Sunday, October 3, 2004

Day 4 that seemed to never want to end
Well, we did our best not to let it :p

On the Tuesday we got up at a reasonably early hour and made our way to Portsmouth. There were no cancelled trains this time and the ride went smoothly. So much, in fact, that there was a brief photo session. Solo stuck much better to my camera than I did on his >> (My face seems to have a serious problem with cameras. Whenever I did consent to having my picture taken, something would go wrong, lol.)

Once out of the station, we got a clear view of the ... spire ... thing. Heh, I can't remember what it was called. Just that it was anticipated to be finished around 2006 (?) and that they'd been building on it for quite some time already.

The ships were only a stonesthrow away (not that we threw stones... we just kicked them :p) and after purchasing tickets it came down to deciding where to go first.
A tour of the 'Victory' was scheduled at 11 am and so, after taking a few quick pictures around/near it, we boarded the grand ship.

Our guide was very competent and fitted the bill perfectly. I'm guessing he was a navy guy, because he came off very regemental. Sort of. It was incredibly cramped at places though and some stairs were brutal on the older members of our group.

It was really interesting to hear about the lives of the people who were onboard Victory during it's 'glory days'. It couldn't have been fun to be Nelson when he died though. It took 3 hours for him to die, after he'd been shot. Ouchies. Hopefully they made sure to keep him supplied with plenty of rum to numb some of his discomfort.

'The Rose' was the ship closest to 'Victory' and ... there wasn't much to see, lol. They'd salvaged only a minor piece of the ship and the glass that protected it from the outside world was very foggy. Couldn't see much of anything, really. You got a little phone before entering and it had a recording of the ship's history, along with more present day information. It's scheduled to be finished with restauration in 2009 (?) O_O;;;;

A ship that was a bit more kept together and easier to fit yourself into was the last we went on. And of course I can't remember its name ....

But out of the ships we saw/went on, that's the one I liked most. The deck called for me to run up and down it like a giddy schoolgirl that's had too much sugar, hehe.
I managed to keep my cool though >>
Exploring it on your own was very nice, since you could take your time and go wherever you liked. Well, close to anywhere. And you didn't have to hunch over, which was nice on the back. Hm, there was just this atmosphere that really appealed to me ^__^

There were some museums and shops that we went through as well, trying to pass the time until our scheduled dinner. Eventually there wasn't much else to do and we caught a train back to Chichester. On the train of 'doomingly loud school kids' *__*

No words will ever suffice for how loud these people were and I've not a lot of tolerance for some sounds. Listening in on conversations was only mildly amusing for a while. Thankfully we got off before my head exploded and headed back to the house. We surfed a little, then got a lift by Solo's mom in to Chichester and walked the last bit to the restaurant.


Frankie and Benny's (or was it some other name ? and why is it that I can't remember any names !? *gestures*) was a cosy little eatery and the food was good enough for a picky person like me to enjoy. The staff was really nice as well and service us with a friendly smile ^_^

During our stay there we had some incredibly goofy moments. Such as when we accidentally started a game where we had to think of words starting with an 'F'. That carried on for quite a while. In the end I resigned and Solo claimed victory :p

And he nearly killed me with his French accented antics. My face almost locked in an eternal grin, that's how mad it was, haha.

Then it came time to tear ourselves away, though we probably could've prolonged the stay even more. lol. It took quite some time to get our bill and suddenly deciding on dessert bought us some extra time to agree on what to have and then eat it, hehe. We had two scoops of ice-cream. Vanilla and chocolate. Mmmm, yummy.

We waited outside the supermarket for Solo's mom to come and pick us up, trying to figure out how to spend the last couple of hours of the day. 'Big Fish' seemed like a good idea and it got put into the DVD player.

[There was a really funny episode before we actually got started on the movie. I was sitting on the sofa at the other end of the room, so much of it didn't reach me but I could hear Solo saying 'Not, it's alright. We've not started yet' and there was this silence. Then his sister said 'MUM!' in an amused/shocked tone.

I'll have to ask him to tell it, because I'm obviously not doing the funnyness justice here *giggles*]

Waiting for the movie to begin, it hit me that in Solo's MyO he had talked about his favourite spot in the living room. So I asked where it was .......... And you guessed it. The spot that I'd hogged ever since arriving -^_^- So I gave it back to him, hehe.

Neither of us were particularly sleepy so it took us the movie, all of the extras and then some, to finally force ourself to sleep. It was a wonderful last night to spend with Solo ^_^


So in essence, since we stayed up until after midnight, the day did not end ;p
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