from snow to sea - england day 1

long day yesterday: it began in my bed at 04:00 am. it ended around 22:30 local time in room 5, montpelier guesthouse, sandown, isle of wight, england. it was snowing like mad when i left vienna. the pilot made "quote of the day" when he - a german - said: "we have to remove the plane ... uh, from the snow." not entirely unlikely in this neverending winter, actually. i'd never been inside a plane that needed to have snow removed. interesting. it looked as if they were washing blood off the roof ... some chemical, i suppose.

frankfurt airport. i had not been there in ages. the wrong gate was printed on my boarding card - the same gate that was announced on the "connecting flights" screen as i got off the plane! tracking down some staff wasn't as easy as i'd expected, but i made it to the right gate in time. on to london gatwick. cornish pasty while waiting for my train. portsmouth, ferry across to ryde, cute little island train to sandown station. plenty of helping hands along the way, my bag was too heavy (again). steve, the owner of the guesthouse, picked me up. i settled into my little room with its stunning view of the pier and the sea. what it must be like on a bright sunny day - the kind of day i'd hoped for. for the first time in my life english weather has really let me down. steve says this time last year people were hanging out on the beach in shorts and t-shirts ... time travel would be nice sometimes!

but ... overcast skies and the chill wind couldn't stop me from taking a walk along the beach / seafront towards shanklin. i was very glad i'd brought my warm hat and my gloves, but regretted not taking my thermal tights. seriously, that wind was freezing! i took lots of pictures of cabins and birds riding the wind, it was definitely a good idea to finally buy that 70-300 mm lens before this trip! i took the coastal path (clifftop walk) back to sandown, stopping for a hot chocolate along the way. frozen, but i felt very much alive.

of course i had to have fish & chips, vinegar and all. yay! and heinz ketchup, so that in a way my dear man was with me. ;)

i was exhausted, but couldn't sleep for a long time, because i was soooo cold! i don't remember any dreams, so i won't be able to find out if they come true or not. maybe tonight.

here are a few pictures of day 1, some featuring my travel companion dotty.


fish & chips with dotty



dotty enjoys hot choc



countdown



blue & yellow



riding the wind



red



wild water


song of the day: black by danger mouse & daniele luppi feat. norah jones.