It has been a month since I first arrived in Poole, UK. Struggling with lots of new things, I found no time to walk around the surroundings until yesterday. It took only five minutes from my house to Poole Quay. Poole Quay is a visitor attraction to the south of the Old Town, lined with a mixture of traditional public houses, redeveloped warehouses, modern apartment blocks and historic buildings.

Firstly, the distinguishing salty smell of the sea reminded me of Vietnamese beaches. Is it fair enough to talk about Vietnamese beaches when introducing a British harbour? Beaches in Vietnam can be considered the country treasure especially Nha Trang and Da Nang (in the Central Vietnam). You can spend whole day under the warm sunshine (don’t forget to put on some Sunplay or else you will be back home with sunburn). The water is completely pure; the sand is extremely white and the weather is beautifully wonderful. Don’t believe me? Let’s go and I bet that you will be conquered. Turning back to my afternoon in Poole quay, the first impression was stunning. With its bustling atmosphere, busy marina, spectacular views, factory price shopping, boat cruises and a wide choice of restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs to visit, Poole Quay offers a great day out to suit all tastes. I had never seen such as beautiful harbour. I could see a man fishing, a boy feeding pigeons, a man walking his dog.  A duck couple was swimming in the water as a good sample for love. They swayed around, caressing, and sometimes kissing I guess. So romantic!!! Enjoy the views beyond the marina and across Poole Harbour – Europe’s largest natural harbour – tempting you to take one of the many harbour cruises available to take a closer look or set sail for Brownsea Island. (I’ll save money and try it next time. To be sworn before me ^^)

Bournemouth and Poole are the cities for the old people. The fresh air of the sea, the relatively slow living pace, and the good service in health care might be the main reasons. They choose these cities to live for the rest of their life and Poole was the right place to memorise the old stories in sunny afternoons. On each bench the couples were sitting hand in hand. Sometimes they talked; sometimes they ate; sometimes they played with their grandchildren. For a few couples, they didn’t need to talk, remaining silent and only looking at the sea. What was important was to be together. Looking at them, I wondered whether I could have that special moment with my sweetheart when we got older.

On the way exploring the quay, I bumped into a British man. Walking and writing down some notes, I looked like a reporter or a writer, which grabbed the attention of the people around. A British man approached me and said hello, asking what I was doing. Telling him my “noble” work of writing a blog for my course, I had a chance shaking hands with a local resident. Asking me what I had gotten so far, he offered to introduce me the beauty of the quay.

I was surprised at his profound knowledge of Poole (like a tour guide). Here was what I tried to write down quickly while he was showing me around.

The Grade II listed Customs House on the quay-front was built in 1814 and now functioned as a restaurant and bar. Nearby is the Grade I listed Town Cellars, a medieval warehouse built in the 15th century on the foundations of a 14th century stone building, and now home to the local history centre. Scaplen’s Court, another Grade I listed building on the quay, also dated from the medieval era. The Poole Pottery production factory once stood on the eastern end of the Quay but the site was redeveloped into a luxury apartment block and marina in 2001.

Boats regularly depart from the quay during the summer and provide cruises around the harbour and to Brownsea Island, the River Frome and Swanage. Public artworks along the Quay include ‘Sea Music’ – a large metal sculpture designed by Sir Anthony Caro – and a life-size bronze sculpture of Robert Baden-Powell created to celebrate the founding of the Scout Movement.

Not only was a tourist attraction, Poole quay also a historic site. If you had a chance to step on the quay, you would imagine the battle field back to more than half a century “60 cutters of the US Coast Guard Resuce Flottilla I departed for the Normandy Invasion on 6 June 1944 saving the lives of 1437 men and 1 woman.” If you were still keen to know more about Poole’s history then head for The Waterfront Museum which brings it all to life.

Every Friday evening throughout the summer the quay fills up with car fanatics showing off their shiny vehicles in a different theme every week. It’s quite good fun to watch them all driving along the seafront and the noise from the engines can be amazing!

After a while listening to his lecture, I thought it would be better to discover the quay myself and promised to mention him in my blog, a friendly British” scholar”.

I continued walking along the street and the quay gradually disappeared behind my back. Finding the way back home, I run into the fantastic sight-seeing of the Old Town. Situated at a small alley, the town had lots of pretty cobbled streets with flowers spilling out from around doors and old-fashioned buildings and lamps. There were also a lot of traditional pubs and souvenir shops and it was a very popular area with tourists. Nevertheless, the deserted atmosphere gave me creeps. “Be prepared to have your pants scared off!” during this 1-1.5 hour ghost walk around Old Town Poole. That was what I used to hear from the tales of the town. The spooky nooks and crannies of this ancient walled fishing town and the tales of ghosts, bloody curdling invaders, enraged traders and drunken pirates all at once pushed my legs to walk faster but didn’t forget to take a picture of the oldest part in Poole.

Although I spent only half a day in Poole quay, I thought I had fallen in love with one of the biggest harbours in the world. (So intelligent was I). The poetic settings, the warm reception from local citizens, the history, etc. were carved in my mind. All the doubts about the decision of coming to England were dispelled out of my head, confirming the sweet feeling of Poole quay forever.

Autumn in Poole. Leaves are turning yellow and falling down on the ground, arousing my nostalgia