The New Forest Pub in Ashurst (next to the railway station)

Lyndhurst high street

 Dry land!

It wasn't nearly as stressful as I feared. First thing this morning, we moved down to the boatyard and turned off the engine. Our suitcases appeared immediately, and we began packing. The proprietors called a taxi for us, and before long, we were on our way to Leamington Spa to catch a train. The itineraries that I had found online looked pretty intimidating. Robin ignored them. We took the train from Leamington to Southampton, switched trains, rode to Ashurst (New Forest), then waited a few minutes, outside the pub, for another taxi. This one took us to the door of our hotel (The Crown Manor) in Lyndhurst. The whole operation took about four hours. We've since had a stroll down the high street, bought some fresh fruit for the room, gone downstairs for dinner, and come back to spend the evening lying on a big bed, watching colour television. (Ooooooh.)

That's St. Michael and All Angels church (below), which is just across the high street. I'm rather hoping that they'll be having a big patronal festival tomorrow. Meanwhile, it's lovely to hear the clock chime the hours.

From our hotel room window

At the hotel restaurant, I asked whether they could do something with no meat or dairy. I suggested the linguine with artichoke hearts and lemon cream. If the cream is real cream, I said, just leave it off. I don't know what was in the sauce, but it was delicious, and I ate it along with a green salad. The artichoke hearts were fabulous.

We can't be eating at the hotel every night, though. I've got to do some serious hunting for vegan fare. That reminds me of an old cartoon. I think it was a Far Side. It featured a group of  six (?) cavemen carrying an enormous carrot. The caption read "Early vegetarians returning from the hunt".