A day in Southampton

Quote of the day: “You’ve got to keep the royal family in England after the Queen dies. That’s the whole reason we Americans come visit. If you didn’t have all that stuff, then half of us wouldn’t bother coming over. We’d rather just go to Disneyland.”

What a day! JB ended the cruise part of her trip, and headed back to Europe. We had an early breakfast together, then headed off in different directions to do battle with British Immigration… they insisted everyone on the ship, whether they were getting off or not, present themselves and their passport for inspection. Crazy, crazy, crazy… and such a waste of time…

After that charade, BJ (remember my little travel companion?) and I moved cabins. We now have a cabin without a balcony, but with a huge panoramic window, which surprisingly lets in more light. It slopes outward too, so has a very odd feel to it. The new cabin is a mirror image of the previous one – everything is on the opposite side: taps, light fittings, drawers, cupboards – so it will take a couple of days to get used to it.

I finally got ashore, grabbed a map, and headed to the railway station to meet D and S-J, old friends from NZ who have been living in London for the last 5 years. Great to catch up with them – we had a wander around town, visited the art gallery, and settled in to a pub for a traditional pub lunch. I went for sausages and mash, as a prime example of British cuisine! It came with peas, which were green fortunately, not mushy…

I arrived back to a half a shipload of new passengers, with many of them roving around, exploring their new home. I chatted with two couples, one at dinner and the other on deck, both lots ex-pat English returning home to Australia. Very nice people who assured me the weather had been great up until a couple of days ago. Now it’s bloody cold, and I understand we’re heading into bad weather. So no sunbathing for a while…