Friday 28 November 2014

Southampton Stop-over

We had a great couple of days in Southampton this week.  On Wednesday, after an eye test for Doug, we did a bit of shopping and, bizarrely, as we exited from one shop who should be passing but friend Jonathan, who we so recently stayed with on the Isle of Wight.  As he had an hour to spare this chance meeting could not be wasted – so we walked down with him  ………

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……… through the lovely old part of the city …..

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……..past some of the wonderful Tudor buildings …….

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…… to the equally ancient Duke of Wellington pub.

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It’s as old and as characterful inside as it is outside ……

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…… and the “stout” wasn’t bad either!  We had a great catch-up with Jonathan ………

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…….. before we continued our walk with him out through the city walls for him to board the ‘Red Jet’ catamaran back home.

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Fortuitously (and the other reason why we walked down to the waterfront) was to glimpse the beautiful and spectacular “Queen Mary 2” which was docked at the Ocean Terminal for the day.

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She was due to leave at 5:30 so we waited, listening to the on board safety announcements and lifeboat drill, after which the passengers began crowding onto the Promenade Deck (tiny as they appear!) ready for the leaving ………

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…. which didn’t happen on time!  Anyway, she looked a real picture as the dusk fell and all her lights came on.  We were getting cold waiting around and decided not to prolong the agony of watching her leave without us on board and so left before she did.  Oh! - to be on her again.

We got a hotel for the night as we were scheduled on Thursday to meet up briefly with Tom, a cruise buddy of ours and an entertainments officer on the P & O “Arcadia” ……..

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…….. which, as scheduled, was docked the next morning where “QM"2” was the evening before.  It was great to see her again as she’s been our seagoing home twice this year – and it was great to meet up with Tom again even though it was very briefly.

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James wanted to be in on the action on this occasion – and to show off his new jacket!  Seeing all these wonderful ships had us wishing all the lucky people a safe and enjoyable cruise – tinged, of course, with a little envy.  But who knows what next week might bring!!

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