Isle of Wight: Carisbrooke Castle (part 2)

After walking around a bit in the grounds of Carisbrooke Castle for a while, we decided to hurry inside as it was beginning to rain.  The two-storey building to the left is known as the Great Hall and was built in the late thirteenth century.  The Great Hall would have been the heart of the castle in medieval times and most people ate there.  The three story building in front is the Constable’s Lodging which was built in 1397 and is in the medieval style. 

The Great Hall now houses the Carisbrooke Castle Museum which is spread over a couple of floors.  Much of the museum is dedicated to King Charles I who was imprisoned in the castle in the last year of his life. The story of King Charles I is fascinating and I would really recommend visiting the Wikipedia link above.  In modern terms, Charles I thought he had a God-given right to extort money and privileges from his subjects and that his power should be absolute.  A bunch of people called the Parliamentarians (or Roundheads) disagreed and this lead to the First and Second Civil Wars.  Charles I escaped to the Isle of Wight in 1647 but was imprisoned and finally returned to London for his execution.  His daughter, Princess Elizabeth, died in Carisbrooke Castle in 1950 after catching a chill.

With the rain clearing up somewhat, we took a walk around some of the more functional areas of the castle.  This is where much of the work would have been done in the past and the buildings were incredibly well preserved.

This is the Well House and the well’s treadmill is still powered by Carisbrooke’s famous donkeys.

They were rather cute little things and apparently they are given lots of rest and not overworked.  They looked to be happy enough.

This is the old coach house which is now a tea room.  We were having far too much fun “castle hopping” to stop for tea though as our next stop was the Keep and Motte.

With a quick snap of the south east tower, we moved over to the north eastern corner of the castle for the most awesome views yet.  More on that next time!

Let's become friends!

We have started a Facebook group where we will update with news regarding our circumnavigation and where we'll publish private pictures that you wont find in this blog. Become friends with us here.

Visited by an owl

Underway between Barcelona and Ibiza, this enormous owl came to visit us. We were heading headwind, motoring, with around 10-12 knots of wind in our face when this bird showed up from nowhere, desperately attempting to catch our arch with her claws to get some rest. Every time she tried, she lost her grip again and got kicked back in the air by the strong wind. It was totally heartbreaking to see her fail time after time while she got weaker and weaker. After maybe ten attempts, her power was gone and she got pushed backed so hard that we lost the sight of her somewhere far away in the ocean.

From Ibiza to Formentera to Palma

We went over to our friends James and Leslie and their Hallberg Rassy 38 last night in Formentera, just outside of Ibiza island. We ended up drinking three bottles of wine and one small of rum so you only imagine how the 12 hour bumpy ride to Palma felt this morning. At least for me.. Headache extravaganza. (Alex doesn't drink too much. Good for him.) Now: late lunch in Real Club Nautico Palma, Mallorca./T

Wordless Wednesday ~ 32: Burj Al Arab

From my archives: taken November 2005

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Sabai Sabai Curry Restaurant

The local radio station 91.5FM has a bunch of very local advertisements, many of them seem to be voiced by the same geezer with what used to be called a "suburban cockney" accent. One of these ads is for an Indian restaurant, of which there are several in Phuket. The geezer proclaims "I've not had a curry for Ages, I really fancy a Tandoori Chicken" or something like that. I know how he feels. Kind of. I mean, this is Thailand, so curry is everywhere... Red, yellow, green, jungle, massaman, penang. You want curry, Thailand has it, but you know us Brits abroad, we like a taste of home. And, at least to my generation, an Indian meal is British food! And I had not eaten one for ages, so was happy to join a bunch of dive folk last week for a curry at a little restaurant in Kata.



Sabai Sabai is on Thaina road in Kata center, next door to Calypso Divers. The owner used to work as cook in another restaurant which stopped doing curries, so he opened his own place. It's not big, only half a dozen tables, nothing flash but I was assured the food was good and cheap. See the sign outside - curry from 99 Baht. Win!

The menu is pretty extensive, all the favourites are there - Vindaloo, Rogan Josh, Madras, Masala, Korma made with different meats or vegetarian. And of course you can get the add-ons like onion bhaji, popadoms, nan bread, and rice. Everyone knows that you should order rice OR nan. I ordered both so I could roll home nice and full. Only nan next time, as it was the size of a small pizza...



Beers are not expensive, I think 50 or 60 Baht, and you might have a few as the food does take a while. It seems that the restaurant had only 2 staff, being the owner (chef) and his wife (service). Well, good company ensured that the wait was not too long, helped by a few cold ones. One of our group had a smoke on a shisha (or hookah, or however you want to call it). You can see them lined up just outside...





Food started to arrive, beginning with the bhajis...



And the curry! I ordered a chicken Madras (spicy) to go with the pizza nan and rice. Looked good and spicy and the sauce good and thick.





Was spicier than I expected.. well, of course when out with the lads you have to say in a deep voice 'Make it Spicy' :) Others ordered tikka masala or vindaloo. The food was very tasty, a great reminder of Indian food. In the great British tradition of going out for a curry, I was stuffed full. Did not have 6 pints of lager, though, just a Chang or 3. Hope to eat at Sabai Sabai again soon. Good curry, good price!

Ibiza

Hi there, we've just arrived in the land of madness! Late after the original plan, but right in time for a friends birthday celebration on Cocoon later tonight. And this is the catch of today. This beast woke us up seven in the morning and right now we're just about to prepare a tuna feast for our friends on the boat in the harbor of Ibiza. Talk to you later.