Pictures: the ship Victoria, the baggage claim area, our stateroom,
Monday June 14, 2010
Commodore's Log: 6:51AM
Temp: 55.4 Humidity 89% Barometer 29.7 falling Wind: 5 knots West force 2 Sea slight
Arrived 6:30AM Partly cloudy
New York: 3216.7 Southampton 0
The miles are all nautical miles: 6,080 feet
5 AM came very early……we did find out our travel alarm worked. We wanted to see the ship come into Southampton. We threw on some clothes, went down to Deck 7, grabbed some hot chocolate, and went out onto the cold dock…..joining people as silly as we are. Land on both sides….. Right in front of our ship was the Queen Mary’s sister ship, the Queen Victoria, headed for the dock in Southampton as well. In front of both of us was a container ship….busy port. We stood on deck taking pictures of the shore and ships in the harbor. About 6 we went in for some breakfast and sat in one of the windowed areas and watched us come to the pier. We docked exactly on time.
We went back to our stateroom, cleaned up, and finished dealing with our luggage…..the carry—on bags. Around 8:15 we said good-bye to the stateroom and reported to the Illuminations Theater where we sat until we were called for disembarkation around 9:15. We all lined up around the center of the ship by the grand staircase and followed the line through security where they took our Cunard cards away from us. No more getting things like magic, back to reality. We walked down and down and down the gangplank to the big terminal where all of the luggage had been put into color coded sections to match the luggage tags we had gotten yesterday. Picked up our bags and out the door we went.
We meant to take a taxi to the train station in Southampton, get the train to Portsmouth and then a taxi to the Hilton. However, the cabby quoted a rate of 40 pounds to take us directly to our hotel which was 26 miles from the train station. We did it. We even got a running travel narrative on the way.
Pete and Jess are right---driivng in the UK is definitely not for the faint of heart. The roundabouts and narrow roads are plain scary.
PORTSMOUTH
The Hilton let us check in early…..no lifts, no air-conditioning…..three twin beds, an electric tea kettle, and a leaky toilet. Nice clean room however… and an extremely helpful front desk…
The front desk personnel explained how to catch the bus to the historic area of the city and about bus passes. The number 21 Southwest bus will take you to the Portsmouth Historic Port and the Quay (pronounced Key( Wharf area. The Quay is a very upscale shopping center and residential area. The train station is the dirtiest I have seen in years. Next to the train station is the bus turnaround. Then comes the historic part.
We paid our entrance into the Historic Park. The first stop was the HMS Warrior…..Making it up very steep gangway was the first job…..For a ship that is over a hundred years old, (built in 1860) it is very large. Tourists are allowed to pretty much roam wherever they want aboard the ship. For such an old ship, the Admiral’s and Captan’s quarters are fairly opulent. I’m going to get Neil to put in more about the ship. The H.M.S Warrior was the first iron steam ship muzzle loading guns in the Royal Navy. We were able to get down as far as the boiler rooms and engine room. An immense two cylinder engine with a huge crank shaft and so on. Typical speed 55 revolutions per minute. It was really interesting and a marvel for its time. It still has a full set of masts and sails, because it couldn’t carry enough coal for long distance sailing.
After the ship, we decided to do the harbor boat tour since it wasn’t raining. The weather was partly cloudy and windy. The tour was good. We saw a lot of the modern day naval ships. It was however, quite chilly, so much so that I went downstairs to the enclosed cabin. By the time we finished the tour it was too late to do any more of the activities in the historic port area.
Dinner in the Quay at a restaurant/bar called the Slug and Lettuce--a far cry from the Britannica Room. On Mondays they have 50% off their food. It was a good deal for us. Huge salad, good onion rings -- a nice place with cheap food on Monday. After dinner we sought out our bus, #21 north and returned to the hotel with tired feet, but a very successful day. In the room with diet Cokes and a bucket of ice we watched some tube, World Cup and a rerun of a show called Mock the Week. They made fun of American politics from the election campaign of 2008---Very funny irreligious, sexual and very funny. After that we hit the sack. Ready for more history tomorrow.
Steps: 11,823
No comments:
Post a Comment