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The drive started out pretty slow as we headed towards London but we had Chewbacca to keep us company and lots of great music between us. Once we were on a roll and traffic was moving smoothly it seemed like no time before we came to what was clearly the start of a really beautiful part of the country.

New Forest is a rather large area in Southwest England comprised of National Forest, free range pasturing, lots of hiking, biking and riding trails, picnic areas, villages, docks and a great shoreline with a stunning view of the Isle of Wight. The rolling grazeland in the area is known for its free range ponies, donkeys, cows, mules and whatever else might be smart enough to stay out of the road. I looked forward to seeing animals roam freely in a country so old and well established. Overall I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much open land there is in the UK, but that’s why I love to travel, to learn about places and people and redraw my own internal world map. No one ever known much of anything about anywhere unless they visit.

Almost as soon as we came into New Forest we found a country road to explore with just a little ways down that, a trail with several ponies next to it in an open field. They weren’t particularly excited about people but weren’t annoyed either so of course we took as many photos as possible from a safe distance and enjoyed stretching our legs, breathing clean air (although horse scented) and taking in the green, undeveloped surroundings.

The Ponies

Unicorn in New Forest, England

We drove down several country roads headed towards the coast, starting from the town of Ringwood and going Southwest, deeper into New Forest. We started to see lots of parks where hikers, bikers and campers were parked and decided it was a good time to eat our packed lunch. We pulled into Anderwood Park, a forested park with an open field where we ate our food  - next to what appeared to be a werewolf den. After we were sufficiently full of donuts, bagels and soda, we drove through the village of Lyndhurst, a quaint little place with a huge park filled with ponies and a steep grassy hill with an ancient looking tree at the top.

From there we headed south towards the coast through the town of Lymington and strolled down Quay Hill to the Marina. Quay Hill is a classic little brick street lined with shops selling nautical collectibles and leading to the Ship Inn, a yacht pub right on the marina. Without any shoppers or tourists, it’s a great place for a photo of an English fishing village street and the Marina was filled with interesting boats, sea birds, with an occasional rowboat or canoer passing by.

When we had our fill of villages we found a road that took us past the ruins of an old farm and more wild ponies, onward to a private sea front view of the Isle of Wight. We hung around for a while before our drive to Bournemouth, appreciating the bent trees and cold sea air. A win surfer came ashore and two “metal-detector clad treasure hunters” wandered slowly on the wet clay beach but it was otherwise it was a nice quiet ending to a long day.

We didn’t have internet so we somehow found a Travel Lodge in Bournemouth, which was unfortunately a terrible and expensive room with holes in the wall, springy beds, no soaps of any kind and a shower head that pops off as soon as you turn the water on. After we packed our things into the room we went next door and got a beer, then, sleep and an early morning to start it all over again!

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Brighton is a coastal town on the south coast of Southeast England, a small but substantial city with tons of parks, a huge public beach, beautiful architecture and a bustling shopping district and nightlife, as any Saturday between the hours of 2pm and 10pm will easily prove.

We started out our visit to Brighton pretty poorly, sitting in a queue to a parking garage for 15 minutes before getting to the point where the light was and seeing we had no less than another 20 minutes to wait to just the entry of the garage – with no way to know if it was actually full and had been for hours. We immediately left the line and searched for greener pastures which reared its head in the form of some street parking on the street parallel the seaside boardwalk (Kingsway). After running to and from 4 different dysfunctional parking meters we were able to buy just 4 hours of time but took what we could get and set out on our way to wander aimlessly.

The boardwalk clean and sky was mostly clear. It was a little cold for beach goers but bicyclists and pedestrians were plentiful and at least one point there were some people playing ping pong in their tees near a cafe. There was an unsightly pier at the point where we crossed the road into the city but we paid it no mind, filled with games, rides and other beachfront atrocities I’d rather forget.

We started out on some main streets, vaguely looking for what we would later find out was the Royal Pavilion, a building construction in the mid 18th century and intended as a seaside retreat for King George the IV when he was the Prince of Wales. The building is done in a popular (at the time) Indian style and during the reign of Queen Victoria the building was purchased by the City of Brighton and made into a lucrative tourist attraction. The thing seemed somehow completely perfect and well maintained so without looking that info up, I’d have never guessed its age.

The Lanes & Wai Kika Moo Kau

After we walked around a while, seeing only well known store names and busses we decided to look for The Lanes, a part of Brighton where pedestrians can walk freely, indie boutiques flourish and good food (even vegetarian food!) can be eaily found. We walked down Kensington Gardens, among the thick but manageable crowds and eventually found Wai Kika Moo Kau, a down to earth, affordable and delicious vegetarian restaurant with burritos, burgers, falafels, and a “full English breakfast”, among  many other options. We had a great lunch, worthy of fueling us through the crowds and hours of walking we had yet to do.

Feeling good and fed and after walking thorough The Lanes, towards the church and museum and everywhere in between, we came across “Ye Old King and Queen”, a Tudor style 18th century farmhouse turned pub and event hall. There was a generous courtyard and numerous giant sports screens with a football game on, in all corners of the giant seating area (soccer for ye Americans). The ATM rejected out cards when we tried to acquire cash but luckily Ye Old King and Queen took cards anyway (it’s proven more dependable and safe to just go to a bank ATM for cash anyway). The place was full of tourists, probably for the same reason we walked in, because it looked like an awesome old building that needed visiting. We had our warm ales (and by warm I mean room temp, not actually warm) and begrudgingly watched sports from all angles while Blair struggled to make it a few pages into The Sun – basically a British tabloid somehow considered an actual news source by some. He made it to the sports section but could no longer pretend to be interested.  The bar was nice to look at while we drank though had a slight obsession with its own namesake and had man sized chess pieces above the bar. I later found out from the website that the place has an long lists of murders and suicides that happened on its grounds and the believe the place to be haunted! Possibly our first haunted pub!

Afterwards we took the long walk back to the boardwalk and along to our parking spot. Since it was getting darker and the roads were getting more empty we were able to move the car closer to town center and walk around some more.

She Sells Sushi by the Sussex Seashore

We walked past numerous bars and most the shops were closed or closing and we were hungry again after our long walk. We wandered around for ages trying to decide what to eat. Ross and I have become frustrated with the concept of Pizza here as some kind of a fancy “Italian food”, when clearly it was created and perfected by America *insert snarky smile* (…but really, we were quite annoyed when we paid $16US for a thin crust, single person pizza). They do have Domino’s and Pizza Hut here but we’ve been warned; they are likely the same as in the US anyway.

We passed up a couple run of the mill veggie burgers and avoided the many places that were quickly filling with Saturday night crowds. Eventually, when we were getting really fed up with looking, we found a Sushi restaurant, Moshi Moshi, with hardly anyone inside. Sure, sushi can be expensive (even though this was a conveyor belt style establishment) but the satisfaction of eating good Japanese food far outweighs the regret of paying more for thin, unsatisfying pizza (not that we won’t keep looking). Ross’s brother had lots of little plates of food shoved at him and we all left feeling pretty full and satisfied when we left.

Cell-phonery:

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Lake Tour

Enjoy a round trip of the villages, lakeside towns and tranquil resorts that are scattered around the shores of Lake Garda. With the help of a coach and ferry, you can appreciate the rustic villages, picturesque landscapes and rolling hills, while having the opportunity to explore beyond the confines of your chosen resort.

Venice

While staying for the duration of your holiday in Lake Garda is perfectly acceptable, what’s stopping you from exploring one of the most romantic cities in the world during your visit? On the road for under two hours and you will arrive in this breathtaking city full to the brim with history, culture and beauty. Whether you choose to admire the historic landmarks or you prefer to people watch in St. Mark’s Square is completely your call.

Windsurfing

Wind conditions are incredible in the north, giving windsurfers of all proficiencies a perfect spot to hone their skills. Whether you choose to surf from Torbole or Riva is your call and if you’re a complete beginner, you can enjoy taster sessions, including equipment hire, during the summer months.

Chilled, active or cultural – there’s something for everyone in Lake Garda. Take a look at the Neilson holidays in the area for an excellent value Italian sojourn.

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Cats here seem really smart, friendly and/or wary, depending on where they live, but city cats always seem more street smart to me than cats that don’t know the dangers of roads. They don’t have to worry about predators like our cats do but people drive a little crazy on some really narrow roads so they have to be pretty clever to survive, or just stay inside. The last one was next to a school so I bet he gets harassed by school kids now and then, he was pretty worried about us trying to pet him.

Black Cat in a Window in Aylesford

Ditton Cat crossing a parking lot

Maidstone Cat on Wall

We miss our kitties but the pet resort is having a blast with the cats and even bought a water fountain for them (their preferred way of drinking water). They get the run of the room basically 24hrs and have two cat towers to hang out on as well as their 3 bedroom cat condo. Susa spends all her time looking out the window at the birds and Andre, probably still sad about being at a shelter recently, is having a harder time opening up but is getting better. Trevor, the mouse, has been coming out more during the day to look at the people who work there. Susa is the main pic on Canyon Pet Resort’s facebook page and Trevor is the mascot for their new small pet services. We’ll be taking next week off to drive around the country some, and time is ticking by, but it’s still 6 weeks til we return to Arizona and see our pets! We won’t be leaving them this long for a long time I hope but I’m so glad we found a place that takes the time to hang out with them, where they have so much space and freedom. No worries about them getting outside while staying with a stranger, plenty of attention and things to do (including cat TV and music), and they even get to see Trevor from time to time.

Some pics from Canyon Pet Resort:

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