Day 1 16/8/09 - England

London -> Bournemouth -> London

Highlight

• Well, it turned out to be a glorious day, so it seemed like the whole world decided to descend on Bournemouth today.
• It started off with the very crowded train, which was luckily on time, then the great rush for the whole train to get off at Bournemouth, and then waiting a long time for all the people to pass through 2 ticket gates.
• First stop was off to Castlepoint shopping centre, where there was a market being held. We got a bit distracted though…first we discovered they sell lots of baby stuff at TK-Mexx, which incidentally, we’d never stepped into before this, and then all the shops that had all the maternity clothing…you can’t find them in London, and have to go all the way to Bournemouth to find.
• The farmer market was small, but we did manage to pick up some locally made cheddar.
• Caught the bus back out to the City Centre, where the crowd has truly arrived.
• The beach is probably the best I’ve seen so far in the UK, golden sand, not much waves, cliff faces at the end. The surprisingly thing is that the broadwalk is not too commercial – all of that is concentrated by the Pavilion, with rides and tacky stores, when you get out to the beach itself, there are only a few stores selling snacks and drinks, with more of people’s private hut than anything else.
• We took a walk on the broadwalk, and was happy with the sun shining, the wind in our hair, and the crowd thinning out as you move away from the lifeguards.
• Trek to Chez Fred, but was dismayed to discover that it was not open for lunch, so we lunched on some M&S Takeaway instead.
• Relaxed in the central garden, watching all the families and lovers making a day of it.
• Took a walk around the town centre, but really there is not much there. We ended up going to more shops and buying more stuff, and ate even more ice-cream.
• Went back to Chez Fred to get those infamous pea fritter – which is really mushy teas fried in a dough ball. It was pleasing, and the fish and chips were outstanding too. Worth the trek.
• Spent some time eating in the garden, and took a last glance at the beach, before joining the crowd to fight our way back to London.

Food

• berries & clotted cream and strawberry ice cream (£3)
• pesto pasta salad
• avocado and bean salad
• Italian biscuit gelato (£1.50)
• Chez Fred dinner:
  • cod and chips with mushy peas (£4.40)
  • haddock (£3.90)
  • pea fritter(£0.75)