Portsmouth - The Beach With Gale Force Winds

Grant had a fencing tournament in Portsmouth so we went the day before to see the sights. We stayed in a hotel in Southsea. It was the cheapest we could find and in the grand tradition of British beach side hotels, they looked dated even though our rooms were supposedly refurbished. It still looked like we were visiting Grandma's house.

As we walked on the beach, Grant was all like: "touch the sea!" Too bad a wave swept in and wet his feet. He did a funny dance like the hot shoe shuffle, poor guy!

It seems that whenever Grant and I go to a beach in this country it's raining or hailing. And the beaches are pebbly. This time we had the bonus of gale force winds. We braved the wind since it was sunny and walked along the coast to Gunwharf Quays for dinner.

 Is this windy or what?

It was like we were in a wind tunnel. At one point I thought I was body slammed. The sun disappeared. Seafoam was whipped from sea to land. It was tumultuous and surreal watching a storm unfold. Then the rain came down and we ran for shelter at a bus stop. It was a seaside stroll to remember.

Choppy sea, sun and grey clouds.

We made it to the Gunwharf Quays with wet clothes and after a bit of window shopping we had dinner at Loch Fyne. It was still windy afterwards but we wanted to walk back with the sunset. It was beautiful and on the way we saw the D Day museum where they had two original tanks from WWII. I can't believe I was close to these artefacts and standing at a critical location of wartime history.

The next day Grant went to his tournament and I returned to London. I had to meet a handyman at my flat and just as I was about to jump on a train at Victoria, my iphone fell out of my pocket and slipped between the platform and the train.

I stepped back in horror and let the train pull away. My phone was a foot away from the platform by the tracks and still in one piece. The underground staff arranged two guys in Hi-Vis wear to stop the trains. Everyone was told to disperse along the platform and I could hear the next Victoria northbound thunder up and suddenly stop short of the platform with it's headlights blazing. Naturally everyone was confused, asking what the hell was going on.

It took a second for the underground staff to grab my phone. I got it back unbroken after eight or so trains rolled over it (luckily with no contact). Everything went back to normal and I held my phone tight as I boarded the train.