Today I ventured to Poole but not before I ran some errands in Winton and Westborne, which are suburb/surrounding villages of Bournemouth. I bought an all day bus ticket and jumped on buses to and from Bournemouth town centre, the hub for all directions.
The morning began with a proper fry up, a traditional British breakfast in a local pub In Winton. All that was missing was tomatoes. Then I took a bus to Westborne to pick up a book I ordered from a traditional book store. It hadnt arrived, so I got on a bus to Bournemouth and then on to Poole.
A strange place, the Poole bus station. There is a street map but it makes no sense for a tourist. Someone had advised me to walk through the shopping mall and on to the harbour. But I could see no mall. I asked for directions and was told to walk past Subway and go into the Dolphin. You get strange advice when you ask for directions in England, usually you are told to walk through five bizarrely named streets (that all curve in weird ways) and under at least one train bridge. So I went to the
shop named Dolphin, and discovered it was doors to a regular shopping mall. I went through to the other side and came out onto Pooles high street. It is a long street with tons of charity shops and I went into nearly every one and bought a summer dress. Near the end, it turns into the old town part if the high street, and then opens up to the harbour front. I really liked the historic houses, pubs and cafes. Poole harbour is very large with all kinds of boats: sailboats, yachts, fishing boat, tour boats, and larger working boats. I didnt see much of a beach, but I didnt walk the entire length of the harbour side.
All of these towns and villages have their own British charms, but I think Westborne is my favourite. It has beautiful shops and pubs along a very handsome high street. It does not have the worn out sections that are in the other towns
