Welsand's in London

Our 12 Year Anniversary at the Isle of Wight

To celebrate our 12 year anniversary we decided to take a coach trip to the Isle of Wight for the day. The Isle of Wight is a small, diamond shaped island, measuring only 23 miles east to west and 13 miles from north to south. It is located about 5 miles off the southern coast of the England. Despite being so small the island has a variety of landscapes and coastal scenery--chalky downs, high cliffs, sandy beaches, woodland, meadows, vineyards and meandering rivers. The island is often referred to as "England in Miniature." The island also has a rich heritage from dinosaur remains and Roman villas to historic castles and thatched cottages (we loved these!).

The island was made popular when Queen Victoria made it her summer retreat and eventually her permanent home. She lived at the Osborne House which is Cowes. It was built in 1845-1851 and she died there in 1901. It remains much as it was during her life.

The coach tour started for us at 8 a.m. after having missed our bus (I had a touch of flu and literally couldn't get out of the bathroom) and then taking two trains, we had 2 minutes to spare to meet the coach. Upon stepping on the coach we realized there was no loo (toilet/potty). Bad for me with a touch of the flu. Worse for Sophie (or Jeremy and I) and Miss Sophie decided after we booked this tour that she was done with diapers and wanted to be potty trained which then followed all last week. We decided to proceed.

After 3 hours of a coach ride we reached the ferry which was one hour to cross the English Channel and reach the island. A short bus ride and we stopped for 45 minutes in Godshill, a quaint city on the island. We had enough time to visit a small church at the top of a hill, stop in a few shops and have a look around, snap a few photos, and then back in the bus. Another short ride and we got an hour and a half to enjoy Shanklin. This city was once home to the poet John Keats, who also resided at a house in Hampstead, where we live. The city is separated from its sea-front by a steep and winding cliff walk. The beach looked gorgeous, packed with people, but beautiful. We didn't have time to make it all the way down. We enjoyed a quick lunch, the local shops, and a quick walk half-way down to the beach. We could not get enough of the thatched roofs! They are so unique and nothing like anything in Minnesota. Next we had more time on the bus sightseeing through the windows, an hour ferry ride, and 2 more hours to get back into London. All in all, we realized that we are not coach tour people. We loved the Isle of Wight, but for the amount of time we actually got to explore on our own to the amount of time on a bus, not worth it. Sophie did much better than we did! And, she had only two minor accidents, not bad for a 14 hour day after less than a week of potty training! Jeremy and I agreed that we did enjoy some of the tour, but we have to get a rental and visit England on our own time. This anniversary did not rank in our top ten...


For more pictures of the trip please visit our photo website.

posted by Chris @ 6:12 PM