Surf's up?

The weather is still glorious as I have a wander around the seaside town of Bournemouth. First stop is the slightly strange Russell-Cotes Museum.

It's the sort of museum that Britain does well - small and basically a collection of eclectic stuff that a couple of perhaps slightly eccentric Victorians gathered on their travels. With lots of paintings, pottery and knick-knacks it is a lovely little place to waddle around. That it "is a combination of Italianate villa and Scottish Baronial set in grounds incorporating a Japanese garden" adds to its charm. I head down into the town and then take a stroll along the pier and the sea front - on a cool, crisp, sunny winter's morning its a lovely place to be.

For the past couple of days I'd been staying at the Urban Beach Hotel - an achingly trendy 'boutique hotel' which has had great things written about it in the Times, Guardian, and Elle. It's lovely - the rooms are the nicest I've stayed in for a while - but I'm not sure, and I don't think it is either, whether it's a small hotel with a great bar, or a great bistro bar with rooms attached. It's in Boscombe rather than Bournemouth proper, and has a laid back surf theme. The fact that the surf is minimal on this part of the south coast doesn't actually matter - currently there are plans to build an artificial reef in the sea which will create more surf. Even without that I did manage to spot some hardy surfers in the morning. If you're looking for somewhere different to stay on the south coast, you could do a lot worse.

Refreshed after a brief break, I head back to west London.