Blogs from Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 7

THE END - it's been fun !!!... read more

PORTSMOUTH - miasto położone na południowym brzegu wyspy Portsea nad Kanałem La Manche. Wyspa jest przepiękna, otoczona z jednej strony wspomnianym kanałem, z drugiej cudowną, malowniczą cieśniną Solent, z innej zaś strony można podziwiać piękne wzgórza i lasy, które porastają okolicę aż do skalistego wybrzeża. Strategiczne położenie tego miasta pozwoliły na założenie tu największej bazy marynarki wojennej. Pierwszy port w tym rejonie powstał za czasów Normanów czyli około 1050-1150 AD. Rozkwit miasta przypada jednak na czasy panowania Henryka VII czyli 1485-1509 AD który to właśnie w Portsmouth wybudował królewską stocznię z pierwszym i największym na świecie suchym dokiem, który jest nadal w użytku. Później miasto odgrywało ważną rolę we wszystkich wojnach prowadzonych prze Wielką Brytanię. W okresie wojen Henryka VIII wykorzystywany do obrony miasta i portu Southsea Castle sta... read more

Those of you who are regular cruisers will know that every day, whether onboard or ashore, presents itself with new experiences. Some are good, a few are bad. (It's usually the bad ones that are unavoidable!!). With each voyage, although you can expect many similarities for those who prefer the comfort blanket of familiarity, I'm anticipating something different. This cruise is with P & O (a first) and will be over the Christmas period (another first!) For 2000 years people have been jumping on the bandwagon and releasing Christmas editions from within mainstream Arts. In Books: Chaz Dickens a Christmas Carol (which has nothing to do with festive hymns!!); TV: The Morecombe and Wise Christmas Show or the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Extravaganza; Music; Mistletoe and Wine by Cliff or Have a Wombling Christmas by the ... read more

Phil and I are off to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos on Monday. We are fleeing Gosport where the builders will be gutting and rebuilding the kitchen. Also we hate November. So South East Asia beckons. We have heard wonderful things about these countries, we want to see the temples of Ankor Wat and sample the Chinese/French fusion of food which is said to be so exquisite. There is lots of history too, obviously some of it not so good. To get into the mood I'm reading Graham Greene's "The Quiet American " It is Phil's birthday soon so I have painted him a birthday card with a picture of a Vietnamese beauty. It says "Happy Birthday Phil, see you in Saigon! with love from Roz and Suzy Wong"... read more

We awoke early and had a light breakfast. Andre had to work this day, so we would just stay in Basingstoke and explore with Nikki and her mother. We went down to Festival Place mall and walked around for a few hours. We had a great lunch at Wagamama. I had the chicken katsu curry and it was very tasty! At about 4pm, we went to pick up the daughters from school and headed home. Andre got home at about 6pm and we went out to the Portsmouth Arms for dinner at 7pm. Since I knew that a Travelbuddy Edit http://www.travbuddy.com/Echo_Glived close by, I invited her out to eat with us. We had met Edit on our last trip to the UK and just loved her! We had a great meal and conversation. Nikki and Edit ... read more