Wonderful holiday!

Well, we are back after what was a truly wonderful holiday. We went to Itchenor, on the south coast near Chichester and had a fantastic time in all the sun. We went out for a family trip to a museum of some sort each day and then in the afternoons Alex and I went to the beach. I think watching Alex charging round on the beach splashing in the tide pools and growling at the waves was definitely the highlight of the holiday for me. Alex loved being on the beach so much that we went everyday.

There was so much to see and do in the area that we barely scratched the surface in our week there. For anyone who travels in that direction Fishbourne Roman Palace is definitely worth a look with its fabulous mosaics, including some extremely early examples similar to those found in Italy.

We had a lovely day pottering round the Downland and Wear Open Air museum where they have moved old buildings completely intact (stone, timber, brick & tile etc) onto the museum site to preserve them. My favourite building was this old mill which is still working and grinds flour made from corn and wheat grown on site.

A view of the castle from the keep.

Arundel castle was a big hit with Tim as it was so impressive and the weather meant that there were some wonderful photograph opportunities. There were a huge number of steps to carry Alex and his buggy up to get to the keep but it was well worth it for the views. The interior rooms of the castle, especially the library and chapel were beautiful, but sadly no photography allowed.

The Mary Rose
Admiral Nelson's flagship 'Victory' from Trafalger

No trip to that area would be complete without time spent at Portsmouth Historic Docks. I have been fascinated by the Mary Rose ever since I did history at prep school and since we watched the raising of the ship in 1982 (when I was 8!). It was wonderful to see her and to see all the amazing finds that are being preserved in the museum giving an amazing snapshot into Tudor life. HMS Victory was wonderful with its distinctive colours and fabulous staterooms and we spent a happy hour or so looking round her.

Finally we went to a little Airforce museum at Tangmere where they managed to cram a lot of things into a tiny area including some fabulous old planes etc. We even got to sit in a cockpit of one and to fly a simulator which was all good fun.

I did manage to do a little crafting while I was away in the form of a minibook of our holiday made almost entirely from leaflets and postcards picked up at the various museums we went to...I will of course be scrapbooking the holiday using my own photos at a later date. I will show you the minibook when I have a chance to finish it (in the next week I hope) and in the meantime leave you with another photo of Alex at the beach. More soon,

Love,

Caro

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