8/14 (Friday) – Isle of Wight (Ryde, Bembridge Windmill, Brading Roman Villa)

Again the weather was rather miserable but when on vacation one must muddle through.  First stop was the town of Ryde with a half mile long pier.  It was made this long because the tides here are quite high and the bay relatively shallow for a long ways out.  The length was sufficient to allow the unloading of ships, even at low tide.  We took the train out, hopped out to take a picture or two, and then got back on the train for the return to town. 

We walked up Union Street, sight of a number of old Victorian and Georgian buildings with only a few that were of any particular interest. 

Best stop of the day was the Chocolate Apothecary, where we had awesome hot chocolate.  Fortunately they had some for sale so we bought several bags.  More weight for the luggage.

We then headed to Bembridge to see the life boat station and an old wind mill.

Then it was on to Brading to see the Roman Villa Museum.  The Isle of Wight was apparently an important trading location during Roman times.  Fortunately, the entire villa was enclosed in a large building...making it dry to tour.  A number of the walls had been excavated

and there were several mosaics that were in relatively good condition for being 2000 years old.