Naval History in Portsmouth
Country Gardens
I left Sony and headed to Winchester, a quite nice town. This is where the post cards were purchased. Winchester was the capital of England in 901. There is a statue in the main street, comemorating King Alfred, the then monarch. The town itself is quite nice. They seem to have managed traffic quite well, as there is a loop road around the town centre, with a number of parking stations to let the tourists (and locals) out to spend their money.
The big attraction is the cathedral. This is quite an impressive building, with, among other things, the tomb of Jane Austen! The building was started in about 1000AD, and is quite amazing. It's big, even by today's standards. And there are sections of the 12th Century floor tiles still around. It's quite something to walk on 800 year old mosaic.
The other thing about this cathedral is the song from a few years back: "Winchester Cathedral, you're bringing me down, you stood and you watched as, my baby left town...". I got it stuck in my brain, and I kept thinking of it for the rest of the day!
After Winchester I headed to Salisbury. This has what is considered the premier English cathedral. And it certainly is impressive when seen in the distance. Unfortunately I could not find my way to it! The downtown section is a series of one way streets, with frequent corners, and the cathedral quickly disappears. And there are no signs indicating how to reach the cathedral. They don't seem very tourist friendly, so after a while I gave up.
For dinner, Andrew took me to an out of town pub, The Jolly Sailor. Had an excellent dinner, and there is a nice view out the window - there is a river, with boats moored. And there is one other claim to fame of this pub. Remember the TV series Howard's Way? (About the boat builder and his dreams and problems). This hotel was used for the scenes at the bar!
Naval History in Portsmouth
Country Gardens