Harbour

After wishing me a happy birthday, and because they had work, Mark and Rob left early this morning to get the ferry back. PY and I decided that we wanted to head to Ryde to have a look at the flat we’re trying to buy. So, after I had a morning opening a few presents, we took the bus Ryde and had lunch at The Ryde Castle hotel. After lunch we wandered around Ryde harbour, walked around the lake as well as popping along to the flat. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon so we had another drink alongside the water.

Back, via Newport, for an afternoon in the hot tub before we headed to the reception area - which has good wifi - to attend a volunteering briefing. The Team London volunteer team had put out a call for volunteers to help with the expected crowds who will be coming for The Queen’s funeral. It’s know as Operation London Bridge. The whole things was very well organised and I have my name for a couple of shifts during the rest of the week.

After the briefing we got ready for dinner. PY had booked The Royal Hotel in Ventnor. We managed to find the entrance in spite of the directions on Apple Maps sending us on a bit of a detour.

The dining hall is very grand and spacious. The were quite a few people dining but it was very well spaced out. It was one of those restaurant where, at a lot of tables, two people are sat a side-by-side and not face-to-face. Fortunately, ours was not one of those. Dinner was delicious. The Gallybagger Soufflé, which is a speciality of the hotel, was really good and throughly recommended.