A day in Portsmouth
30.3.06
10 °C
The other day Richard and I took a train ride about 45 minutes out of southampton to a town called Portsmouth. Situated on the southern coast of England, it has been a significant naval port for centuries. Although it has declined as a military port in recent years, it still remains a major dockyard and base for the Royal Navy. An interesting fact about Portsmouth is that the city was bombed extensively during WW2 and while most of the city has since been rebuilt, developers still occasionally find unexploded bombs! Also, Portsmouth is the birthplace of Charles Dickens. See reading my blog is both entertaining and educational!
Our intent in visitng portsmouth was to visit a shopping centre called Gunwharf Quays that we heard had some great outlets stores. We were right!! It was very picture-esque situated right beside the train station and right at the ocean's edge. It was an outside complex that although was built in 2003, still has a old look to it as most everything in England does! They are developing the area into a very modern condo area that would be a dream to live by...shopping at your fingertips, oceans edge, and of course I haven't mentioned the best part...theres a cadbury factory store there!
This is the Spinaker Tower. It was built in 2005 and is 165 m tall. It features viewing decks and a panoramic view from the top. It was really rainy and cloudy that day so we didn't venture up, but we will when we go back!
After we spent a few hours shopping and having lunch, we ventured out to check out the naval base area. Unfortunalty we were about 10 minutes too late as they closed just before we got there! So we didn't get to see the HMS Visctory behind the walls, but we were able to take pics of the HMS Warrior that was docked in the harbour.
Lastnight we had a craving for Thai food, and luckily theres a thai restaurant just in town called Sara's. Rich had been there before with his housemate and raved about it. It is actually run by a thai woman and her english husband. I can;t tell you how fantastic the food was except to just say that it tasted as if we were in a restaurant in thailand. Absolutely amazing.
So anyways, we've been just relaxing a little bit as of late. I'm fiddling with my resume and thinking about starting to look for work. Although I am enjoying my little time off, I realize that the real world beckons me. Oh and the other night, I was finally prepared for this damn english weather. I brought my umbrella althought there was no inclination that there was rain in the forecast. And..yup you guessed it, it rained! I was actaully happy lol.
Posted by ashleym66 02:04 Archived in United Kingdom
Awwww Ashley!!!Im loving reading your blog!!!!I love the little bits of knowledge thrown in here and there!So pleased youre settling in, sounds like you are sooooo happy!Get used to the weather over here!!!Have you come across a Topshop yet????Its the best shop ever, you will love it!Go and indulge!!!Look forward to seeing you!!! xxxx
30.3.06 by Twinkle