Our last full day in Winchester

we are ready for breakfast

later that day, watching the ducklings

For more photos from today, look at the links on the right...

He said:
The weather has been much better than the forecast, clouds and sun, along with a rare shower.  It has been quite cool though, so we bundled up and then walked all over the place starting with a look at the Rifles Museum in the Peninsula Barracks.  Because we were Americans, they gave us a free paperback book about the settlement of North America, and the campaigns where the American and British were on one side, and the French and the native Americans were on the other side.  I guess that the book was to show that America and the UK are on the same side.

The more that we walk now, and the more hills we climb, the better later on, and right now, we both have a few chinks in our walking armor.  Knees, feet, ankles, muscles squawk a bit, and I'm feeling the effect of not having enough time to get in walking shape before the trip, but that could not be helped.  We must smile and tell each other simply: "walk on".

We saw a duck family get reunited today, something I did not expect to see in Winchester.  It was a wonderful sight of so many young chicks happily scooting around the surface of the river.  Two of them got sucked down a side channel with a lock, and a city worker came to the rescue with a scoop on a long pole.  I think the squawking mother duck was very surprised and happy when that happened.

Today, I confirmed where the South Downs Way leads out of town, there were few street signs that gave any indication of the start of the walk.  Tomorrow, we are off to see the downs.


She said:
One of the great leisures of travel is coffee in bed in the morning - so luxurious.
Another, of course, is staying in hotels. Breakfast prepared for you, room cleaned and fluffed when you come back from whatever you've done in the day, room service (enjoyed that last night), very good toiletries (in this case from The White Company of London, one of my faves) and a million thread count linens.  Heavenly.
Today we had a much slower paced day than yesterday.  We poked our way around town.  Went back up to the Great Hall to take a few more pics of the Round Table, then next door to the Military Museum -The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum.
Right off the bat I learned something new (love that) - In 1741, the British military decided to dress their troops in uniforms.  Previously, soldiers fought in whatever clothes they had.  Once this new decision was made, the military administration searched for the cheapest bulk cloth they could find.  And, it was red. So, rather than some romantic reason that the British were called "Redcoats", it was a simple matter of economics.
We all know how the Revolutionary War turned out, and the easy target of bright red uniforms sticking out in either green forests (summer) or gray forests (winter) had a lot to do with that.
One of the results of that British defeat was that in 1797, the military changed the color of their uniforms, hence The Royal Green Jackets Regiments.
A couple of other quick notes: The British call that war "The War of American Independence", and we each were given a small bound book as a keepsake of our museum visit, entitled "The Royal Americans" - I skimmed the first few pages and learned plenty already about George Washington and Pre-war America. We forget that our military was loyally part of the British military before the big break-up.
The museum was chock full of mannequins in uniforms and medals and ribbons and photos and paintings and, another of my favorite things, dioramas. One entire room was filled with a giant diorama of the Battle of Waterloo. Press a button, hear the blow by blow of the battle, with each highlighted section of the battlefield lighting up as the commentary rolled on. The Battle of Waterloo ended the Napoleonic Wars (20 years of them) on June 18, 1815.  This particular museum is getting ready for a blow-out exhibition to be staged next year. I cornered a museum board member as he left a meeting on the subject to ask him about epaulettes (answer coming up) and he said they were going to knock down walls so the Waterloo diorama could be even bigger. Well, that would be something to see.  And, this museum is so obscure - hard to imagine throngs flocking to see it. Still, he was enthusiastic and was raising buckets of money to get it accomplished so more power to him.
Epaulettes - They are some crazy uniform decorations! But, of course, they did originally have a real function, other than just fancy dress for officers. They were used to secure the lanyards that whistles where on so they were always at the ready, and they also held rank medals or pins so that soldiers knew who they were talking to.  They still are used today, and the fancy dress ones are still outrageously ridiculous - gold braided and huge.

We had lunch at a small restaurant in a small alley behind our inn - Ginger Two for Tea - delicious watercress soup and granary bread.  A rain shower blew through as we were snug in the restaurant, so all worked out well.
Many of the streets and alleys in Winchester are pedestrian only (quite nice - take a lesson, Palo Alto) and the short, stout metal posts that once acted as barriers to keep cars from hitting walkers are now individually painted with brilliant, whimsical scenes and themes.  Since my Painted Chair foray, these things just jump out at me.
Passed a couple of very clever shop "shingles" hanging above the stores - a giant medieval boot above a Clarks Footware store and a giant teapot above Wittards Teas and Coffees.
Decided to get another quick hill walk in before tomorrow and walked again up St. Giles Hill.  On the way we passed the oldest house in Winchester (1450), now a restaurant (one of the top 20 romantic restaurants in Britain, says the London Times) but it is situated on the absolutely worst corner of the town with three major roads converging so really, not much attraction.
Up St. Giles Hill we went.
Now that my head isn't sore anymore (head into doorknob, 5.10) my right hip feels gimpy.  Sigh.  I wondered if there will ever be a time again when nothing hurts but figured that more likely there will come a time when everything hurts, so...thankful for just my minor twinge today!

Walking back we took the river path and saw a RSPCA (Royal Society for the  Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) officer trying to rescue two baby ducklings who had gotten separated from their mother and were dangerously close to being swept over a waterfall.  They were cheeping and swimming like mad and getting nowhere fast.  The officer finally caught them in what looked like a swimming pool skimmer net and walked them back towards their Mum. As soon as she heard their cheeps she swam towards the net quacking her brains out - either happy they were back but maybe not because they had 9 siblings or maybe she was scolding them for being such knuckleheads. Hard to know what a duck thinks.
Anyway, a happy bit of comical serendipity.

Walked back to our inn through back streets and alleyways quiet and charming. In the Cathedral grounds we met two pugs, one blind and the other crippled (a mother and daughter, their owner said) who played, oblivious to their maladies and to us. A Dog's  Life!

Tomorrow we begin our walk in earnest - 10 miles to Exton and the Corhampton Lane Farm.
Sweet dreams.