The Belvedere Hotel Bournemouth

... to our other blog please let me know or alternatively you can search for shunny81 and this is the name of it. There are a few to read but it will take away the boredom on a Friday afternoon. <br><br>Hope your all well and the weather is not to bad. Just think of us when its raining having to take shelter of the 35 degree heat. <br><br>All the best <br><br>Nigel <br>

Sophia&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;<br>Right it is Wednesday the 11th November we'll be departing in a few days!!!! Realy getting excited and a bit nervous now just thinking this time next week i will be on the other side of the world!!! Busy time now though ahead last jabs tomoz as well as seeing katie and lexie for the last time till i get back!! Then the evening ...

... we watched a show every night except one and an English pub called the rising Sun where a pint of Boddingtons cost £2.60. Very reasonable I thought. Anyway for the first time in eleven days we were looking at rain and gloom, but by the time we got to the Railway Station is was brightening up a bit. the trip back to Scarborough and then on to Whitby was uneventful. We were home for 19:00.

Bournemouth has a very funny layout.. the two main streets of the town go up both sides of the hills that lead down to the park and eventually to the famous Pier.<br><br>I was a bit down in the dumps this day.. I think because I was watching all the families and couples having some fun. It was mid term break so there were heaps of kids around and the entrance to the Pier was packed with amusements and ...

... woops. I'm still in one piece so its all good. Must have given the driver a heart attack...<br><br>Deidre and John also took me around the New Forest and showed me an old oak tree that is 600 years old!!! And of course we had lunch in a pub, a nice roast with HUGE... I mean HUGE Yorkshire puddings. Beaulieu is a lovely place too, an old Abbey sits on the rive in town. I saw where Ric************ owned a huge place within the forest. Christchurch ...

We had breakfast at the IBIS Hotel in Southampton and then went for a walk around the West Quay Shopping Centre and discovered the biggest IKEA we have ever seen. We went back to the hotel for about 11:30 and checked out. The taxi got us to the Mayflower terminal at about 12:30 and by 13:15 we were in the Belvedere restaurant on board Arcadia having Lunch. We set sail at 16:30 on our way to Madeira

... instead.. lol. I still can't get over that they don't have huge shopping centres, everyone still has to walk between shops in the wet!<br><br>While I was there I had to work out how I was going to get from the railway to the catch the bus to the New Forest. My next port of call!<br><br>Southampton is also famous, well in the olden days ...

Tue 26/2/2008 Travelled to Bournemouth via Waterloo station. Walked along the seaside and saw the sunset. Felt weird being on the beach in a coat, scarf and beanie!! I then explored the town. Studied for the test tomorrow, just a little bit nervous. Expenses 85.60 lunch, dinner, 2 nights accom.<br><br>Wed 27/2/2008 Travelled in to Bournemouth ...

... find a place to eat. It was lightly raining, so we quickly ducked inside the first pub we found. We sat for a few minutes, talking about our day. We found out, though, that the pub has just stopped serving food, so went out again into the rain. We walked a bit longer and came upon Wagamama, a noodle bar. Tory had hear of this place in London, so we decided to give it a try. We were seated at a long table with ...

... which meant we had to wait a few minutes for our taxi to Bournemouth. I had the first faux pas when I started to get in the front, right side of the van. Of course, that is the driver's seat in the UK. I blame it on the jet lag. :-) I tried to stay awake for the 2 hour drive to Bournemouth, but it was a struggle. When I was able to stay awake, I saw a rolling green pastoral landscape. We got to Bournemouth and our ...