The Journey begins

 JUNE 30th 2015

A early start to the day 05.00 to be exact with breakfast and a cup of tea before the taxi arrived to take us to the Milton Keynes Coachway

To board the National Express coach that did not live up to its name being 30 minutes late arriving.

We should have arrived in London at 09.20 to catch the next coach at 10.00 we only just got there with 5 minutes to spare. We thought we would miss it but was lucky and that too was late leaving.
The journey was reasonably comfortable and I will add what we saw along the way and what we did in Bournemouth.
I am not going to add what we saw in London in any particular order we saw so much as we went through.

London

I love London it is an amazing city and so full of history around every corner you cannot fail to be impressed. The buildings are wonderful well the old ones are I don't like the modern ones they are ugly in comparison.

We saw Selfridges and Harrods. Now I know some would disagree but I think Selfridges is by far the most imposing building of the two. 

SELFRIDGES

  

HARRODS

Both are amazing but Selfridges to me is far more beautiful.

We  saw  Marble Arch

The Natural History Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum

The Wellington Arch to commemorate the Duke of Welling defeating Napoleon

History of the Wellington Arch

The Dorchester Hotel

All the rich and famous have stayed here and paid a fortune for the privilege as well.

We passed The Lanesborough in Hyde Park Corner

The Lanesbourgh Hotel

I recalled hearing about this hotel and can see why it is such a popular place with those who stay there.

This is just a sample of what we saw all wonderful buildings and so elegant with a rich tapestry of history that I could spend days in London if it was not for the crowds and eternal traffic.

Baker Street

Whilst going through London we saw these I am not recording them in order.

Baker Street famous the world over as the home of Sherlock Holmes they even have a plaque on the building where it was supposed to be. I say supposed as it never existed.

221b Baker Street 

Not only is there a Museum to the famous fictitious Sherlock Holmes they even have a Hotel

I would love to see the Museum and stay in the Hotel. I found this picture of some of the decor in the hotel

We also saw this on Baker Street

Strange how a work of fiction has taken on such a life like quality that we still celebrate it in the 21st Century.

Another famous author is also remembered

Strange really as I had just finished his book Time Machine the day before.

New Forest and Bournemouth Pier

 Before getting to Bournemoth you pass the New Forest and it is so impressive mile after mile of trees and we even saw some of the ponies.

I recalled the book Children of the New Forest and will have to read it again as I read it years ago.

Children of the New Forest is an exciting tale set in the time of the English Civil War in the 17th Century. In the New Forest, the four Beverly children, Edward, Alice, Humphrey, Edith are orphaned when their father is killed in the battle of Naseby by the Roundheads.They live hiding with Jacob Armitage, an old forester who lives in a cottage deep in the woods and learn to live as best they can.

Children of the New Forest 

On to Bournemouth

The pier is lovely with plenty to do there some are expensive like the Oceanarium

I would have loved to go in but at nearly £10 each we did not bother. Everything is expensive and you could easily spend £70 just on doing simple things.

This is the approach to the pier and a long way from the Coach station we got a taxi and was pleased we did it is much further than you think.
This is the entrance to the pier.

We had a drink in  Hot Rocks a nice place that serves meals as well. They make Pizzas using real pizza ovens whilst you wait.

Everywhere is clean and that is such a pleasure as so many places are untidy and no nasty old fat smells from fish and chips frying either.
 We had lunch here a lovely Cornish Pasty

The tiny circles in the picture are water fountains that come on every so many minutes an the children love running through them.

Boscombe Pier

We explored Boscombe Pier and it is a lovely area.

This was taken from the Chine Gardens.

A really lovely sunny day with clear views and the sand is so fine and the beach is clean with people using it and children playing just as we used to making sandcastles and digging holes.

These Houses are lovely and the view from them would be amazing as they look out over the beach.

I would love to have a house that looked out to sea but to be perfect one that was detached and with no neighbours.

Landtrain

I love land trains they are such fun to use and the one in Bournemouth is really good value. It costs £5 each but you can get on and off as many times as you like in the day.

Ours was Peppa Pig train and the people running it were very friendly and helpful. This is brilliant way to get around and you see far more than if you were to walk around the area.

Land Train

We went through a lovely park with beautiful trees and plants all taken care of and no rubbish anywhere.

This was taken from the Land train looking out to sea as we passed along the seafront.

Beach huts are all along the front and can be hired out on a daily or weekly basis
Rental costs

See what they are like here
Beach Huts

I can recall my parents having a beach hut that they rented and we used it a lot it was a great way to have all you needed for the beach without lugging it with you.

Gardens

We spent part of the afternoon in the lovely Gardens that were peaceful and relaxing and had enough seats for people to use.

A large balloon can be found in the park and takes people up to see Bournemouth from the air. At £12.50 pence each it was something we did not do.

Palm trees grow in the park and a man made water way runs through it.

Ducks swim along the waterway and fight off the Seagulls when they are fed by people. One Drake was really scalding the seagull making sure it knew he was not happy.

The waterway is beautifully planted and treat to see, they have taken care not to overdo the planting but to enhance the area.

A lovely waterfall has been added the water trickles down with a soft relaxing sound and made to look as natural as possible.