Yeovil and Portsmouth, England

Well, that was a whirlwind trip to England! I left Phoenix on Saturday night and arrived back in Phoenix on Friday evening. I stayed in three different cities and drove (was driven) around most of the southern coast of England.

I was traveling for business , so unfortunately I didn’t get to do much sightseeing or exploring. Although I did get to fly business class on my way there and back, so that was pretty amazing. Plenty of legroom, seats that recline into beds, better food than coach plus free drinks…awesome!

Anyway, I spent the first two nights of my trip in Yeovil. The hotel wasn’t very close to anything and I was too jetlagged to figure out the bus route or find a cab, so I pretty much just stayed around the hotel after work. I did see some cows…

The next two days we stayed in Portsmouth. Luckily there was a lot more to do there, so I finally got a chance to get out of the hotel. Unfortunately, I didn’t leave work until after 5 p.m. each day, so I didn’t have much free time to explore. However, I finally got some free time after work on Wednesday, so I decided to walk around and do some sightseeing. We were staying near the Royal Garrison Church, so that was my first stop. It was closed by the time I got there, but I still stopped to take a few pictures. It was originally part of a hospital founded in 1212 by the bishop of Winchester. The nave was badly damaged during a fire raid in 1941, but the chancel remains roofed and furnished.

From there I followed the sea wall/walk that runs along the coast of Portsmouth. It was a great walking trail and it eventually lead me through Clarence Pier to the rocky shore.

I ended up walking around that for a couple of miles because I was determined to see Southsea Castle. I mean, you have to see at least one castle while you are in England, right? Of course it was closed by the time I got there, but I was able to get a peek through the gates and take a couple pictures.

If I had been there earlier, there’s also the D-Day Museum and an aquarium nearby. I did get to see the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.  It was built to commemorate the members of the Royal Navy whose lives were lost at sea (and therefore have no known grave) during WWI and WWII.

I loved the lion and unicorn statues that were guarding the entrances. Someday I’m going to buy a big house and put cement statues out front…I’m sure my neighbors and HOA will LOVE that...

I spent my last day at the Wattisham Airfield and at our hotel in Ipswich, but I don’t have any pictures of those places =(

Although I didn’t get to do much sightseeing, I did get to do a lot of eating. Hooray for a generous business travel per diem! I think my favorite meal was the lamb lollipops at Jamie’s Italian in Portsmouth. My favorite dessert was the banana toffee crumble tart with honey and fig ice cream at the Yeovil Court Hotel and Restaurant. I also had an amazing parma ham, fresh mozzarella and pesto baguette sandwich there.

Even though it was a quick trip I still had a great time and I’m happy I had the opportunity to visit England again. Hopefully I’ll get to make another trip there within the next few years.