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| Bunderson at Chiquito |
Ahh, a travel blog. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these! I finally took the plunge to go for a weekend away after 18 months of basically being homebound and while I was anxious about bringing more than just memories home, it was great to have a change of scenery, to see my old university haunts and to see Jade (obviously). We both graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2014 and while I’ve been back with Matthew a few times since, Jade has not. I couldn’t believe it when she told me, and we promised each other we’d go back for a reunion. That was in 2020, but fast forward to July 2021 and we were finally there. After 8 long years, Jade was back in ‘Pompey’; and I was there too. Anyway, sit back, relax, and come with me as I take you on a weekend trip of pure nostalgia…
Friday:
I took the whole day off as this worked out easier for transport
and set off on my epic voyage at about 8 even though my coach wasn’t until 10.
Why, you ask. Well, I decided in my infinite wisdom to take the bus into Oxford.
How wrong I was. It was the night before when Matthew gave me the shocking news
that even though we lived half an hour max from Oxford, the bus would take an
hour and 5 minutes. AN HOUR!! And they’re trying to promote people taking the
bus? My coach to Portsmouth was taking 2 and a half hours and that’s….a lot
further away! Anyway, there I was sitting on this bus with my suitcase clamped
between my thighs wondering why, for the 4th time in 20 minutes, we
were stood stationary with no one getting on or off. To say I was infuriated
was an understatement. After an hour of my life was wasted for what should’ve
been a 20-minute journey, I was finally off the bus and heading to the coach
station and before I knew it, my coach was rolling in.
Nowadays, you cannot simply get on a coach, oh no, you have
to be temperature checked first. Now, I’d already planned for this moment
believe it or not. After having my temperature checked at home before I left, I
planned to get there early so that I could make my way to the coach station at
a calm, glacial pace as to not cause any temperature spikes. Ok, so that’s
probably not quite how it works but you’re talking about me here. I’d been
looking forward to this trip since God-knows-when we booked it and I wasn’t
going to let a National Express driver with a temperature gun ruin it for me
now. Thankfully, after not over-exerting myself, I was the perfect temperature
to get on board (my mouth, however, was a different story. After an hour and a
half under PPE, she was starting to sweat)
Fast forward now to 1:10. I had arrived, and Jade had got
there about 20 minutes before me. But, thanks to my lack of phone battery and
my portable charger giving up the ghost, my phone was dicing with death. Cue
hilarious conversation with Jade about what ‘The Hard’ was and where she was
waiting in relation to locations I knew and she didn’t, and then explaining to
her where HMS Warrior was- “it’s the big ship, you can’t miss it!”
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| "The big ship"- HMS Warrior |
HMS HELP!-I’m-on-10%-battery.
Bunderson were finally reunited and heading to our home for
the weekend - Travelodge - to drop our bags off and have an initial wander
about. According to my little notes plan, we were going to kick off the old Bunderson
traditions early and head for a Nando’s then to the cinema. What actually happened…
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| Southsea Seafront |
Get to the hotel way too early then sit talking, planning,
phone charging and gushing about being back for half an hour before we were
allowed to check in. We checked in, took the lift to the 7th floor,
and entered our room to find that while we had a stunning view, we had no
biscuits and no bin. Not to worry, as after half an hour of me charging my phone
and Jade freshening up, we were back out pounding the pavement on our way to the
beach to make the most of the nice weather before what was rumoured to be a wet
weekend. This is where the first of our spontaneous change of plans happened. It’s
this spontaneity that very much characterises a Bunderson meet up of any kind.
Most of the time, like this time and the many other times during this trip, I
go with the flow, but sometimes I do have to rein Jade in a little. She’s the
outgoing one and I’m the reserved-until-you-get-to-know-me one. This Ying and Yang
works as she brings out my confidence, while I ground her when she starts
making plans that even Willy Wonka would class as ‘out there’. We walked along
the promenade like a couple of Bridgerton wannabes gasbagging and taking
pictures of the beach. As we admired the view and watched the Hovercraft returning
from the Isle of Wight, we remembered the times we’d come here to escape our studies.
I remember running along the promenade back in the day, if I tried that now my
lungs would implode. As if that sentence didn’t age me enough, nature came
calling and we bee-lined it for the nearest public toilet which was in fact one
of the best kept public toilets I’d come across in a long time - Kudos, Portsmouth
City Council! Now what is needed after a nice loo break? An ice cream of
course! Jade had spotted an ice cream van earlier and we headed there where we
met a lovely local on a video call with his friend, Paul (I think that was his
name) and we started chatting to the pair of them over our pot of whippy and a
flake. After giving us some recommendations that we’d immediately forget
because we had the memory of 84 year olds, we sat with our ice cream looking
out to sea…like a pair of 84 year olds.
Jade then had the idea of going to see our house from 2nd
year. We crossed the Common and meandered through the streets of Southsea before
arriving at our old front door complaining how much our feet already hurt. All
the memories came flooding back; our regular runs to Tesco at the bottom of the
road for snacks or drinks, our Harry Potter marathons, the time Jade dropped
her brand new iPhone face down on the pavement. Nothing much had changed on the
outside though; it was the same door, same dodgy pavements, and the creepy cemetery
opposite of course with a thriving community of foxes.
It was then time to head to Gunwharf for dinner and the
cinema. Cue our next spontaneous move! Instead of going to Nando’s, we went to
The Alchemist after rocking up and hoping they had a table free. While we were
munching on our mains, we said we’d come back here on Saturday for drinks
before ‘the game’. Did we go back? Keep reading to find out!
Next up, the cinema! We’d had a peek at the timings before
we went to dinner and decided it was either The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (one
hell of a mouthful) or Fast and Furious 9. Now, F&F for me has gone on a
little too long. The last one I remember seeing was the tear-jerking F&F 7
with the Paul Walker tribute and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scrub out that rose
tinted memory in favour of a new one. Despite all that, we let the time decide
and it just so happened that we finished our dinner just in time for F&F 9.
So, after a Tesco run for drinks and snacks, we were back in front of the big
screen for the first time in about 18 months.
The film was good if not a bit far-fetched, and there was a
big twist in there linking to F&F Tokyo Drift. It had all the fun and hijinks
typical of the F&F franchise, but I’m just not sure where they could
possibly go with a 10th film. The romanticised notion we all have of
the high-octane family headed by the protective patriarch Dom is hard to ‘Letty’
go of (see what I did there) but I think it’s time.
After the film, we headed back to the hotel and conversation
turned to old times. I would like to say I felt 18 again, but my feet hurt, and
I was ready for bed (it was 11pm) so probably more like 80, but it did feel
like we were back at Uni again heading home after another Bunderson movie night.
Honestly, we should’ve got loyalty points at Vue for the number of times we
went there over 3 years.
Saturday:
As many of you will know, Saturday the 3rd of July
was an important day in the sporting world. That evening England were playing
Ukraine in the Euro Quarter Finals. Before that excitement, it was time for
more exploration Bunderson-style, which meant wondering around using only our
slightly faded mental map of the area. First, we decided to pay a visit to our 3rd
year Uni houses. In 3rd year, me and Jade lived 4 streets down from each
other, but despite that, we actually spent most of our time in each other’s
houses for one reason or another. We ended up near my road first so headed down
there. I’d forgotten how long the streets were in Portsmouth and we both said
multiple times ‘how did we do this all day every day at Uni and then go out at
night?’. Oh, the wonder of youth. If you’re reading this now and you’re under
20, make the most of everything now because before you know it, you’ll be 28
wondering where all your time and physical fitness went. My old front door looked
exactly the same. That dark green with silver numbers in the centre. I wondered
if the inside was the same as I took a picture hoping no one was in to find me,
a random stranger, taking a picture of their front door. As we walked away heading
for Jade’s old house on Bailey’s Road, I replayed old memories of walking back
here from a full day (and night out).
Jade’s old place had a new front door and we could hear
people inside, so she took a hurried picture of the outside before we moved
swiftly on. It’s funny how a front door or a single street can bring back
memories from such a long time ago. I remember saying to Jade how while I know
it was me that experienced those 3 years, it almost feels like it wasn’t me at
all - like an out of body experience.
I was having another out of body experience as we walked
towards Palmerston Road. My feet and legs were screaming at me from all the walking
we’d been doing (I’m usually quite a docile being) but I knew it’d be worth it
sitting in a nice café with a refreshing drink. Palmerston Road is a little shopping
area right by the Common and seafront area. There were market stalls selling
homemade bits and bobs and it was surprisingly busy. We stopped off at a café for
a good sit down and a natter and decided on another plan before the game
tonight. We knew that getting in anywhere to watch the match was wishful
thinking, so I suggested we watch it at our hotel bar. Not glamorous by any
means, but unlike everywhere else, the hotel bar wouldn’t be packed out as it’s
guests only.
So, game plan (pun definitely intended):
- Look around the shops at Palmerston Road.
- Get back to our hotel to freshen up/do some packing/ have a much-needed rest from all the walking.
- Head over to Gunwharf for some dinner.
- Return to the hotel, get a round in and get ready for kick off at 8pm.
- Head to bed.
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| The Spinnaker Tower, Gunwharf Wharf |
For the sake of time, let’s skip to number 3. For those of
you wanting to know whether we actually went back to The Alchemist for dinner
and drinks before the game, we didn’t. What we did instead was panic book
somewhere while sipping our drinks in the café hoping that someone would’ve
cancelled and opted for dinner at home instead. As everywhere was booked for
the evening apart from Chiquito’s, we went there instead. Our rushed
alternative turned out to be a good choice. The food was good, and the drinks
were too. While I ordered a half rack of ribs, what came out must’ve been the full
rack! Either that, or this particular pig had a lot of ribs! So, with our stomachs
lined, it was time to head back to the hotel bar. By the time we got there, the
pre-match blabber was in full swing and there was already some banter going on
between Jade and a group of guys sat at the table opposite about who was
playing and who wasn’t.
I feel this is the right time to admit something: I’m not
that into football, at least not in normal circumstances. If it weren’t such a
major tournament, I probably wouldn’t be fussed about watching it. However,
there’s something about a big tournament that brings out some kind of football
lad out in me. While Jade and the guys were betting on when Southgate would
bring on Grealish, I was silently sipping my rum and coke. The extent of football
for me is getting the ball and putting it in the goal. As I sit here and write
this with the England vs Italy final tomorrow (I can’t believe England actually
made it to the final), whatever the result, my “Football Magee’ing” as Matthew
calls it, will be over. Until the World Cup in 2022.
Fast forward 90 minutes and England were through to the semi-finals
having thrashed Ukraine 4-0 and we were both a little tipsy. I’d not been tipsy
for a very long time, so it was another out of body experience. After the
match, we went out for more snacks in Sainsbury’s (probably the drink talking)
and the atmosphere in town was electric. Everyone was singing ‘It’s coming home’.
Everyone was happy. I didn’t want to go in any pubs though as I felt I’d pushed
my luck corona-wise already at the bar, but we wandered down Guildhall walk a
little before coming back, having one of those drink-fuelled heart to hearts and
collapsing in bed at gone midnight. Tomorrow was our last few hours in
Portsmouth.
Sunday:
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| Our view from the hotel: Victoria Park |
And here we are, Sunday has arrived already! We woke up at
8:30 ready for the breakfast we’d booked for 9:30. I felt surprisingly OK
considering the past 12 hours and was up and dressed watching the TV. Jade got up
a little after me and we looked at videos and pictures from the night before.
Breakfast was a welcome wake up for us both, particularly me
as I was starting to feel a little peaky. After another quick suitcase check
and a nap (for Jade), we checked out and headed out towards Gunwharf via
Victoria Park which had been our view for the last 2 nights. We both sat on the
park bench watching the world go by, silently feeling the effects from the
night before. There were also some vocal cockerels in the park probably still
raving on about the unbelievable England result.
As our departure time neared, we walked, aching (on my part)
to Gunwharf where we went for a drink and a wander before heading over to ‘The
Hard’ for our journey home. Jade’s train was first, so we said our goodbyes. While
it was an exhausting reunion weekend; we’d packed a lot in, it was also really
fun too and we said we’d make this reunion something more regular than 8 years!
We’d wandered past our old Uni buildings, walked past our
old houses, and shared funny and embarrassing stories of our Uni-selves. It was
great to have someone with me to share that with all over again. The trip made
me realise just how much changed in 8 years. But one thing is for certain,
Bunderson is still going strong.
I know, I know. That last sentence was incredibly cheesy, forgive
me. How else did you expect me to end a story about a reunion weekend away with
my best friend?
Also, the serious stuff. I did test myself upon my return
home both on the Sunday and again on the Wednesday. Despite my anxiety of going
away on my first ‘staycation’ for 18 months and potentially bringing COVID home,
I tested negative.
So, with that story told, it’s time to end for this week. No
doubt I’ll be broadcasting updates from the final on my Instagram, so keep an
eye out for that, but I’ll blog again next week.
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