#Christmas@Kew 2018

This is solely a photo blog after I went to see the Christmas Lights in Kew Garden in London. It took us just over 2 hours to walk round the mile route, but look at all the shiny lights we saw. I brought an off peak ticket, which saved me a fortune, all by going on a Thursday. If you want to drive, parking costs an extra £7 and sells out fast.

Enjoy.....

City of London - Open House 2018

Every year for one weekend buildings across London open their doors to the public. The majority of these are places that don't usually have public access. As you will see from the photos it was a rainy weekend.

The City of London is only 1 mile square. Some of the buildings needed to be pre-booked or used a ballot system in order for entry. There are a lot of other free places to visit across the whole of London. You can either find out more online or get a book from the library. The information usually comes out in August for open house weekend in September.

We visited 3 different Churches within the city. One of them being St Stephen Walbrook. This church is the place were the Samaritans was founded and was build by Christopher Wren as a protype for St Paul's Cathedral. It's altar was made by Henry Moore in 1972 and is a large central stone  (8ft wide) commissioned by Lord Palumbo. The surrounding kneelers were made by Patrick Heron, an abstract artist, in 1993

St Stephen Walbrook

We managed to get onto a pre-booked tour at the Leadenhall building around the architect's offices on the 14th floor. The building leans back from the street as there is a protected view of St Paul's Cathedral from Fleet Street. The lift lobbies at the back of the building were put in last and mean that the whole floor space is available for use. Unused lift lobbies are home to the toilets. 

The view from the 42nd floor of the Leadenhall Building, at 198m high were very good. Had it not been raining the view would have been amazing. It overlooks a number of landmarks, including Tower Bridge, the Shard, St Paul's cathedral and the Thames.

View of London from Landing 42

The Gherkin

More of London from Landing 42

We visited Customs House alongside the Thames. There were a number of presentations and stands giving information. The Long Room is home to a large open plan room and neighbours the robing room, where originally the judges would get dressed into their finery. From the quayside you get a great view of Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast.

View from Customs House quay

Finally we visited Billingsgate Roman Baths. They are very well preserved as they have been protected since the 1800's when they were first discovered. It was built at the centre of another building. It clearly shows the 3 different sections of the Roman Baths - the cold, warm and hot rooms, along with the fire to keep the hot room hot.

Billingsgate Roman Baths

Barcelona - Spain

Barcelona is a busy coastal city with lots to do. I recommend getting a Hola Bon travel card; they are valid for various lengths of time from 48-120 hours. They cover all forms of transport and will also get you from the airport and back again. My travel card was for 72hrs and only cost 22 euros. It's great to help you get around the sprawling city and beats the aerobus with costs 6 euros each way to and from the airport.

FC Barcelona football stadium

I arrived to meet protests, following the one year anniversary of the Catalan vote for independence, which the Spanish deemed illegal. It meant that roads were closed and there were lots of police around.

I travelled between places via the metro. There are a number of different lines and the metro is clean and efficient.

I started at Port Vell, which is home to a column with a statue of Columbus looking out to sea. The harbour is home to lots of yachts. Rambla de Mar takes you across a bridge that swings to let the yachts through to a shopping mall and the aquarium. Port Vell is the oldest part of the Barcelona port.

At Diagonal (yes it's a real place name) I visited Casa de les Punxes. It cost 12.5 euros, which included the audio-guide. The guide started automatically as you entered each room, which was quite cool. It began with the legend of St George and the dragon, before going round the rest of the first floor. Then you take a lift up to the roof terrace and go inside the multiple peaks and tower up on top. It was another place with a great view of the city. The building was originally 3 separate adjoining homes, one for each of 3 sisters whose father had bought the plot of land. It was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch and is an example of Modernisme. It was actually somewhere I found by accident, but really enjoyed the tour of the building and the roof.

The tower on the roof terrace

I visited Park Guell, which is a park complex created by the architect Gaudi, who also had a home there. It is located at the top of a huge hill - there are even escalators in the street to help you get up there. The view was pretty good though once you made it up there. It looked a bit like it was undergoing major restoration, but you could see a fair bit of the unique design of the park. You have the opportunity to visit the house that Gaudi lived in for 20 years, bought for him by his father.

View of Barcelona from Park Guell

Gaudi's house

The Sagrada Familia is a Church which is still being built. It was designed by Gaudi and is still a work in progress. They hope to have it finished by 2026 to mark 200 years since building began. When you see the intricacies of the architecture you can understand why they are still going. If you want to visit inside the Church you will need to pre-purchase tickets online as the tickets had all sold out by early the same day I visited.

Across the road from this was a free F C Barcelona exhibition of posters. It was quite interesting to see posters from across time promoting the team. There are also lots of other shops in this area which can be visited.

I then went to visit Camp Nou - the home of F C Barcelona. There are a range of tickets you can buy, I had a flexible ticket for self directed tour. I got a 6 euro audio guide which I didn't really use - I either missed some of the numbers or it wasn't worth it. You begin in the massive trophy room and work your way around the museum and then out to the stadium. It was a brilliant afternoon out. 

Media - interview room

Press Room

The tunnel

Media display

Part of the trophy room

At Placa Espanya I went up to the 5th floor of the 'Arena.' It cost one euro for the lift to the top and back down. The top has a 360 degree viewing platform with restaurants at the centre. The view was amazing and gave a great view of the national palace. The arena also has an exhibition space and is a shopping mall at the lower levels.

View of the National Palace

The Arc de Triumf is a massive arch built in 1888 and is next to the Parc de la Ciutadella. The park was very big with lots inside, including the zoo. It is also home to a mammoth, sculptures, water features and lots of pretty flowers.

The Mammoth

Water feature

Arc de Triumf

I visited Glories which has another shopping arcade. It is also home to Torre Agbar which is a skyscraper built in 2003 with colours (think the Gherkin in London - it is very similar).

Torre Agbar

I had a night out where I had typical Spanish dinner; tapas and Sangria. Sangria is Spanish wine served cold with fruit (think Pimms) and tapas is a number of smaller dishes. I was very brave and ate everything (with exception of the chilli), which meant trying mussels for the first time. I found that food and drink in Barcelona was pretty good value.

Portsmouth and Gosport

Portsmouth is home to a historic dockyard which has lots to see. All attraction passes (£40) are valid for a year, so I went back before my ticket expired.

As is common in the UK the trains were on strike, so I took a National Express coach. I was pleasantly surprised - the ticket was significantly less than the train fare and it took exactly the same length of time to get there.

Gunwharf keys is the home of a range of shopping outlets, bars and restaurants. It overlooks part of the harbour, giving me a great view over lunch. I can highly recommend Giraffe World Kitchen as a place to eat, the food was amazing and the service was excellent.

I stayed at the Ibis Portsmouth Centre. It is a 15 minute walk from Gunwharf keys and as it is surrounded by University of Portsmouth buildings it has a good selection of night life nearby. It is also close to Portsmouth and Southsea train station and the magnificent Guildhall. 

Guildhall at dusk

Victoria Park is also near the hotel and is a lovely green open space, complete with an aviary. It is also close to Portsmouth city centre, which is full of a range of shops.

I also walked along a section of the millennium promenade which runs from Gunwharf keys up to Southsea along the sea. It's a nice walk with access to bits of beach if you feel like a but of sunbathing.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel memorial

Royal Garrison Church - the roof was lost during WW2

The historic dockyard is covered in the blog post I wrote last year. I went to the museums within the dockyard, my particular favourite being the Royal Navy museum with its collection of warship figureheads.  There is also an exhibit solely for one of the sails from HMS Victory which was damaged at the battle of Trafalgar.

HMS Warrior

Figureheads

The dockyard ticket gives you use of the waterbus to the museum at Gosport, however I took a little ferry for £4.60 return over to Gosport, the trip of which was only a few minutes long.

Gosport is home to the Explosion Museum and the submarine museum. The latter is home to HMS Alliance, of which there are regular guided tours lasting about an hour. It was very interesting to see the internal workings of a military submarine. There is also a little museum about submarines as well.

HMS Alliance

The Explosion museum came with lots of interactive sections. It has a range of displays of ammunition, ammunition boxes and a range of guns and torpedoes. The site used to be a gunpowder store, so there is a lot on the history of gunpowder and its use. It took a good hour to go round the whole exhibition.

Gunpowder store

My favourite sticker of all....

I also visited Fareham shopping centre and a small amusement arcade at Lee-on-Solent whilst on the Gosport side. The arcade came complete with a range of 2p machines which are always a fun way to loose £2 in small change.

Brighton

There is so much to do in Brighton and there is something for everybody to enjoy. The beach is the place that everyone flocks to when the sunshine comes out. As long as you don't mind a pebble beach and the cold sea it is a lovely place to sit and sunbathe.

The latest addition to Brighton is the 162m observation tower  giving a 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. I confess I didn't go up it, but the other good way for coastal views is to catch a number 12 bus between Brighton and Eastbourne and sit on the upper deck.

Brighton is home to the famous 'lanes,' as well as Churchill Square shopping centre. The lanes are alleyways full of the more independent shops, whilst the centre is more main stream brands. There are places to eat in both places, so there really is something that will suit everyone.

Brighton is an hour's train ride from London Victoria with train links to Gatwick Airport. From the station it is one straight road downhill to the sea, with the shopping centre on the right about half way down. There are public car parks around should you chose to drive, but parking is not only tricky to find, but also expensive.

Brighton Pier is opposite the Sea Life Brighton in which you could spend a whole day inside looking at the wide range of sea life.

I am sure that there are lots of things missing from this blog post. I only went to the Brighton for a day at the beach, but there is so much to do it is somewhere you could easily spend a good few days. There are a fair few cheap hotels around the city centre.

Doughnut Groyne

There is also an arcade and fairground on the pier to keep the younger generations entertained. The pier also has a range of shops and has public toilets which is always handy to know.