We didn't go far today but we walked a lot. Around museums, as you do, and between museums, (but not all the way) and to the pub. Because we can.
Stephen was finishing off a document this morning, to give to his friend Mark, who is trial-teaching Stephen's pronunciation programme at a language school here in Portsmouth. So we were a bit late leaving the flat today, because we also tried to google places where it could be printed and hopefully bound. But although Mr Google told us a few places between here and the other side of Portsmouth, the first was unsuitable, we couldn't find the second, and the next was closed down. By now we were in town and had parked the car near our destination, and we decided to walk through the shopping area to see what we could find. Answer: nothing. So we just gave up for now and made for the Historic Dockyard area. We wanted to see HMS Victory and the Mary Rose. Although the dockyard is one site, each attraction had its own entry charge, but there was also a one-price ticket of $32, so that was a bit expensive. Still, they were interesting exhibits. The Mary Rose especially is a wonder of technological archaeology. This was one of Henry VIII's warships that sank in battle in Portsmouth, and to preserve it since it was raised in the 1970's, it has been kept wet, to make sure every cell of wood has a waxy chemical (something-glycol) in it so it won't collapse. And it's been kept wet for 30 years. And now they're drying it. And have been for the last 2 years. And will continue for 4 more years. And there are 15000 artifacts that were raised with the ship. It's all pretty amazing. In the picture you can see some decking and black air pipes for drying.
And the HMS Victory was interesting. Not dissimilar to the Golden Hind, which we saw in London, but much bigger in scale and a bit more modern. Then we popped into a couple more of the reconstructions / museums / exhibits, so we could get a bit more value from our ticket price, before going back to the car to go to out next destination.
Near the car was a shop Stephen noticed this morning, that I thought was closed down, but was in fact merely closed, which turned out to be an internet cafe cum computer repair shop. The guy in there was most helpful and able to print Stephen's document (not bind it, but by this time we weren't fussy) and help with a couple of other matters, so that was great.
We then drove across the city to the D-Day Museum. We were meeting Mark at 4.45 so we only had 45 minutes for this, and 15 minutes of that was a film. This museum had some very well-made diorama thingies, but the best bit was the Overlord Tapestry. I'd never heard of this, but it may be famous. I hope it is. It should be. It was a 37 panel tapestry, along the lines of the Bayeux Tapestry, telling the story of D-Day. I remember it was 41 feet longer than the Bayeux, but I can't remember how long it is. 70+ metres comes to mind. But which one? Anyway, it was beautifully made and well worth seeing.
We met Mark on time and had coffee, and then at 6ish we were free. We came back to the flat to get some laundry sorted out, and after a chat with the landlady we plumped for a walk up the road, about a kilometre, for a meal at the local pub. It was very pleasant. Not a great meal, but good enough.