Next stop... Winchester!
Backing our car into a teeny tiny spot proved impossible… so we were allowed to select another. So stressful driving on the opposite side. We had only two near-death experiences… but that’s definitely two too many! Roundabouts and right hand turns get the best of me! Only once did I turn into oncoming traffic… thankfully the people were very nice and allowed me to proceed.
What should have been a drive of one hour, thirty-five minutes, took me two hours at least… I am intimidated driving fast on the extremely narrow, two laned roads. As I mentioned, the roundabouts are difficult… it seems 3 out of ten times, I hear a honk directed at me. That could be considered a pretty good ratio, but it’s disturbing when I hear it! We arrived, our room was not yet ready so we took off walking. Right across from our hotel, is High Street. So many bars, restaurants and shops. We walked up the street and saw the statue on the left and passed through the arch pictured on the right.
After looking at the map for a few moments and checking the notes I had with places I wanted to visit… we decided to begin at the Military Museum. Just through the arch pictured above, we made a left hand turn. One block up, we arrived at the museum. Speaking with the lady working the counter of the coffee shop, we learned that there were six different museums in this location. Three free and three for a fee, purchasing a joint ticket would save money entering the three that charge AND could be used for a full year. We began our tour in a free area and moved on to this for fee portion. It is very hands on… you are asked to pick up the two rifles and determine which you would want to run around a battlefield carrying…
Moving on, we passed under a guillotine! Each section had many artifacts. There were little rooms set up for teaching children about British history in a way they could understand.
Very impressive! This was a large room dedicated to teaching about the Battle of Waterloo… thousands of detailed pieces created the buildings, soldiers and weaponry used during the war.
We felt it was worth waiting a few minutes for the next re-enactment to take place. Sections lit up to depict where exactly the battle began… how each side progressed or was pushed back. The arrows show how troops moved toward a ridgeline and shortly after, the arrows began to regress as soldiers defended their property. It was impressive to see the interactive model actually show how the battle played out.
Photos, uniforms, medals and all kinds of artifacts could be found at these museums. An incredible collection and very well displayed. Each display case had a very thorough description of what was found inside.
With check-in time fast approaching, we decided to finish the museum tour tomorrow… taking a backroad to our hotel, we passed by many brick buildings with the only burst of color being on the door. The entries were adjusted to accommodate the steep slope.
Our first stop tomorrow will be right here! This looks to be the entrance to the Winchester Cathedral… in a park-like setting, the thing I found odd was people having picnics amongst the tombstones. This should be a fun place to start our sightseeing in the morning!
Pleased with our room, we found the desk area nice for me to use as a place to type this up. The bed looked quite comfortable and the bathroom a good size. It’s a very good location so we are happy with our choice!
The creme de la creme was our view! We opened our curtains to find this scenic picture… can’t wait to go exploring! But first… coffee… food. Imagine that I drove that treacherous route without the benefit of caffeine!
Just around the corner we found a restaurant that served something for each of us. After looking up reviews, etc, I found that it was named after the owner/chef. Rick Stein is actually a celebrity chef…. We arrived late afternoon, early evening. Not sure if reservations were required, we stepped inside to ask. The staff was very welcoming and promptly seated us in a nice little table. Going through the menu to decide exactly what we wanted, the choice was simple.
In the charming little restaurant, we selected an Old Fashion for Barry and a Spanish wine for me. It was a little daring to order an old-fashion in a foreign country… especially when you see what the description was.
Yep… an unknown Bourbon… coconut water, which has never been an ingredient before… not the usual bitters and sea salt. Once delivered, hubby was pleasantly surprised at how good this cocktail turned out. My wine was also nice.
Food ordered and quickly delivered… we had a delicious meal! Barry said he could cut his rib eye with his fork, it was so tender. The salad was simple, but good. Usually, he won’t eat his salad but today… it was a yes! My meal was unbelievable… an Indonesian Seafood Curry. Served with jasmine rice and a string bean, slaw salad, I was in heaven!
Agreeing to split a dessert, we asked our server if we could move into the bar to have a creme brulee with another cocktail. She was happy to set us up near the window. Barry walked up to the bar as he wanted to see how the Old Fashion was made… much to his surprise, the bartender showed him a white pouch. All of the nonperishable ingredients were premixed. My Espresso martini was also premade. Pretty shocking considering how good they came out… but I guess if you like it, you’ll always like it because it will always be the same! Until tomorrow…
