Advertisement
Published: July 14th 2014
20140627 1 Dubais
Great lounges at Dubais airport. 11 hours down, 7 to goTravel Blog 27 June - 30 June 2014 New Forest
For those of you have been patiently waiting, here we go. Let's hope I can be more current in future, but I sure have some catching up to do. Enjoy.
26 June 2014
Getting ready for travelling took much longer than expected. After many sidetracks, my packing eventually started very late in the evening and didn't finish until 2am. I tried to get an hours sleep but Dave didn't even bother since we had to be up at 3am to prepare for taxi.
27 June 2014 Friday
Checking in for Emirates was a breeze. Before we knew it we were on our way to Dubais. Seats had plenty of leg room but pity that didn't apply to elbow room :-(. Great meals on the flights. Watched a few movies. Well, actually tried to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel about 7 times but kept falling asleep. Eventually made it to the end of the movie but missed several sections along the way. 11 hours to Dubais.
At Dubais we had a
20140628 2 Minstead The Trusty Servant
Fosters on tap everywhere in Britain but no longer in Oz couple of hours to kill so wandered throughout the duty free shops. Electronics cheaper so will need to consider on the way home. Bought some yummy dates with orange peel in them. Lucky no fruit rules going into the UK. 41 degrees outside. Good reason not to leave the terminal ..... Plus we didn't have visas.
On a huge double level 380 on the way to London for our 7 hour flight. 3 Days to Kill was a great movie.
We arrived in London slightly ahead of schedule. Passage through immigration and customs was quite reasonable. We were out before Barry and Sally had arrived at the airport. Great to see them and both looking really well. This is going to be a holiday for them a well as we are going to Scotland together. We drove for 1.5 hours to arrive at Agisters Cottage in New Forest, Barry and Sally's lovely country home. Hard to believe it is still daylight at 10pm.
A very long day especially with going back the extra 7 hours in time. Still we managed to talk for a couple of hours before retiring.
28 June 2014 Saturday
I woke very early, at about 3:30am which is when it is light outside. Did manage to go back to sleep for a couple of hours though. And the Kindle came in useful.
We visited the markets at Lymington today. A real variety of stalls from fruit and veg, to clothing, plants and knick knacks. There is also a truck with meats being butchered in the open and meat on display with no refrigeration. No-one seems to get sick from this even though the temperature was quite warm.
Harbour views were pleasant in the sunshine. A lot of people out and about. The markets stalls are situated in the main street so all the shops are also open alongside. Sally and I couldn't resist a sale in the dress shop where I purchased a very nice t-shirt which was of a design a bit different from the norm. We also revisited the Old Guys Rule shop where Dave added another t-shirt to his collection. This time with bicycles on it.
After the markets we went to a picnic spot outside Lymington, the only place with a picnic bench according to Sally. This prompted a "find the picnic
20140628 4 Lymington
Clotted cream ice creams at Lymington bench" search for the next few days. The view of the barn ruin was interesting.
Our next stop was Beaulieu to visit the National Car museum. We noticed a reduced price for seniors and although Dave didn't have his card they allowed him in under the special price, and me too. It is quite a big complex with a variety of things to see. We started in the Abbey ruins and building. There was a garden full of herbs, and a display of what abbey life was like. Next stop was the war time display. Some really interesting information on spying in war times. There was the bar of garlic chocolate for when you land in Italy and want to smell like the locals. There were a multitude of methods for coding messages and hiding the code translators, everything from matches, maps on silk hankies, pen nibs, bases of candlesticks and so on. The most interesting place to hide dynamite was inside a dead rat, so when the enemy threw it into a bonfire, it would explode.
We then did the guided tour of the Beaulieu house which was very grand and had fantastic views of the grounds.
image
Lymington harbour We heard the history of owners including the current Montagues. The old gate house had been enclosed at some point and is now a Grand living room. The chairs in the main dining room had been especially designed to allow room for the ladies' bussles, and they also had rods at the back for the servants to hold when pulling the chairs in or out. The outlook from the main dining room was onto a beautiful small courtyard with interesting sculptures and garden pots. The kitchen and larder were quite large and had boards of bells to indicate which rooms required service. The house was full of portraits of the many generations of families who lived there.
On the way to the two car museums in the grounds, we passed many sculptures and gardens both scenic and functional eg a huge vege garden. A horse sculpture made with wire and small tile was very appealing under a tree alongside the walk.
The first car museum was the Top Gear collection of unusual cars that had been built for special episodes of the show. Although we didn't spend a lot of time in there it was fun. I didn't
image
Picnic spot near Lymington recognise any of the episodes so I obviously don't watch the show often enough.
The second collection is more historical and included a huge range of motor cycles, carriages, old garages, push bikes, racing cars and bikes, famous cars eg Campbell's Bluebird. We spent an hour or so in there and could have spent even more. Barry took us into the House of Wheels which turned out to be a ride in little swinging cars through a historical car exhibit. Designed for kids, but fun for adults too.
New word for today - charabanc. It is a bus.
It was now quite late in the afternoon, in fact early evening. Still sunlight, or I should say, still light but no sun. It was now pouring with rain. Barry played the gentleman chauffeur and fetched the car so we didn't all get too wet.
On the way home, we stopped at the pub, as you do. I think this one was The Oaks. We had to make a dash for inside as it was still raining. This was the first of trying to find a nice Shiraz for me and Dave trying out many different ales and
image
The "only" picnic bench in New Forest lagers. The weather cleared up slightly as we headed back home.
Tonight's dinner was at the Trusty Servant pub, a short walk from Agister's Cottage. This is Barry and Sally's local, and we also frequented this pub on our last trip. We enjoyed huge tasty meals. Barry and Sally introduced us to the owners and managers and gave us some background on some of the regulars. Good that we had a walk home afterwards even if only 10 minutes. It must have been quite late, after 10.30 pm, as it was dark.
We chatted a while at home but it wasn't long before I hit the wall and retired.
29 June 2014 Sunday
Jet lag / time difference not yet overcome as awoke at 3:30am, but luckily was able to doze on and off for a few hours before the agreed rising time of 8.30am. The Kindle came in handy again too.
Today we drove to Portsmouth Dockyards. On the streets leading into the Centre, was Dave's Barber Shop, "the demon barber of Portsmouth"! Goodness knows what that is about.
The Dockyards are huge and although open for tourism are also still
image
Beaulieu mansion a working yard for the navy today. Being seniors a bonus here again. It was Armed Forces Day with lots of stalls, people in old army uniforms, and bands and dancing from the war times.
There are three full size ancient sailing ships either fully or partially restored and all able to be walked through. Photography allowed but no flashes so we will see how the photos work out. First was the HMS Victory, the ship upon which Nelson died and was first commissioned in the 1750s. This has been restored really well and we walked through the many decks from plush to very basic and crowded. I would not like to have been a sailor in those days. There were canons everywhere, even in the bedroom cabins. If you were a lowly sailor then the hammocks were slung up with virtually no space between them and about 10 side by side in each row. We saw the spot where Nelson was shot, then where he was cared for until he died, then the barrel in which his body was stored along with whisky to preserve him.
Next we went to the Mary Rose. She is just part
of an old sailing ship that was rediscovered and resurrected from the bottom of the ocean and brought to the surface. She sunk after being refitted and there are several theories on why she sank. The most plausible one was that an extra row of cannons was added down below. The crew was familiar with the old arrangement and someone forgot to close the new portholes. When the ship turned she became waterlogged and tipped over on her side then sank in the harbour or not far out. Many years later, artefacts were recovered. They were in really good condition and were displayed along with information about their use. The shell of the wooden ship has been pumped full of glycol to stop it drying out too quickly. Now it is in a huge humidified room drying at a very controlled rate. There are viewing areas all around it on several levels.
We left the dock yards briefly in search of lunch as it was about 3pm and no dock cafes were still serving food. Just outside the gates we found the Ship and Castle where we enjoyed a hearty repast.
The third ship had a metal hull
image
Lord Montague and was called HMS Warrior. Once again fully restored and a more modern but still an old sailing ship from 1860. The improvement in crew quarters and spaciousness was remarkable. We spent time investigating all decks.
Barry was starting to tell jokes, so we called it a day and headed back to Minstead, stopping in at the Trusty Servant for a refresher. Joke example: what did one sailor say to the other when they were washing the deck? Where's the soap? To which the other replied "sure does".
Barbecue at Agisters Cottage tonight. Whole salmon and a baked potato dish somewhat like dauphinoise. Apart from setting the barbecue on fire, it was a lovely evening. We enjoyed trying Kate Lamont's Vanera, a version of pedro ximinez.
30 June 2014 Monday
Today we are catching a ferry to the Isle of Wight so need to be up a bit earlier than usual. We drove to Lymington, and caught the 10am ferry for passengers and cars to Yarmouth. We sat outside on the front deck, good for sightseeing but the wind was really cold. The trip was about an hour.
The Isle of Wight is
image
Special chairs quite large, about 17 miles of coastline and 4500 acres of countryside. First tourist spot was The Needles. We found some "unlimited" parking for 4 pounds, then donned jackets and walking shoes for the trek to the lookout point, about 3/4 mile. In the background the coast has very colourful stone cliffs and as you walk to the headland it has vivid white cliffs. There is a line of white "needles" jutting from the water and at the end, a red light house. Reminds me of the book I am reading - "Light between Oceans", worth a read. Then walking further along are the Old and New Batteries. A very interesting view and museum showing the old rocket testing site which was secret in 1950 - 1970s. Once they had ben tested, the rockets were sent to Woomera in AustralIa for launching. One of the first satellites is still orbiting Earth even though decommissioned. In the museum, a replica rocket control room has been set up entirely made from cardboard, very cleverly done. On the walk back we saw a Stoat running along the verge, looks quite like a cross between a rat and a squirrel, and a a lovely
image
Servant bells in kitchen red brown colour.
Once back at the village, we went to the glass blowing display in quite a big room where they produce all the items for the shop. Several glass blowers are at work concurrently. It was interesting to watch a vase being made from start to finish including the way colours and Silver were embedded. Pam was most disturbed with the safety culture as the man rubbed the molten hot glass with a bunch of wet newspapers with no glove on his hand, and wearing shorts. At least he had goggles and boots on.
We then took the scenic drive (unintended) to the Garlic Farm. A very quaint place including a cafe which served many garlic laden dishes. We started with the tasting platter which was huge. Dave tried the garlic beer, with a bit of persuasion, but was pretty unimpressed. I think it took about 2 days before we stopped reeking of garlic.
Facts you may not have known about garlic:
1. The irrational fear of garlic is known as alliophobia
2. The sticky juice within garlic cloves can be used as an adhesive in mending glass and china
3. Louis
image
Sculpture Pasteur observed garlic's antibacterial activity and it was used as an antiseptic to prevent gangrene during world war one
4. Folklore has it that carrying a clove of garlic with you when travelling over water will prevent you from drowning
5. Garlic can be used as a mosquito repellent
6. During the reign of King Tutankhamen of Egypt, fifteen pounds of garlic would buy a healthy male slave
7. Crushed garlic in warm water helps to heal mouth ulcers
8. Gardener scan use a spray of crushed garlic in water to combat aphids, whitefly, spiders and other pests.
Next was Ventnor seaside to walk around including a pretty garden and waterfall. We stopped for a coffee over looking the ocean.
We had a smooth trip back on the ferry and stopped for the usual late afternoon drink this time at the Waterloo Arms. We had leftovers for dinner before preparing for our relatively early start to Scotland the next morning.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.246s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0425s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
