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Published: July 23rd 2019
Princess Cruises provided a transfer from our London hotel to the cruise terminal in Southampton. Once again, a private driver and car picked us up. It was quite interesting to converse with the driver, an immigrant from Afghanistan, about the current world situation. He had a brother located in New York state and a sister in Germany. His brother operates an Afghan restaurant while he is a professional driver using his own car. I must note that I found it interesting that highway distances are still indicated in miles in the UK while temperature and other measurements are given in Metric.
I've known Southampton as the arrival and departure port for the great transatlantic ocean liners during much of the 20th century. The Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, S.S. United States and QEII as well as the ill-fated Titanic and Lusitania all sailed from here bound for New York. (Southampton appears to be the only port associated with Titanic that has not memorialized or capitalized on the association.) It does remain an active cruise ship port.
Southampton was a very different city than I had imagined. A domed building I guessed was a sports area turned out to be a
Holy Trinity Church, Millbrook
Holy Trinity Church, Millbrook. Built in 1872-1874.
DSC_0010p1power station. Not surprisingly, Southampton has a very active cargo port operation. Newly imported cars line the docks in one area, shipping containers in another. There is also an hourly car ferry service from Southampton to the Isle of Wight operated by Red Funnel. In addition to our Caribbean Princess, three other cruise ships were in port: Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, Britannia (P&O ) and Braemar (Fred Olsen). Southhampton is also an old city, established in the 10th century. A city wall system was built beginning in the 14th century and remained in use to the 17th century. The remains of the town walls, particularly West Gate, The Arches, God's House Gate and God's House Tower, are a prominent feature of the contemporary cityscape. The Medieval city wall system is considered one of the best preserved examples in England.
Caribbean Princess sailed at 5:00 p.m. The ship's pop band, The Drop, entertained on deck whilst a pianist played in the main atrium. Leaving Southampton, ships enter Southampton Water, a tidal estuary leading to the Solent and then to the English Channel. The Solent is the strait separating the Isle of Wight from mainland England. It is the
shipping passage between Southampton Water and the English Channel. Traversing it, passed quite closely to the Isle of Wight. There was an excellent view of picturesque Norris Castle. The castle is not an ancient one. It was built in 1799 as a country estate for Lord Henry Seymour. There is a plan for it to become a resort hotel. Behind it, but out of view, is Osborne House, Queen Victoria's country house.
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