Afternoon walk on the beach II

David and I dropped off the last of Delaney's belongings to her, along with the remainder of the food we had leftover from our stay in Bournemouth.  We head out tomorrow.  We decided to spend one last afternoon on the beach.  Every single day we've been here, there has been rain in the forecast for the following day and it has never materialized.  One day it was 90% chance of rain and we just got an hour of mist.  I understand the rainy season is just after Christmas.  I'm glad I'm here now. 

I love street artists/musicians.  This guy had a skeleton drumming for him (remotely controlled by a foot pedal).  Fun!

This boy was digging a hole all the way to China.  His little sister (probably 18 months) toddled over, lost her balance in the sand, and fell head first into the hole. Her mom and I laughed so hard!

It was very clear today.  You could see Harry Rocks very well.  

A local had just come in on this boat and was pulling fish out of a net.  He proceed to take them up to the beach walk and sell them (or offer them for sale, not sure if anyone purchased them).

We walked quite a ways in the surf.  There were some houses along the top of the cliff.  I thought the cliff face did not look particularly sturdy.  It looked more sandy than rocky to me.

A lot more people were out enjoying their beach huts today.  There were signs on the beach "no BBQs until after 6:00".  Also signs on the trash bins saying "no hot coals".  Don't want a dumpster fire!

This was the walk up one of the many "chines" small drainage valleys that come off the cliffs to the beach.

Trip to London's West End!

The highlight of the trip for me was to see a show on the West End - Mary Poppins!  We took the morning train in to London to catch a matinee.  We got tickets in the nose-bleed section, but still had a good view of the stage.  Mary Poppins flew right past us at the end of the show.  Amazing!

They had closed off several streets to make them pedestrian ways and open dining for the many restaurants in the area.  We had dinner reservations for an Italian place.

We arrived about an hour early and decided to do some people watching in the park.  Inevitably I pulled out my geocaching app to see if there were any caches near by.  There was one.  A nano hidden on the fence railing around the park.  There were probably 75 people in the small park, so muggles galore.  Delaney and I strolled along the fence and were talking quietly about it.  A groundskeeper said "are you looking for the puzzle thing?"  We said yes, and he pointed us right to it. It felt like cheating, but he was so eager to help, we didn't stop him.

After the show and dinner, we had another hour to kill before the train out of Waterloo station, so we walked over to the South bank of the Thames.  The lights were very pretty.  This is Parliament and Big Ben.  I was hoping that the renovation work to Big Ben would have been completed, but alas, it was still covered in scaffolding.

The London Eye

Evening ice cream - a must!

Afternoon walk on the Beach I

After spending the morning at the air museum, we decided to visit the beach.  The days have been absolutely beautiful.  Highs around 70-72 with light clouds and a great sea breeze.  I have mostly visited beaches during the peak of summer and find them hot, sticky and exhausting.  Walking on the beach when its 70 is a whole different story.  Energizing and refreshing.

We stopped for pizza before going to the beach.

There were SO many of these parasailors riding the updrafts along the cliff lines.  We never could figure out where they launched from, but all of a sudden another one would appear and be gliding over your head. 

The beach is pretty clean.  Lots of small shells, seagulls, and very soft fine sand (that is not blazing hot when its only 70 degrees outside).  The UV intensity is much lower here that any other beach I've been to.  We were out for two hours without sunscreen and didn't even get close to being sunburned.

Obligatory beach ice cream.  I had Bishoff flavor and it was delicious!

There were several hundred of these little beach huts all along the shore (for miles).  Not many were in use, but we got to see inside this one and satisfy our curiosity about what was in them.  Basically its a kitchenette. This guy had a hot plate for his afternoon tea, a mini fridge, and storage for beach chairs.

This funicular runs up and down the West Cliff of the beach.  There was a geocache at the top, so of course we decided it would be fun to go up and look for it.

Very steep!

Great view from the top.  Looking toward Harry Rocks.

Bournemouth Pier

 

Can't escape COVID

By and large we've felt very safe here.  Knowing that the UK is now 80+% vaccinated for 16 and up is reassuring.  On public transit, I'd say about 50% of people are masking.  Outdoors, almost no one.  We've spent a huge amount of time outside, so its almost possible to imagine life without the pandemic.  The reality does creep back in however.  There are people every where who don't believe.  Sad reality.

At the Air Museum

Delaney and David picked our fun today and it included a trip to the air museum out by the Bournemouth airport.  We decided to take the bus rather than a cab.  More adventure (and less cost).  We got to sit in the front of a double decker bus the whole way and had a great view.

A ride through the outskirts of town.  I'd say through Bournemouth, but the boundaries of boroughs, towns, etc is pretty fuzzy to me.  A lady at a clinic on the Talbot (main) campus said she didn't know any health clinics "all the way over there" (at the Landsdowne campus where Delaney lives).  "All the way over there" is literally 1.5 miles away.  Suffice it to say that we rode for about 45 minutes. 

The museum had more planes that I expected, although most of them were only cockpits, not entire planes.  The staff explained that the location used to be in a hanger on the grounds of the airport, but the owner booted them out and they had to move across the road into the open air.

The museum was designed as a hands on one.  You could climb into almost every display.

This is the Bournemouth airfield.  There are a number of regional flights that go out of here, particularly Ryan Air.  The museum was relocated to the very bottom of the picture in the center when you can see what look like rows to the south of the road. 

It was VERY close to the taxiway for the airport and had an observation deck where you could watch the runway.  This Ryan Air flight taxied by while we were there.

The hands on displays were cool, but the signage they provided was great!  Not only did it include the history of the individual plane that was on display (from manufacture to being decertified), it also included more general information about the type rating of that particular kind of plane.  I found this blurb about the Falklands/Malvinas war fascinating.  

A mobile airtraffic control tower.  They had displays of active radar inside.

A visit to Campus

Delaney had to pick up her actual student visa card from campus the other day and complete her international student check in.  We tagged along so we could explore the campus since we never got to make an in-person visit last year.  Its about a 15 minute bus ride up the road from her apartment.  University students get free bus passes and she's figuring out the app and other routes.  She's only a 5 minute walk from the train station and grocery store, so she doesn't need the bus for those.

The campus is very compact. I honestly don't know how they offer instruction to 15,000 students.  The footprint of the campus is easily 1/4 of my own campus.  In looking at Delaney's schedule, her classes meet irregularly (in a pattern that I cannot discern).  There is a lot of independent and small group work that happens apparently.  I hope she'll be able to shed some light on the program of study after this week when she attends her introductory lectures. 

This is Dorset House - the home of the Faculty of Science and Technology (Delaney's college).  Her labs are in this building. 

These are the stairs in the center of the Student Center.  Delaney and I both looked up and turned to each other and said at the same time "moving stairs in Hogwarts??" I think there are five levels here. Its kind of like an MC Esher painting.

Outside the library. Delaney wandered through all of the floors of the library looking at the various carrell and study spaces.   

They have some pretty cool group collaborative spaces.  Kind of like a large restaurant booth with a large screen on one side including a webcam.  One group could readily video conference with others.  (on the right side behind the grey dividing wall)

The "Fusion Building" - campus dining, small group meeting spaces, etc. 

Its a pretty modern campus, and the university itself is not that old.  It was awfully empty for being less than a week to the start of classes, but I'm sure it will be hopping soon.  Since Delaney moved in on the first day available, students have been steadily moving in to the accommodations.  

Delaney's Accommodations

Delaney scoped out all of the different residences halls carefully before choosing to live in Purbeck house.  It's one of several large housing complexes very close to the center of town.  A large grocery store (ASDA) is a block away, as is the train station.  Very convenient.  If you walk the other direction, the beach is about 10 minutes away.

She chose the 3rd floor just in case the lift doesn't work well.  

Not too far to walk if necessary.