England #4: Southern England and the Journey Home

You can find the first three parts of the Southern England travelogue here:England #1: The Drive, Canterbury and London England #2: Windsor and Oxford England #3: Cornwall

With the impressions of Cornwall fresh in our minds, we drove on after breakfast, feeling a bit wistful. But the vacation isn’t endless, and we slowly had to start heading east again. Bournemouth was chosen as the destination for the first leg.

But my girlfriend didn’t want to leave without at least dipping her feet in the Atlantic. Not exactly the best idea in early December at low tide. But you know how it is with women: shortly after setting off, we were trudging through the muddy sand of Newquay beach. After 150 meters, we took off our shoes and socks and went barefoot into the sea. Cold is an understatement. After fifteen seconds, my feet were numb, and we hurried to put our socks and shoes back on. Not so easy in the mud.

Now, it was really time to go, via the country roads of Cornwall. It takes a good hour to cover 50 kilometers. But the landscape makes up for it. Since it was on our route, we made a stop in Exeter around noon. The cathedral was recommended in the travel guide, and I have to agree—it’s definitely worth a visit. A Christmas market in front of the cathedral motivated us to take a stroll, but in the end, it couldn’t hold us there. Back to the car and onward.

Originally, we had planned more time for the south, but during the trip, we shifted our focus to Cornwall. As a result, we were a bit at a loss as to how we should divide our time in the south. In the end, we decided to be spontaneous—apart from Bournemouth. I had spent a few weeks there as a language student many years ago and really liked the city.

Since we arrived in Bournemouth quite early, we spontaneously decided to drive past the city and stop at Milford on Sea to both catch a glimpse of the Isle of Wight—originally a destination in its own right—and watch the sunset there. The plan worked out, and we had a great view of the Isle of Wight and a beautiful sunset.

Bournemouth

A Romantic Christmas

Since we had sacrificed the daylight, we didn’t get back to Bournemouth until after dark. There, I drove with my girlfriend to some of the places from my language course: the host family’s neighborhood, the language school (apparently no longer there), and a shop where you can drink hot chocolate made from Belgian pralines (unfortunately, already closed for the day). What we didn’t have yet? A hotel. My girlfriend got to pick, and it was another older hotel. It had just been spruced up, but the windows still needed renovating. The location, however, was great.

We quickly brought everything to the room and set off on foot. Bournemouth used to be a seaside resort and accordingly has a pier. We explored it first, but apart from a nice view of the Christmas-themed Ferris wheel and the city at night, it had little to offer. So, back “onshore,” past the Ferris wheel, and into the romantically decorated park. We were successfully filled to the brim with Christmas spirit here. Our arrival at the actual Christmas market was therefore relaxed, but the market itself was rather disappointing. Ten stalls, basically just food, and none of it looked very appetizing. The hot chocolate warmed us up for exploring the small city center and gave us new energy. To finish off and for dinner, we had a bratwurst (from the German Event Company) and raclette (authentic!).

Full but frozen, we headed back to the hotel. On the way, we passed a group of young women in short dresses and sandals. The mere sight of them made me even colder. But even at the Christmas market, this wasn’t an unusual sight. The British are tough, I guess.

The lack of breakfast at the hotel motivated us to take a morning detour into the sleepy city. Since most places were closed and it was still cold, we had a hot drink and something to eat at Pret a Manger, then continued on by car.

The plan for today: buy tea from Whittard’s in Portsmouth, then head to the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters. The day’s final destination is still open.

Portsmouth, Seven Sisters

and then onward

From my language course, I had brought my girlfriend tea from Whittard of Chelsea. She loved the tea back then, and since it’s not currently delivered to the EU thanks to Brexit, it was clear: we’re taking some with us. Throughout the entire vacation, we had looked for the tea in supermarkets and couldn’t find it. But there’s a Whittard’s store in Portsmouth, so the destination was set. We were surprised, however, that the shop was located in a beautiful shopping and residential center right on the harbor. Instead of just quickly buying tea (which was time-consuming enough thanks to the selection), we also walked among the shops and watched the hustle and bustle.

But daylight is short, so we eventually tore ourselves away and drove, again via country roads, to the Seven Sisters. The Seven Sisters is an extensive cliff face on the south coast that shines a brilliant white. The image is probably familiar to everyone. What surprised me, though, was the fact that in just under 100 years, the coast has been pushed 250 meters further inland. It makes you a bit uneasy on the one hand, but on the other, it reminds you of the power of nature. First a walk below the cliffs, then on top of the cliffs, and just like that, another two hours were gone. The sky grew darker; it was time to move on.

Where to? Eastbourne, a city similar to Bournemouth, or Hastings, also basically a seaside resort. The ferry leaves the next day at 2:00 PM. Overwhelmed by the impressions of the last few days, we opted for the relaxed version: we’ll drive to Dover, spend the night there, explore Dover in the morning, and then get on the ferry.

7:30 PM, arrival in Dover. We hadn’t picked a hotel yet, but we were hungry and first went shopping at Marks & Spencer. While there, we came to an agreement: our heads are full, Dover isn’t very exciting, and a hotel is expensive. Why not ask if we can get on a ferry tonight? No sooner said than done, and after customs control and paying a surcharge, we were on the ferry.

The rest? Arrived in France just before midnight and then headed straight back to Hesse. At 6:00 AM, we were in bed, physically and mentally exhausted.

Conclusion

Is a visit to the island monkeys worth it?

A definite yes. It was only a week, and not much of our original plans remained. Nevertheless, we experienced so much, explored so much, and enjoyed so much that it doesn’t feel like just one vacation. The division of the posts is not arbitrary; for me, these are the distinct parts of our road trip.

And really, each of these parts would be worth at least a week. England has a long history and a very unique culture, which, however, differs from region to region. Everything in Southern England throws its history at you, and I had a lot of fun experiencing and exploring this history.