Bournemouth & on the road...

 Yesterday we spent a nice day at the seaside. (You have to say that with a British accent for full effect.)

By afternoon the beautiful sunny day attracted hoards of visitors to the coast. We started the day with a large breakfast, at 8:30. After the FULL English breakfast (choice of cereal and fruit, juices, yogurt, coffee, tea, etc. followes by eggs and bacon, fried tomatoes, beans, mushrooms and toast ) at our B&B we walked a few blocks to the beach. Then we followed the beach road to the Bournemouth pier and the commercial centre of Bournemouth. The beach was quite empty on our walk into town. It was a pleasant 35 min walk. Temperature in the mid teens. Sunny with a light wind.  

We spent a few hours looking round town.... Browsing the stores and people watching.  Our newly aquired SIM card for our iPhone seemed to be acting up. Service was intermitant. Luckily I found a Vodafone store and they quickly and efficiently rectified the problem by installing a new SIM card.

A couple of times yesterday, I was impressed with the efficiency of businesses when it came to handling busy situations. In the Vodafone store I was approached by a women as I walked in the store. She asked me what I needed. I quickly explained the problem with the Phone. She wrote my name down and told me look around and listen for my name to be called. Within a few minutes a young fellow called my name, showed me to his desk, asked me about the problem and quickly rectified it. 

A similar situation occurred at a popular fish and chip restaurant on the beach strip.  I suppose this is a case of practise makes perfect.  With twice the population of Canada in a lot less space, they have plenty of practise dealing with crowds and queues. 

By the time we made our way back down the beach it was active with families having fun on the beach and in the water. Surfing is popular here although the surf was not high enough to break on the reef. 

          Morning on the beach looking west toward Bournemouth 

          These little sheds / cabins were all along the beach. Families own or rent them to

           store their beach gear. They have little kitchenettes in most of them and beach 

           chairs, tables etc.  as the families arrive a community of picnics develop. I was told 

           that these little huts are unique to Bournemouth. 

On the road...

This morning I picked up the motorcycle and brought it back to the B&B to figure out what we could take with us.  It took a while to get things organized and by the time we were ready to depart, the rain arrived.   We left a suitcase and a few things that would not fit in the motorcycle luggage at the B&B until we return in a couple of weeks. 

The rain didn't last long and was it was only spitting a bit when we had traveled a few miles. The traffic on the motorway toward Salisbury was quite busy. Mostly weekenders who were heading home early. We followed our planned route clear of the main highways.   Our route took us around Salisbury enroute to the Cotswolds. As we approached an intersection north west of Salisbury we noticed a huge  field filling up with cars.  As we passed by we realised what was the attraction....  All these people were stopping to visit Stonehenge. We had visited Stonehenge in 1971, so we gave it a pass this time. 

Around 3:30 we started looking for a place to stay. We came across a place called the Mill Inn so we stopped to check on accommodation. It turned out that they didn't have rooms to rent but made a call for us to check on a room. This place was full but they gave us directions to a pub in a nearby village.  

When we arrived at the pub located in Grittleton they had a room for us. We checked in and quickly ordered a beer and a cider. The pub closes at 4:00 and reopens at 7:00. When the staff left, we were sitting on the front patio with our refreshments. They and told us that the side door was open and to let ourselves in to go to the room. They also told us that if we locked yourselves out just go up the fire escape, the door is always open!  Gotta love small towns!

We went for short walk, watched a bit of cricket and went back to the hotel for a nap. After the pub reopened we went down for a bite to eat, another beer and to chat with the locals. It was a good day!

    The Neeld Inn

   The view down the street from the  pub patio.