My theme for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is – Places I Have Been. After some contemplation I decided to limit it to Places I Have been in the UK, this is because I have been to far more places in the UK and have very limited experience of places outside of the UK. I hope you enjoy my post.

Victoria

Up until a few years ago, Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in the UK, until Queen Elizabeth II over took her. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901. During her reign the British Empire was at its height and the industrial revolution was taking place. There are parts of the UK that have tried to recreate this era with living museums, such as the Black Country Museum and Iron Bridge but they are not just of that era, they tend to span decades.

There are five places in the UK that are a associated with Queen Victoria, Kensington Palace, Norris Castle, Windsor Castle, Balmoral and Osborne House. I have only been to one of these places so far, and that is Osborne House. It is also the only one out of the five that was built during the reign of Queen Victorian, so it is a true Victorian building.

Osborne House is located on the Isle of Wight, which is about 2 to 5 miles off the south coast. In fact, as I mentioned in my Portsmouth post you can look over to it from Spinnaker Tower, but it is also quite clear view from the beach. You can catch a ferry from various points on the south coast, or you can go over on the Hover Craft from Portsmouth. I have always wanted to have a ride on the Hover Craft, ever since I was little and I used to stand on watch it. I will have to do it one day.

Osborne was built as a summer residence for Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. They built Osborne to escape from their life at Court back in London. They would celebrate special occasions there and would also entertain visiting Royals and ministers there.

It is understood that Albert was very involved in the design of Osborne and the Italianate design was copied all over the empire.

If you are interested in Queen Victoria and her family life, it is a fascinating place to visit. There are lots of items belonging to the Queen and her family, also gifts that where sent to them from all over the Empire and from other Royal Households who were guests. There is a lot of history to absorb here. One of my favourite things about Osborne was The Swiss Cottage. I was going to say little Swiss Cottage but it is bigger than some peoples homes. This was where the royal children were taught to keep house and look after a home. There are little allotment plots where they would grow there own vegetables. It wasn’t about playing for the royal children it was about learning, but it is still a very pretty cottage.

If you are planning a visit to the Isle of Wight, I recommend that you take a day to visit Osborne. Besides the house, there are beautiful grounds and you can also visit Victoria’s private beach and see her bathing machine.

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Thank you for reading x