We recently visited the Portsmouth/Southsea area on the southern coast of England and had an excellent time. The B&B where we stayed, Ashby's, was great with large rooms, delicious full English breakfast, and a location that kept us central to everywhere we wished to visit during the trip. While Portsmouth is on the water, we wanted to visit one of the award-winning Blue Flag beaches and decided on West Wittering beach. West Wittering was a great choice and even though a bit chilly we really enjoyed watching all the kite surfers, sailboats, waves, etc and relaxing by the water. Olly was brave enough to get into the water even though he could not feel his fingers for about 30 minutes afterward :-)
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip with everything including; walking to & around Old Portsmouth, Historic Dockyards, Southsea Castle, the Renaissance Trail, playing Pitch & Putt next to the sea, sipping afternoon tea with scone/cream/strawberry preseves at a little tearoom, and eating 2 fantastic dinners on opposite sides of the spectrum. Our first night we enjoyed a fine dining meal at Montparnasse and oh my gosh was it delectable (Olly's pork belly & cheek took the medal for most delicious and least expected) and the second night we ate at a local pub The King Street Tavern where we enjoyed homemade pub food that was sooo good with locally brewed beers & live jazz.
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| Lawn leading up to Southsea Castle (built in 1544 by King Henry VIII as a fort) |
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| Manning the Fort :-) |
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| One of Henry VIII's outfits |
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| Walking along the Renaissance Trail |
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| West Wittering Beach |
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| Olly collecting seashells |
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| Menu for Montparnasse between us we tried the: chili marinated mackerel, breast of wood pigeon, panfried steak (the mushroom & bread pudding was unbelievable), 24 hour pork belly & cheek (oh my gosh), and the hot chocolate pudding with bananas & chocolate milkshake & honey pecan ice cream (all of which were so delicious). |
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| Our reserved table at the King Street Tavern where we had an excellent spot to watch the jazz. |
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| Short but all freshly made list of menu items at King Street Tavern where we tried the first & last options ( both of which were truly excellent pub food). |
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| Us enjoying the food & jazz |
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| Walking along the beach in Portsmouth before heading home |
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All of this combined made for one very unforgettable and wonderful weekend trip to England's coast!
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