Portland. Where I was VIP for a day. And one lighthouse.

I visited Portland, UK, last May.

Family friend lives there.

My little nephew had a surgery in London and him, his Mum and I were invited to come over to Portland.

Stayed at the Ocean spa hotel.

The owner is such a great person.

She gave us a free stay, 3 days all inclusive, at this place.

Unfortunately, I just read they closed.

Verna, the manager, is very kind.

And generous.

I loved that place.

A la carte restaurant.

Great chef.

My room was enormous, big bed.

Nice sheets.

Big bathroom with all the goodies.

The hotel was just few steps from the ocean.

We came over to relax and visit W and his family.

Portland is a tiny city by the ocean.

Quite windy actually.

You can't breath how windy it is.

Great escapes.

 One day W arranged a visit to the Tank museum.

Am not much fan of a military,

but this museum was interesting.

You could see vehicles from different periods but the thing that I found really interesting was the replica of British and German WWII trenches.

The vehicle on the photo bellow was my favorite.
It would be perfect for me and my colleague considering all the places we pay a visit on our routine routes checking stored dangerous chemicals.
One would drive, the other would sit in the back, read or write.
And this thing can go anywhere.
Hehe.
Maybe I write to our financial department today asking for this.

And this museum keeps one of five existing Tigers.

And unlike other four, this one is fully functional.

We entered a tank.
Claustrophobia.
I can not imagine someone willingly accepts to be trapped in this can.
No matter that the salary is 'so great' they say.
When three of us entered the tank I realized there was not enough air.
And you can not move inside.
Bruised myself - legs, arms, bumped my head going out.
Thank you - but - no thank you.

Even here, we were followed by several TV crews.

That day, I found them particularly annoying.

Sorry guys, but that is how I felt.

Because we wanted to have an easy breezy day for ourselves.

I can only imagine how the real VIPs react on the press.

Good thing was our dear friend W had arranged, for fun, bodyguards that day.

They literally had to chase away all the reporters who were waiting in front of the museum.

Crazy day that was.

These guys are W's friends, very expensive company it is.

 And they spent that one day with us acting the same as they do with the Beckhams.

They follow you everywhere you go.

And with us - they did it for free.

My bodyguard was the person standing on my left.

I liked him.

Kitesurfer.

Very professional crew these are.

Former military.

They open the door for you.

I was in this BMW.

I felt like a star.

The way they drive in pairs - FUN!

Like in a James Bind movie.

I think my car was actually a Batmobile.

And this is my crew.

Portland is famous for its beautiful landscape.

And lighthouses.

   

This is the most photographed lighthouse in the UK.

Though the white one on the first photo was my favorite.

The downside was the WIND and cold.

It was May, and we just came from London where we were wearing T-shirts during the day.

They say this wind is normal for Portland.

Take a look.

You can barely hold a camera.

And it was just a normal day.

I am really wondering now how W will survive those ten days in a life raft.

He will do just anything to help children.

Another charity event of his.

Go W!

And we managed to see a seal in the ocean that day.

This tiny dark ball you see is a seal's head.

We froze there.

Good thing is there is a nice little restaurant by the lighthouse where you can enjoy the view of the ocean, have some warm tea and, of course, the english breakfast.

It was nice, spending couple of days in Dorset.

If you go there I suggest you go by motorbike and explore it.

Nice scenery.

English cottages.

And London is just three hours drive!

:)

....................

Changing guards. Stocholm vs. London.

During my staying in Stockholm and London in 2014, I manged to see changing of the guards in front of both royal palaces.

Let us compare.

In Sweden, Royal Palace can be approached by anyone.

There are no fences, couple of guards and that is it.

In the UK, it is different.

No way you can come close like in Sweden.

And there is no way that in front of the Buckingham palace Del Boy could park his little truck, like in Sweden.

When the guards are changing:

In Sweden, just a few japanese tourists and random pass-by people.

In the UK - it is very crowded, and the police is securing the area.

Take a look.

Sweden.

Take a look into UK.

If you ask the police politely, they will escort you to a nice spot.

Here we go.

The orchestra.

British cavalry.

In Sweden, you can come really close to the guards.

And they have women as guards too.

In the UK, this guard changing thing is massive.

And the music they play in front of the palace !?!

Listen and take a look.

They even played The Beatles!

The Queen is so lucky...

I just LOVED it!

What's not to love?

Except that -if you all did not know - all the guards carry the real munition.

Riffles and guns.

No, thanks.

Big difference Sweden and UK, isn't it?

.....................

When we were by the Buckingham Palace, we went to the Royal Mews.

It was nice, seeing royal horses, coaches, car.

 

Queen's toys.

The infamous golden coach.

People who serve the Queen live and work here.

We managed to get a really nice guide.

I was surprised to hear how strict the policy is for all the personnel.

They do not get to have much free time.

And the horses - training all day.

Turned out that pulling a coach is quite complicated since all these animals need to be in sync.

For example - if one of the horses by the golden coach would stop - the coach would fall apart.

That is the reason why these horses are very carefully selected, they train a lot and if they do not behave well - they send them to one of the villages all over England.

Looks like being a royal horse is a very challenging job?

............