I do not think I had been to the Isle of Wight before. It is a big island with several towns just off the English south coast. It was also where Queen Victoria spent a lot of time at Osborne House which her husband Prince Albert helped to design.
To get there from Portsmouth you have to cross the Solent. There are ferries, but we went by hovercraft that takes just ten minutes. This was my first time in one and it was very smooth. It pulls up on the beach by the station and we could get a bus from there.
The house is huge and has a lot of land. There is an ornate garden just outside and then lots of trees in the grounds.
Osborne was built for the royal family to relax with their many children. Prince Albert died quite young and Victoria mourned him for decades. She died in this bed after a long reign.
The house is decorated with lots of art that they bought each other. Victoria was empress of India, but never went there. She sent artists to paint the people there and had several Indian servants.
Most of the place is not too ornate, but this room is amazing with intricate plaster on the walls and ceiling.
We walked to the cottage that was built for the children to play in. They had their own garden there. The family also had their own beach.
We spent all morning at the house then walked into Cowes. The river splits it and there is no bridge. They have a ferry that drives itself along a pair of big chains. It is cheap to cross as a pedestrian.
Cowes is famous for the big sailing regatta. There are several yacht clubs and one had all these little cannons.
We got the bus back to Ryde where the hovercraft is. We found a nice restaurant by the harbour where we could sit outside. I had a cod burger with salmon. We watched a couple of cruise ships and other vessels go past.
We got the last crossing of the day back to Portsmouth. It was a really nice day out, but then we were lucky with the weather. We may well go back to spend longer exploring the island.
