On to Portsmouth after Cowes. We took a different, but equally as efficient, ferry there. Portsmouth is a bigger city with a university, sights to see, and good transportation, although from a downtown apartment, everything was walkable or by a taxi/Uber. We spent a full day at the Dockyard; the highlights were definitely the Warrior, complete with period and role-playing docents who insisted only on staying in character and not answering “current” questions. No big deal. The other ship, Victory, notably is undergoing an extensive renovation and was limited in its scope and accessibility. The sites there are a bit spread out, and the sub museum required a boat ride. Unfortunately, it stopped running early in the afternoon, so we gave it a miss. The boatyard is also a classroom, and while nobody was working there at the time, it still was interesting to see the types of rehabs there were doing, and a good, short film on the history of the business there in relation to World War II. The British Naval Museum is a good stop for navy fans, maybe not so much for non-navy types.
We spent a good bit of the second day at the World War II museum and a related exhibit (a destroyer). Afterwards, we walked to Gunship Quay for dinner and shopping (Alas, no thermal underwear anymore at M&S, but at least tights that I wore nearly the rest of the trip in an effort to try to stay warm. It may have been a little cooler than usual, and we had some rain there and in Bath, so even with layers and a raincoat and umbrella, it wasn’t the best weather experience.)
Everywhere we went, people seemed very happy that we were visiting both cities, as they are not on the tourist circuit according to local residents.
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