided tour on the way to Her Majesty's Theatre. we booked him to collect us as well. Jacqui really enjoyed the show, I found it a bit heavy at times but you can't take away the fact they were talented performers. The reality of London kicked in at 5am with international flights starting to land. Today we are off to Greenwich village. A return to the Cutty Sark, last time I saw it I was 10. 

 it is now suspended in a drydock with a cafe underneath which is kind of cool, I have to say it was more exciting as a 10 year old, but its history is well worth a look. we followed this up with a long walk upto the Royal Observatory. Jacqui's standing where time starts

we take it for granted what we have in our lives, so going through places like this really brings it home that these were very clever forward thinking revolutionary people. people spent a lifetime figuring things out so that we have it very easy.
walking back towards the underground we found Greenwich Market but with our bags already bursting it was a look only, some amazing stuff for sale with loads of bric a brac, our next port of call was Ripleys Believe it or Not, unfortunately it's been shut down and is due to reopen at a new venue later in the year, Bugger. so in its place we went on a Tuk Tuk ride to the London Eye, yippee I love heights. 

to be fair it was well worth the ride with some amazing views.

back to hotel and we collapse with sore feet. 

Friday and its off to the Natural history museum and back to Bracknell

A bit of tube music to get us through the day. Shopping and Football to come tomorrow, bring it on

Churt Sculpture Park

Times moving fast as we head into the last part of our holiday. Anyway Churt Sculpture park. Have you ever heard of it ? well we did as we dug it out of the internet. 

A 2 hour walk through woods with over 800 sculptures on show, what an amazing place.

You get given a ref book telling you who made it, what its made of and the value, yep they are pretty much all for sale. if you get the time check it out its well worth it. 

Fascinating and Intriguing look through the eyes of an Artist. Some are just plain weird, some are hard to figure out which I suppose what art is about, stretching your thinking. We sort of figured we are more realism when it comes to sculpture.

Castles to Creatures

Well time is starting to fly by and the program is also starting to tell a little bit, cramming in as much as we can and today is no different. 1st off we head to Bodiam to see the castle. 

And WOW what a Castle, just like we would imagine a Castle with a full moat. the insides made be a little ruinous but the magic is still there. It was a delight to walk around and through, once again our timing was pretty good because just as we were finishing a school day out arrived and the carpark was filling up fast. If you get the chance check it out. 2nd on today list of things to do was Birling Gap, I have always wanted to get up close to the white cliffs and we are close enough to visit.

Spent a bit of time enjoying the view from up top and on the beach. 

3rd on the list and high on Jacqui's list was Drusilla's and a possible encounter with a large spider or snake. most would have seen the photo's on jacqui's facebook page of the experience. Jacqui certainly got more than we expected due to the fact it was very quiet, with a guided tour of the backrooms and the knowledgeable James giving a running factual and fun facts. Drusilla's is a wonderful zoo and although most would see it as a place for the young we found it very relevant, informative, educational and a fun place to walk around.

Ice cream on the Brighton Pier

Well to finish off yesterday we got back to our hotel stripped for Bed and Bang the fire alarm goes off, all the fire automatically close and were are thinking, O! 4 floors of stairs to get down. so throwing some cloths on away we toddle. No Panic its a false alarm. We found out later someone had overdone the cologne to close to a sensor. Nice to know the systems work, Strange thing is of the entire number of quests only 3 rooms bothered to come down. 
Anyway back to today's ramblings. Up early and out by 9 am. Our destination a village named Alfriston, to get there the plan was to go through Brighton and enjoy a quiet stroll down the beach and the pier, then onto Lewes to check out Antique shops and then onto our Hotel. Well Brighton certainly put paid to the quiet walk. The whole population seemed to be out, add the Labour party conference and several hundred protesters and this created a interesting atmosphere for the day.

I know it's sunday but the number of people seemed to be large, we also figured out that Newcastle were playing Brighton so the also increased the number.

We liked Brighton, it was buzzing, even with the crowds. We had a ice cream on the pier and took in the sights sounds and smells of the arcade rooms and checked out the rides. I was still recovering from yesterdays ride so they weren't happening today.

this pier obviously didn't have enough fire systems in place. The police were out in full complete with a couple on horseback to keep the protesters in place. It was nice to see people proactively have their say on issues that they felt strongly about. 

After a Cuppa we decided to move on, our 3 hour 4 mile walk was starting to take it's toll on the fee.

our next stop was Lewes, unfortunately it being a sunday afternoon most shops were closed but we did go through the Lewes Castle.

The Castle has a number of parts that can still be accessed but is not a complete castle. it has a facinating history as most do and was well worth checking it out.

This is the Fifteenth Century bookshop.

The final push was to end in Alfriston, a unknown village that we plucked off of Booking.com. we were well surprised at what we saw driving through and look forward to having a looksy tomorrow. what we saw as a pub to stay in turned out to be a rather posh hotel. not sure whether Shorts, Tee shirt and Jandals will cut it in the Dining room

Spice Island & Carriers

After a well needed sleep in we had a cruisey morning before meeting up with Rich, Jo and Winnie for brunch. Another busy day was planned and first up was a trip up the Spinnaker.

 So beating off the Tourists we got in and up we went, I have always struggled with Heights so it was another test but I was glad to make it because the view was well worth it. Jacqui pushed it to the limits by laying on the glass just to wind me up, but I did get a photo.

As I said the view was amazing and this is just to prove I was there.

Our 2nd port of call was the Harbour Cruise, getting up front and personal with the Navy, and just to show who's the boss our Boat was 15 minutes late due to traffic holdup on the Harbour, the captain had to wait for clearance. It was an interesting trip in and around the ships with a running dialogue on Navy & Portsmouth History facts.

The new Beast on the Block. pretty impressive stuff. 

like a kiddie in a sweet shop I couldn't get enough of the ships, I have loads of pics to edit when I get home.

It would of been rude not to call in here for a drink after the tour , so we did. After our little tipple we took a walk down to southsea, on the way we stopped at the amusement park to remind us of how old we are,

 As we walked in I spotted the Waltzer and knew in a instant that Jacqui would want a ride on it, yippee speed and spinning here we come, i had forgotten how they make you feel, add in a beer swilling in the tummy and it ain't good.  

I got to see how it feels a little later when Jacqui & Jo decided to have a go they certainly look like they are enjoying a spin on the Waltzer.

Jacqui & Richard looking pleased with themselves for completing the roller coaster that looked like it was made of broken scaffolding.

By the end of the day someone had a new friend, surprise surprise I always said Jacqui should work with children.

we had a fabulous day connecting with Rich Jo and Winnie and finished this day at a restaurant for dinner before having to say the farewells as we move on in the morning taking some cherished memories with us.

Day 1 in Pompey

We arrived in Portsmouth at 10am on friday after a beautiful ferry ride on a sunny morning, the channel was like glass.

Nephew Richard met us and helped us to our hotel before spending most of the Day escorting us around the Navel area of Portsmouth. 1st stop the Mary Rose the pride of Henry VIII, sunk in the harbour with the king watching it go down. It took years to dry it out to the point of being displayed, fascinating museum giving a great insight to the life of a sailor,

Next up is the Victory flag ship of Navy and the ship that Nelson died on in the heat of battle. I have wanted to see this ship since I was a kid. For its time it was a mighty piece of military power. It still flies the ensign as it is still an active and oldest Royal Navy vessel. we then headed over to a WW1 ship. it saw service and had the name of the lucky one, having never lost anyone. the difference between the victory and this was extreme, a solid tin can it felt cold and soulless. our 3rd ship was the "Warrior" a combination or the change over ship, built with timber hull cased with iron, it had masts and steam power. there wasn't a ship afloat that could touch this in it's day

 even its guns were varied, old style like on the victory and the latest rear loading guns. I made the mistake of asking a question and the very knowledgeable Mike then spent 20 minutes giving us the history of the Warrior and indeed anything Navy. it was still worth while. a very historic ship that links the old and new technology.

This is taken from Lord Nelson's cabin at the back of Victory looking out over to the latest Royal Navy aircraft carrier the Queen Elizabeth.
after a spot of lunch we headed back to check in at the hotel and then on to meet Rich, Jo and Winnie for dinner. 

Needles and Castle

For our 2nd day on the isle of wight we have planned to get 3 three things into during the day. The first was to drive for 35 minutes to the Needles.The weather wasn't our friend with a strong wind but we ventured to take the chairlift which was for me a challenge, heights not being my friend. 

We had the chance to check out Alum Bay Glass and watch as they produced some product and gave a running commentary. It was fascinating to watch. 

 Time had come for us to move on to our next port of call. Godshill, we had no idea what to expect. A part from the 7 buses of tourists and a carpark full of cars we found a park and decided lunch was first on the list of things to do. After a wander around the village we went to checkout the Model Village, A rather large copy of Godshill a lot of work had gone into this place.

We really enjoyed our walk and have a load of photo's to play with when I get home.

3rd thing to do today was the Carisbrook Castle. Just up the road from where we were staying. More of a Castle Ruins than a full Castle but had some other building still complete within the Walls. We walked up on the Ramparts around the walls.

Had to try on a couple of hats while we were there, would of been rude not to.

Chainmail umm, really heavy, not sure I would want a whole suit of this stuff.

Whoops almost forgot we got our daily dose of Steps in (71) of them straight up. we love steps they are right up there with pay and display carparks.

Well we made it through the day and our visit to the Isle is coming to an end, up early to get to the ferry with Portsmouth calling.

Destination Isle of Wight

So up & away leaving Honiton after brekky & heading for Lymington. Pretty easy drive taking in the outskirts of Dorchester, cruising through parts of the New Forest quite similar to Exmoor in alot of ways including ponies ! loads of them with the addition of cattle grazing too!

 Got to Lymington with plenty time to peruse the town & lucky that we did as parking was at an absolute premium! managed to make our way to the ferry in plenty of time & took our place in the queue to await boarding. The car ferry was a first for both of us, an enjoyable experience.

A 40 min sail & here we are on the Isle of Wight with enough time to visit Osborne House- Queen Victoria's hideaway. Just beautiful, I can see why she liked it there !! 

Back to our digs for the night for dinner then a good nights sleep, more sightseeing tomorrow !!