Day 1 16/8/08 - England

London -> Portsmouth -> Ryde -> Winford -> Alum Bay -> Ryde -> Portsmouth -> London

Highlight

• Slokky didn’t know the way so we went on a big walk around Portsmouth Harbour looking for the ferry, which was actually right at the station.
• At least we got to check out the discount outlets and Gunwharf Pier. Will need to “do” Portsmouth one day.
• The ferry ride was very quick. We managed to get w for 1 ticket, so wasn’t too expensive.
• The sun was out, but disappeared very soon after we arrived in Ryde.
• Had a quick walk around Ryde, lovely small town, visited the farmers market for really yummy unpasteurised milk blue cheese.
• Caught the Open Top touring bus to the Garlic Festival. It was very windy and bumpy and cold, we couldn’t really hear the commentary, but it was fun nevertheless.
• I didn’t expect the Garlic Festival to be so popular…it was really a country fair afterall, but it seemed like all the locals were out enjoying the day.
• We watched a dog show, some bad fire eaters, a boring cooking demo and some mediocre bands.
• The highlight had to be the food. All the garlic-themed food was fun, if not always successful, the ice-cream was definitely the standout.
• We managed to spend 2 hours looking at everything, then caught a bus to Newport for another bus ride to The Needle. The bus took a long time, but The Needle was definitely worth it. Fringed by chalk cliffs and spectacular views. If only the grey clouds didn’t decided to come over at that minute, and if only it wasn’t so cold.
• Because of that, we pretty much headed off after having a quick look at an old rocket launch site and a rocket exhibition.
• We walked to Needles Park, had a look at the carnival and stalls set up there, before another bus back to Newport, listened to a very dumb lady read out loud.
• Had very disappointing fish and chips (we didn’t have time to have a sit down meal) before jumping on the ferry for the crossing back.
• We actually got home quite early. Because the bus rides were so long, we didn’t really have enough time to do the whole island. We will come back again, probably when another festival is on.

Food

• Garlic festival:
  • garlic bread (£2)
  • garlic beer(£2)
  • garlic caramel fudge (£1)
  • garlic ice cream (£2)
  • Minghella chocolate chilli and garlic ice cream (£2)
  • garlic soup (£1.50)
  • bbq corn with garlic butter (£2)
  • bbq corn with garlic butter (£1.80)
  • taste test garlic relishes, cake, smoked goods, tomatoes, cheese
• cod and chips (£4.30)