Osborne House - Victoria and Albert's holiday home

Sailor and Penny's maiden voyage on a ferry was a success. It was so easy, before we knew it, we arrived on the Isle of Wight. Penny went up on the sundeck and seemed to love to put her head through the bars and feel the wind in her ears, much to my dismay. We managed to get an earlier ferry so drove straight to Osborne House, holiday home of Victoria and Albert. They wanted a getaway from the hustle and bustle of London so spent a long time at Osborne House and then Albert died, Victoria spent even more time there.

Osborne House has they stamp all over it, with V&A artwork all over the house. We entered the house through the VIP entrance, into a corridor of the gifts they gave each other. Albert gave Victoria a statue of her as an ancient greek. Victoria commissioned cupid but alas Albert died before he got his gift. It's a home, but also has the grandeur of a royal residence. During winter, you can only join guided tours of the lower levels. We heard about Albert bringing the tradition of Christmas Trees to the UK. We learned that Victoria had over 90 dogs, they had a billiard table in the house that was raised so that Victoria didn't need to bend. She was only 4 foot 11 inches. There was a curtain between the room so that men could sit, as you don't sit in the presence of the sovereign. We saw the lift that Victoria needed during her later years, but the ladies in waiting had to race to the next floor to arrive before the Queen. It was pulled by people in the kitchen. The dining room was incredibly elaborate, the ceiling was stunning and helf a Christmas tree designed by Albert. You put the gifts between the branches.

I walked around the grounds and then joined English Heritage for a year. I'm now on a mission to visit their places.