We had a fantastic day out with my grandparents in Portsmouth today. I am so glad we put it off last week and decided to go this week instead. The weather could not have been more different! Last week we would have got soaked and miserable. Today we had clear skies and sunshine! We even went up Spinnaker Tower and got a wonderful view!

The most impressive thing for me was the Mary Rose restoration. I remember going to see the Mary Rose on a school trip; it must have been in the early nineties. All i remember then was a bunch of wood which didn't even look much like a ship, and i remember water being poured all over it. But today we saw it all put back together so that you can really tell how it originally looked, and from the back angle you can see a clear line showing where the silt preserved it whilst the rest eroded away. These days they spray it with wax, but they said that eventually they will be able to dry it out and make a permanent exhibition, along with all the artifacts they found from diving to it. We saw some of these in a separate museum, but they say there is plenty more to show. Here are some videos of the Mary Rose recovery operation.

I was also impressed with the HMS Warrior … what a huge ship, made of iron and driven by steam. We went down to the engine to see the huge pistons driving the propeller. Absolutely incredible. It looked a lot friendlier than the HMS Victory that we went on last year.

We also had a boat tour around the whole dockyard, seeing all the naval ships that are in at the moment. It was great to go up Spinnaker Tower later on and get another perspective of the dockyard.

We had a nice lunch in a café and we looked around the shops at Gunwharf Quay. All in all it was a wonderful day! :D

1. Loz Says:
   November 26th, 2007 at 11:04

   I saw the Spinnaker Tower when my family went on holiday to the Isle of Wight in September. Didn't realise it was open to the public though.

2. Aimee Says:
   November 26th, 2007 at 11:10

   Oh yes, for a fee you can go up to the viewing platforms at the top. You do get a very good view. Yesterday we could see from Bournemouth to Brighton, making out Gosport, Portsmouth and Hayling Island very clearly. We could see the whole of the Isle of Wight from one end to the other. I think we could even see the outline of France.

   I have been up the Spinnaker Tower three times now, and would happily go again any time.