Southampton

January 9

What a nice day I have had!

I was asleep by 10:30 last night.  Got to bed and dropped right off (which is unusual for me).  I awoke  a little after eight to a beautiful blue sky and my view of the car park.

Checked the internet and watched a little of the news (almost all about the tragic events in Paris).  I left my room a few minutes before ten.  Last year I had planned to go to the Sea City Museum which has an exhibit on the Titanic.  (Many of the crew lived in or had ties to Southampton from where the Titanic began her fatal crossing.)  I never made it last year but thought I would go this year.  Originally I planned to take a taxi but when I looked at the map it was only .6 miles (within my walking distance) so I decided to give it a try.  Not too bad of a walk as I now know my way around the city centre of Southampton (the map route said 12 minutes and it took me 21 but I walk very slowly).

I was able to get a senior citizen discount at the museum and began my visit.  First stop was the Titanic exhibit.  It was an interesting presentation with a lot of interactive displays.  After a few minutes a number of school groups (including a home schooling group) showed up and they enjoyed themselves.  The other permanent exhibit is "Southampton - Gateway to the World" detailing how people have passed through or settled in Southampton dating back thousands of years.  The temporary exhibition was on the First World War and links to the area.  I enjoyed the museum a great deal and spent about two and a half hours there. 

A large model of the original Queen Mary in the museum

Decided to have a light lunch on my way back.  I was planning on eating at the cafe at Marks and Spencer but it was packed.  Instead I went to the food hall and picked up an egg mayonnaise sandwich and a couple more cokes and brought them back to my room.

As I was eating there was a knock on my door and there was Pat who I had met last year.  We had a nice chat catching up and then she left to do some shopping.  

About a half an hour later my phone rang and two more of my friends from last year, John and Andrea, were in the lobby.  Went down to see them and two people from the roll call introduced themselves as they were checking in.  Had a good time talking to my friends.

The weather was still nice (where are the gale force winds?) so we walked to Ennio's.  We talked (and drank) at the bar before dinner.  A good time was had by all and we stayed until 11 (we were the last customers in the restaurant).  Walked back and the weather was still nice (the high today was about 53F/12C).

Today's weather update is that QE will not arrive until about 3 pm.  We are to go to St. Mary's Stadium where they will take our luggage to the ship and we will stay until everyone has disembarked the ship.  They will have food, drink and entertainment at the Stadium. They will then transfer us to the ship.  I am imagining check-in to be chaotic.  Open setaing for dinner in the restaurants as soon as boarding starts.  They are estimating a 10 pm departure from Southampton.  Tomorrow will be interesting.

Smooth sailing until next time!