We returned to Portsmouth to carry on where we left off the previous day. We started off with a visit to the Royal Marines Museum, which is included in the entrance ticket to Portsmouth Docks but situated a short way from the dockyard itself. It was thundering as we arrived and we didn’t quite make it inside before the heavy rain started. The museum explains the history of the Royal Marines and gives insight into what basic training involves and what it takes to become a Royal Marine. The videos of recruits stories as they undertook their training are quite touching and enlightening. We spent the whole morning there and had lunch in the Quartermaster’s Kitchen before making our way to Portsmouth Docks.

On arrival at the docks we visited HMS Warrior, the first armour-plated iron-hulled warship. Warrior propelled by steam power as well as being fully rigged for sail. The evolution of this type of warship led to Warrior becoming obsolete just a decade after she had been launched.

After Warrior we visited the Museum of the Royal Navy before returning to Winchester for our evening meal. We returned to La Place, the food was not quite as good as our previous visit but the atmosphere and experience was much better.

After our trips further afield from Winchester it was time to explore the historical town itself. We set off on a walking tour that was shown in the back of the ‘Winchester Pitkin Guide’. The first stop on route was to photograph the statue of King Alfred. It was good to find that the hanging basket that had been hung on his sword by weekend revelers had been removed, therefore allowing for a perfect photo opportunity.

As we walked along the route we noticed ‘The Church of St Lawrence‘. It was a hidden gem tucked away in among the shops. With the exception of the sounds of music from a street musician the noise and the hustle and bustle from outside could not be heard.

After experiencing solitude in the church we carried along the path of our walking route towards Westgate. Unfortunately the museum was closed, but I did get to see a lone man working on repair work on a nearby steeple. We carried on past the Westgate to the Great Hall. The hall and the round table have breathtaking proportions. My immediate thought on entering the hall was WOW!!!

The next port of call was Peninsula Barracks to take in a couple of the museums that were on Mr C’s ‘To Do’ list. Before the museum visits we had lunch in Cafe Peninsula, where I opted for Crayfish sandwich, it was delicious. Mr C’s museum choices were HorsePower, the Museum of The King’s Royal Hussars and the Gurkha Museum.

Both museums were interesting to me. The HorsePower museum because of my interest in armoured vehicles, the development of ‘main battle tanks’, specifically Challenger 2. The Gurkha museum with its life sized and scale models of battle situations enabling the visitor to see the extreme difficulties that the Gurkhas overcame. Unusually after those two visits Mr C was all military museumed out…We continued on our walking route and visited St Swithun upon Kingsgate, a rare example of a church located above the historic gates of a city.

After all that walking we returned to the hotel to chill out and rest our weary feet before venturing out for our evening meal. Our venue for the evening was La Place, the food was excellent but unfortunately we were sitting next to a table whose occupants were a drunk and rowdy threesome. They were not happy drunk, there was a grumpy edginess to it. As they were sitting just behind me I felt really uncomfortable until they left. They were older people so I can’t even give them the benefit of being young and stupid.

Before returning to our hotel for a good nights sleep we retired to The Old Vyne to relax after the unpleasant experience.