January 11, 2023
Today was our first port day and after 8 days on the ship I was ready to venture out.
It was a cold day and rain was predicted so I suited up for the cold in three layers, umbrella in side pocket, camera in dry bag, map in pocket and headed out at 7:00am before all of the departing guest and those waiting for the first shuttle at 9:00. The goal was to explore and get pictures without the tourist crowds.
The first picture of the day was of the QM2 with the moon bright above her!
As I walked along the docks into Southampton I observed that the skyline combined the old with the new. Because the city was heavily bombed during WWII there are lots of modern building mixed with the old.
From 1904 to 2004, the Thornycroft shipbuilding yard was a major employer in Southampton,[16] building and repairing ships used in the two World Wars. In 1912, the RMS Titanic sailed from Southampton. 497 men (four in five of the crew on board the vessel), with about a third of those who perished in the Titanic tragedy hailing from the city. The Titanic Engineers Memorial in East Park, built in 1914, dedicated to the ship’s engineers who lost their lives on board.
The city is home to the longest surviving stretch of medieval walls in England. Southampton was victim of a number of raids from French pirates in the Middle Ages, leading to the construction of the fortified town walls.
Tudor house museum is a restored Tudor home from the 1400 century that is used in educational programs for school and for tourist to image what life was like. It is just inside the fortified walls and had several canons for protection.
I loved the little animated guys under the clock at the Holy Rood Church Ruin! They swung into action with the clock struck noon.
The Church of St Michaels was one of the few churches that survived the bombings.
There was a shopping center where the shuttle bus stop was so I headed in to use the loo. The bookstore had the book “Spare” at half price…the British way of saying they think its rubbish.
I found the restaurant that I had research that had Vegan pizza ordered a takeaway pizza and headed for the last shuttle back to the ship as the sky opened up and poured rain.
When I got back to the ship I followed the crowd to what I thought was the entrance only to find out much later in the process (after security) that it was the crew entrance and was promptly rerouted. OOPS!
I had an incredible walkabout (10.8 miles), experienced the history of Southampton and my tummy was really happy! I call that a successful day!!!!
So we get a history lesson and it was very interesting. I wonder how many other passengers will remember or care about that. This is great stuff Mary.