Robyn writes: Today it's the start of the May Bank Holiday weekend, and they have a perfect start to it with the weather. We woke up this morning to dazzlingly blue skies (bit of a shock) - however, it was 4 degrees outside so that did dampen our enthusiasm just a teensy bit. After a slow start to the morning sorting blog entries, emails etc we finally got out at around 10.30. Our first port of call for the day was the Spinnaker, the huge white tower that dominates the whole port area (and city, really). It has 3 viewing decks so we bought our tickets (8.50 pounds each) and headed up there. As it was such a gloriously clear morning, we could see for miles, and could easily pick out Ryde, Osborne House and the chalk cliffs over on the Isle of Wight where we were yesterday. We also got several good ideas of things to visit over the next two days we still have here. Since it's a long weekend, there were suddenly people everywhere shopping and sightseeing and determinedly having fun! Most of them were in summery looking clothes which seemed overly optimistic to us, but that's Poms for you... Mind you, Lex DID take off his thermal underwear and I was reckless enough to have my jacket off for several hours, so it did warm up a bit!
The Spinnaker, as seen from our deck
We checked out the views from all 3 levels (highest was 110m up) and I took my shoes off to walk across the glass viewing floor to gaze down below. Seriously messes with your head! We were lucky to have such a good day to see everything and glad we waited until the weather cleared. By this time we were hungry so we headed home for lunch (cockles for Lex, bagels and cheese for me).
Fortified once more, we headed out for a big afternoon of naval history back at the docks (using our tickets from Thursday again). Our first port of call was HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 (England 1, France Nil). Unfortunately, despite the fact that it was a great English victory, Nelson was shot by a French sniper and died some three hours later. The ship was incredible - not as big as HMS Warrior but also full of cannons and a powerhouse of military might of the day. It would have been awe-inspiring to sail on one of those but terrifying in battle. They seemed to lose eyes, legs, hands etc with reckless abandon and viewing the ship's surgeon's instruments don't exactly fill you with confidence!
HMS Victory, and the plaque on the deck showing exactly where Nelson fell.
We spent over an hour exploring the Victory right down into the hull, then headed for the Mary Rose. This was Henry VIII's favourite ship and the pride of the Tudor fleet. It was built in 1509 and served the king well until it had a major refit about 35 years later with lots more guns added to bring it up to date. Unfortunately they must have messed something up with its balance because at the Battle of the Solent in 1545 it sank before it had even got out of Portsmouth Harbour. Of the approximately 500 men on board, only about 35 survived. The ship was lost for many years but rediscovered last century and raised in 1982. I remember watching it on the news at the time and thinking: I sooo want to go and see that! Well, today was the day, and it didn't disappoint. Only half the ship survived as it was covered in silt which protected it. They recovered many skeletons (including that of the ship's dog) and have been able to identify some of them and their professions plus done facial reconstructions to show what they looked like. The level of preservation of the wooden items especially is amazing - some of the huge yew arrows look as if they were only made last week!
The Mary Rose as seen from the top viewing platform
The ship was kept wet for the first thirty years - last year they turned off the sprinklers and have started pumping warm dry air in (it's also been treated with a preservative). It's amazing to see it - obviously much smaller than the Victory or the Warrior, but the same ideas and structure. I'm so glad we've got to see it dry, as I've seen photos of it under the sprinklers and it looks a bit hard to see it all clearly, whereas today we could see so much detail. Some of the cannons were amazingly well preserved. It took us a few hours to see it all and to take it all in.
After the Mary Rose we went forward again a few hundred years to the museum of the Battle of Trafalgar. It was really interesting and took us through the stages of the battle and of course Nelson's death. Then the loudspeakers announced that it was closing time and once more we were very nicely kicked out. We walked back to Gunwharf Quays for a drink at one of the many bars along the way then home for tea, to put some washing on and to put our feet up. Another big day!
We are very much enjoying our flat here in Gunwharf Quays except for a few niggles - central heating is of course a fact of life in the UK but this one appears to be preset - and somewhat inaccurate. It says it's on 18 degrees but is quite hot, so we go from very warm inside to extremely bracing outside! Also, it's so minimalist as to be painful - obviously they wanted sleek and modern, but that goes with no handles visible on anything - so nowhere to hang a teatowel etc! Have decided we don't do minimalist and modern! However, its central location makes up for an awful lot and it is really a fabulous place to stay.
Hmmm, 8.30pm and it is almost dark. And, sad to say, we have clouds rolling in. I think our gloriously clear skies may be gone in the morning :(
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