A Short Day in London

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Disembarking the ship is quite a science for the Princess crew. If you follow their instructions, it is quite painless. People are going in several different directions when they arrive in Southampton and Princess is very good about getting you where you want to go. Luggage is all packed the night before and set outside the stateroom door for pick up. A tag on it identifies what your plans are when you exit the ship. Those of us going to London on private transportation had a gold tag.

Jerry & Kathy, Bob & Deanie and I had booked transportation with West Quay Transportation. I found them online and booking them was quite easy and it all worked just fine. I would recommend the company if ever you need to go from Southampton to other places. Google them if ever you should need them. There were others of us that were spending extra time in London--Steve & Linda, John & Vicki were staying but going in a different direction. Linda & Tom & Pam had all seen London before so they headed back to Arizona on the day the cruise ended.

We reported to our designated location at our designated time so that we could disembark on our designated schedule. We met in the Wheelhouse Lounge--oh darn, too early for a drink. We were called to leave the ship and went down the gang plank and into a huge warehouse type building. Luggage of all shapes and sizes were arranged according to the color of the tags. Amazing efficiency. We claimed our luggage and headed toward the transportation area. We waited only a few minutes before we saw our West Quay van pull in so we could load in all of our luggage. It seems like excess when it is all together, but truthfully, I used everything that I took. So I don't think I overpacked.

We drove from the dock through Southhampton on to London which is about 2 hours away for our short day in London. Along the way we took a detour to see Winchester Cathedral but I didn't get any pictures. We stopped at a rest stop called a Welcome Break. The Welcome Break has several eating establishments, groceries and abundant rest rooms. Very well kept and sometimes quite welcomed.

We arrived at the Crowne Plaza, St. John. Since we were quite early--12:30 p.m., all of our rooms were not ready. The one reserved for Kathy and Jerry was open so we put all of our luggage in it and went off to explore.

Since we had not eaten much, we looked for somewhere for lunch. We were directed to The Albert. Good choice. It was a quaint pub with buffet, plenty of beer on tap and a grill for fish and chips. We ordered fish & chips with mushy peas. We were quite surprised that the mushy peas were quite tasty!! (I'm looking up a recipe for them and will try to reproduce what we had.)

After lunch, we started walking and that we did. Walk, walk, walk. Our hotel was within walking distance of so many things that we knew we could see a lot without having to take any mass transportion. We walked across The River Thames on the Westminstrer Bridge. That means we saw the Westminster Abbey and the Parliment--including Big Ben. At the end of that bridge you could see the London Eye. We headed to it and we were able to get tickets in the walk-up line. It was not too bad. We stood in line for maybe 20-25 minutes.

The London Eye is a spectacular piece of engineering. It provides a 360 degree view of all of London. Twenty-five people fit into each pod and it takes about 32 minutes for the ferris wheel type wheel to do one revolution. In that time you can see so much. It is awe-inspiring. I hope that some of the pictures will do it justice. One of the most amazing things about the London Eye was who else was standing in line for it. When we were exiting, we saw, of all people, Steve and Linda waiting to get on. AMAZING!! Of all the people in that area of London, we see them.

After the Eye, we walked toward Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and then on to Buckingham Palace. We walked on the Jubiliee Trail and The Princess Diana Memorial Walk. By this time we were becoming quite whipped. We went back to the Crowne Plaza and found all of the rooms and moved our luggage to the correct places. I had a room all to myself and I do believe it was bigger than the doubles the others had. I had a king sized bed--true luxury. I found CNN and watched Hilary's speech about getting out of the race--oh, I shed so many tears!!! Do you believe it? I am quite amazed at how much the rest of the world looks at what is happening in the US. We really should clean up our act because some of it is embarrassing. Leaders of the world should set good examples.

Kathy was not feeling really well and did not want anything to eat. After having a drink in the hotel garden patio, Deanie, Bob, Jerry and I decided to walk back to the Albert for a bite to eat. Since it was still early enough after dinner, Deanie and I walked about to see other parts of the city. We had arrangements for a cab to pick us up in time to get to Heathrow before 10 a.m.

That is basically what we got to see of London. Once again, not enough time. There are truly many places that I would love to visit again. It is not always enough to say that I've been there. You have to really know somewhere before you can truly say that. I do hope to visit many, many places in the future but for now this is the end of this adventure and it is soon time to get on a long flight and head back to reality.

Thanks for reading my blogs of this trip. It was truly one of the trips of my lifetime. I do hope to make more so there may be more to tell in the future.

Bye, for now.

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Photos

The London Eye
What a marvelous invention for tourists to a city. A real birdseye view.

Southampton Street
Once again, I'm taking photos through a window. This time from the van which picked us up at the port.

Rest Stop
Better known in this country as a "Welcome Break".

Welcome Break Eats
Lots of different choices.

The Crowne Plaza
Where we stayed. There was really no place to park. Not even a pull out to unload our luggage. It was right on Buchingham Gate Place.

The Albert
Where we ate.

Finally Good Fish & Chips
We had really good fish & chips and "mushy peas."

A Dire Warning
The most blatant warning. We had heard this all over but never seen a written warning.

West Minister Abbey
Fabulous architecture.

Pointing the way
This tells you where you are headed.

Big Ben
The obligatory photo of Big Ben. There are post cards that are much better.

From the Eye
What wonderful views we had. This is of the River Thames.

An Eye Pod
One of the pods on the London Eye. We think there might have been a wedding ceremony going on in this one. It might have just been a wine party.

From the Eye
Parliament & Big Ben.

An Eye on the Eye
Great vantage point.

Pedestrian Bridge
Must get across the River Thames.

Along Diana's Memorial Walk
Kathy and Jerry strolling toward Buckingham Palace.

Along the Walk
The marker for the Memorial Walk.

Buckingham Palace
We were tired of walking so we didn't get much closer. There were lots of crowds too.

The London Tower Bridge
Pretty impressive

Comments

[Karin]

Love taking your trip with you!
Susan, it was as if I was with you on your journey. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It was great. I enjoyed it very much.

[Caroline]

Good Show!
Thanks for taking us along with you on your adventure.