Weekend fun in Portsmouth!

I am sitting on a bus heading to London currently and figured it would be a good time to write about what we did over the weekend. To my surprise, the weather here has been very sunny and mild, actually seeming hot sometimes while we are walking around. I had figured by this time of year all remnants of summer were long gone, but I definitely welcome the nice weather.

This past weekend we stayed pretty busy going around Hampshire and checking out places I've never seen before. Saturday we made a trip down to the historic dockyards in Portsmouth and did some shopping. The dockyards house old naval ships such as the Warrior and the Victory that saw action in the Battle of Trafalgar. A few years back when I was visiting there was the 200th anniversary of this battle and there were renactments and fireworks commemorating the anniversary. It's pretty cool to walk around the dockyards and see all these old ships still moored up; you can take a tour on them, but we opted to just walk around. Here's the HMS Warrior with the Spinnaker Tower in the background.. I'll post some more pictures of the boats when I can get them off Paul's phone. Apparently all the music and apps I have on my phone have eaten up my memory, I have to do some housekeeping with that so it's easier for me to take and post pictures

 On Sunday we enjoyed a nice breakfast at a cafe located in the Royal Marines museum. To my delight, there is a obstacle course with a zipline outside the cafe. After we had breakfast, we walked around all the old guns and boats on display in the courtyard. We took some pictures of Amelia posing in the guns, and I went on the zipline. There was  boy souts troop there for a meet-up and as this is an obstacle course geared toward children, they probably thought I was crazy. It was fun, though! Gotta love a zipline!

I should probably give you some background on this elephant you may happen to see often throughout this journey. We have named her Amelia, and she is a gift from our dear cousins, Meghan and Mitch. They were given a snake named Gordon that traveled with them and appeared in various photos, and has been with them for a few years. We now have our own traveling friend, an elephant. She tends to be adventurous so be on the lookout for Amelia as you check out our pictures.

After our breakfast and obstacle-coursing, we drove to an old manor home and gardens called the Stansted House. I've never watched Downton Abbey, but if I could imagine the home and area they live in, this would place would be on par. I do intend on catching up from the first season, I just have to have some time when I'm not moving all over the place. What's funny though is that Downton abbey is actually a fictional place and while there is a place in England called Downton, you will not find what you're looking for. Apparently people have gone there to try and see where the show is filmed only to find they were poorly mistaken and find it doesn't actually exist. Ha!

Anyways, at Stansted House there was a child sized steam engine that drove around the gardens..

And yes we rode on it. 

After our train ride we went through a maze, and luckily we managed to find our way to the center to ring the bell and then made our way out alive. Phew!

The house and gardens also had a working farm, and they sold ice cream made from the dairy cows that live there, as well as cheeses, meats, and other assorted local foods and brews. Paul was in heaven and picked up some venison sausages. Needless to say he enjoyed Bambi but I didn't. 😜 My finicky eating habits may keep me from trying things, but I just love animals too much to chow down on them. I used to think my veggie ways were mostly health based but now when I see cows or horses or puffins or any other animals that some cultures cook up, I think I'd rather have them for a pet than a meal. I think that goes back to my childhood when I was seriously wanting a Scottish highland coo or a real cow as a pet in our yard. (True story)..Of course, if we are somewhere and I am given food from a local, I am not going to turn it down or make them upset... As long as I have a choice I'm going to keep the furry friends out of my diet.. Paul can try all the exotic things he wants ☺️

So here is the house on the grounds.... Not too shabby...

We also made a friend who happened to be sitting on a bench in the yard surrounding the house.

Shocker!!

This cat was huge and could probably eat our little indoor kitties back home. He was friendly though.

I think it's safe to say we have enjoyed our time in Portsmouth so far.. I am looking forward to doing some more outdoorsy things and hike around the South Downs, which is home to some beautiful countryside in Hampshire. We have a flying visit ahead of us in London, we are getting there around 3:30 and are heading to the Indian Consulate for an appointment to get our visas tomorrow at 8:45 am sharp. Should be interesting navigating the tube during rush hour.. Fingers crossed we make it in good time and have no problems getting the visas! 🙏I'm already checking out yoga ashrams....👌

More photos to come when I can get some decent wifi!!!

MC