Tuesday, September 20, 2016 – Southampton UK – Cloudy – 60s

The room indeed was quiet and the shower did flood the bathroom.

The breakfast, while similar to the one in Bath, was not quite as nice.  Conspicuously absent was the berry compote that really made the cereal special.  The food was good enough and the selection OK. 

We arranged for a taxi with the desk clerk.  The cab fare from Holiday Inn Express Southampton West to Ocean Pier, Southampton came to a healthy 13 pounds.  The next time we do this, we will most likely stay at the Ibis Hotel in town (it was a nice place in Nice). 

Checked right in (priority check in).  Our bags were tagged and handed off to the porters; we went through security quickly (even though security was just like airport this time- belts, laptops, jackets were screened separately).  It was a gray day in Southampton but I did take some pictures from the open deck – not a whole lot to sea at this port on this day.

Southampton from the Ship

We are, as always, berthed on the Entertainment Deck – this time we are on the starboard side in room ED27.  As has always been the case, the ED rooms are very nice with the only noise coming from the ship’s workers moving through the halls. 

Ellen looks pretty comfy in ED27

We had lunch in the newly renovated King’s Court (many areas of the ship underwent refit but the big changes are on Deck 7 – the buffet and adjacent public areas).  The buffet is now housed in a single huge room (instead of separate little areas) – there seem to be more selections on the salad bar and new items all through the buffet.  There is a vegetarian station.  It is a major improvement and the food even seems better. 

Paul O’Loughlin, who was the Entertainment Director on our recently completed Queen Elizabeth voyage, is now on QM2; the Assistant Entertainment Manager is Catherine (Cat) Kennedy and the Assistant Production Manager is Alex Thompson. The Captain is Kevin Oprey. 

The Boat drill was held at 4:30 PM – Our Muster Station is in the Gym.

I met with Alex and AV Tech Ramel in Connexions (Deck 2) after the Boat Drill to try out our equipment – the process took very little time and everything checked out.  I will be giving the same four talks I gave on the QE.  Other speakers on board this voyage are Dennis Maximillian Molnar (Military Historian/Scientist and first timer on Cunard); Robert Key (Antiquarian and Politician) (he was on the QE and got off in Dubrovnik – we might have gotten his wonderful room); and Seth Andrew Gopin (Art Historian/Scientist).

We watched the sail away from one of the public rooms – it was a gray and dreary sail away and it may just stay that way as we cross the Northern edge of the Pond.

Southampton Sail Away

We decided to try the Britannia Room tonight (we did not eat in the Dining Room the entire time on the QE).  We waited in the Golden Lion until 6:30 PM and then checked with the Maître D’ (Very nice man), who found us a wonderful table for two.  On the menu was Minestrone (molto bene), Cesar salad (specially made for me), pasta with salmon (not quite what we thought it was but it was good) and the veggie dish I thought I would try – “twice-baked potatoes with refried beans, guacamole, and salsa” (it was different but OK).  The service was friendly and quick and the iced tea came in a huge glass.  A good embarkation night dinner.

We caught the Welcome Aboard Show – there are four vocalists and 12 dancers split 50/50 male and female.  Everyone is very good.  The show was enjoyable.

 

Welcome Aboard Show

We listed to Gavin Burke in the Golden Lion Pub – good pianist and vocalist.

We went back to the room for quiet time and moved our clocks back one hour (the first of five time changes on the way to New York).

The room is QUIET and the seas are smooth.

Monday, September 19, 2016 – Southampton, UK – Cloudy and Rainy – 60s

Another good night’s sleep and another good breakfast at the hotel. 

Our luck with weather has run out as today is cloudy and rainy.  No matter because we are off to Southampton for one evening’s stay before boarding QM2.

We are not walking to the train station today (even if it weren’t raining).  The hotel scheduled us a cab and for about 5GBP, we were at the station in less than 10 minutes.

Prior to leaving on this cruise I had purchased on-line tickets for the train from Bath to Southampton – we had reserved seats for this trip but it didn’t really matter since the conductor never even looked at our tickets.

The train departed Bath right on time at 11:36 AM.  It was a very dreary ride and the dirty windows made it impossible to get any decent photos. 

Ellen’s Reflection in the Train Window (artsy at least)

The train arrived in Southampton on time at 1:04 PM.

We took a taxi from the train station to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Southampton West (12 GBP fare).  The plan again was to stay in Southampton the night before the cruise so we would have no difficulty in boarding QM2 on time.  However, despite what I read on line about this hotel, this property was literally in the middle of nowhere.  We asked the desk clerk about options for lunch and he said that there was only one restaurant within walking distance (and that it had just been built – so I guess that was a good thing).  Our room was an accessible room, which gave us more room.  On the negative side, there was no way to keep the shower water from flooding the bathroom (towels were used as dams).  And for some reason, there were not enough plugs in this particular room.  We inquired about changing rooms but when we saw some of the other rooms (which would have been noisier), we decided to stay.

We walked in a light drizzle to the Walnut Tree Farm Restaurant. 

It was a nice, spacious, new eatery, which reminded me a little of the Cheesecake Factory.  The menu was huge but we settled on a salad and tuna sandwiches.  Of course, both dishes were a bit odd.  One of the more interesting things about the tuna sandwiches was the little symbol next to the item in the menu.  After inquiring and after some investigating, the waitress told us it was a warning that the sandwich might contain bones.  I have never run into any bones in tuna in my whole life but in the UK, the populace must be protected.

The food was OK and we took some of it home for dinner. 

We walked a bit around the neighborhood near the restaurant but decided that it would not be an interesting trek – besides, the weather was still threatening rain.

The rest of the day was spent in the lobby reading.

We watched some strange British TV in our room in the evening.

The room seems quiet.

Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and 18, 2016 – Bath, UK – Partly Cloudy – 70s

Saturday, September 17, 2016

The hotel was indeed quiet last night (our neighbors could be heard but they quieted down at turn-in time).  We both caught up on some of our lost sleep.

Breakfast at the hotel was surprisingly good – cold cereal (with milk and mixed berries compote – really good), scrambled eggs, all kinds of bread and rolls.  We also tried the veggie option (on request) – sausage and “bacon” (really) – neither was very good.  There was, of course, the Brit breakfast items such as baked beans (I just can’t see it as a breakfast item but I did give it a try and my position hasn’t changed).  Good coffee (from one of those robo-baristas) rounded out the breakfast. 

Today’s plan is simple – walk the length and breadth of Bath. 

Our shortcut to the City Center took us through a couple of Farmer’s Markets – all sorts of stuff on sale (not just fresh veggies and fruits).  This included meats of all kinds – some unidentifiable.  British food – a mystery.

Farmer’s Markets

Bath is built on a hill so we decided the best way to handle the geography was to walk to the top of the hill and then slowly work our way to the City Center.  We walked up Gay St. and were met by rows of identical homes (you better remember your street address).

Gay Street

We went over a couple of streets to Broad St. and started down the hill.  Before too long, we ran into an authentic pub, the Pig and Fiddle.  The menu features Wild Boar and Water Buffalo burgers.  Even if I could, I’m not sure I would be ready to eat that.  

Pig and Fiddle Pub and Games

About a block away, we found the Saracen’s Head Pub, the oldest pub in Bath (built in 1713 over an even older establishment).

Saracen’s Head Pub

Continuing down Broad St. we got our first look at St. Michael’s Church.

St. Michael’s Church

We stopped in St. Michaels to give our feet a break – they have a nice little café serving pastries, coffee, and tea.

Down the street from there we found ourselves in the heart of town.  Being the weekend, there were lots of people on the pedestrian walkway.

Central Bath

Parade Gardens Park

We got a great view of the Pulteney Bridge.  This bridge is one of three famous covered bridges containing shops – the Ponte Vecchio (Florence), the Rialto Bridge (Venice), and this one.  So now we have completed the trifecta of shop-bridges.

Pulteney Bridge

From the bridge you could see the Pulteney Weir – a Weir is a barrier placed in a river to alter the flow of the river (and to sometimes prevent flooding).

Pulteney Weir

River Avon (looking away from the Weir)

Continuing our walking tour, we wound up at the Bath Abbey.  The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish Church and former Benedictine Monastery.  The Abbey was founded in the 7th Century.

In 2008, the City of Bath installed 104 colorful pigs (made of some kind of ceramic material) to commemorate King Bladud, an ancient King of the Britons.  King Bladud was cured of leprosy by covering himself in the mud used by pigs (he noticed that pigs that were muddied did not suffer the skin disease while clean pigs did).  Wanting others to benefit from his finding, he founded the City of Bath.

During our walk, we found only one of the King’s Pigs (near the Abbey).

A Fountain nearby stated “Water is Best” – true, but ale is better.

We caught a few minutes of a street performer in the large square behind the Abbey.  There were chairs set up so this must be a venue for performers. She turned out to be pretty good and we were happy to sit for a while.  I wonder how she got this perfect venue for her performance.

Street Performer (Abby Square)

Heading back to the Hotel, I took another picture of the almost still River Avon (near the Train Station).

Back to the room to give our feet another chance to recover (at least 10,000 steps on this walk).  Later in the evening, we tried to find a place for dinner that would not require a walk.  We found a small Italian restaurant – run by an Eastern European family.  We ordered some pasta with salmon and a salad that turned out to be quite good.  We were their only customers while we were there – the service was good and the food was tasty. 

Back to the room -

Sunday, September 18, 2016 – Sunny and mid 70s

The hotel continues to be quiet at night and we continue our recovery from sleep deprivation.

The breakfast was the same but good and it’s an absolutely beautiful day in Bath.

Our plan to day is to book a boat tour of the River Avon.  We walked down to the Pulteney Bridge and then down to the river’s edge.  When we asked when the next tour was, the man said in about 10 minutes.  We each paid six GBP and grabbed some really good seats in the boat.

View of the Pulteney Bridge from the Boat

“Cabin Extra” Seats

Only four other people joined us on this tour.  And our seats were perfect for shooting photos.  The tour is scheduled to last about an hour – since the boat is not allowed to go faster than five knots, the actual distance covered by the boat is about five miles.  The captain was also the guide and he was relatively easy to understand.

We passed under the Grosvenor Bridge.  The bridge, built in 1929, is meant for foot and bike traffic (very narrow).

Grosvenor Bridge

The banks were lined with several homes,

which were set back from the river (to minimize any flooding due to cresting).  Our destination is Bathampton, a small village that is the end of the navigable (at least for boats like ours) portion of the river.

Several boats can share the river at the same time and one of them,

passed us as she headed back to Bath.

Bathampton Up Ahead

The boat turned around at the Bathampton Weir – the captain slowed a bit so we could see the fisherman near the weir.  The two men knew each other and chatted about how the fish were biting – apparently they were as he showed us one of his catches.

One of the major buildings in town was the Bathampton Mill.  This is now a restaurant – gastropub as they call it locally – serving everything from fancy pizza to burgers.  Some customers wanted to get on our boat but the captain said they should catch the next one (something about turning around and not being able to board on the port side).

Bathampton Mill

At this point, our boat headed back to the Pulteney Bridge boat dock.

It was a great boat ride.

We walked around the town a bit more and then set out to find a nice place for dinner.  This proved to be more difficult that we thought.  Either the restaurants were too pricey or the menu had little for us to eat.  As we generally do, we stumbled on a place that was just about to close.  It was a small and very noisy pub located in the Grapes Hotel.  Normally, I wouldn’t have stayed but they had a fish and chips dinner special that seemed like a good deal.  There was a soccer game going on the background and the ketchup bottle was empty.  The waiter was very British and very friendly and soon we had our fish and chips.  I tried the pub’s local brew.  All in all, a very good and authentic dinner.

Eating and Drinking British – Grapes Hotel, Bath

We did a little more walking to burn off some of the dinner.  As the sun started to go down in Bath, we noticed a balloon – Virgin logo – floating over the city.  Richard Branson advertising.

A few thousand steps more and we were back in the hotel.

Tomorrow, we are off to Southampton.

Friday, September 16, 2016 – Southampton, UK – Cloudy/Drizzly – 60s

Queen Elizabeth docked very early in Southampton this morning.  She came in quietly – did not hear any bow thrusters or any other kind of maneuvering.  It is a gray and drizzly day in this busy port.

Southampton from Queen Elizabeth

We had a nice breakfast (together for the first time this cruise) in the Lido Café.  Breakfast was not the crowded, noisy affair it can be on disembarkation day.  All the standard items were available – no abbreviated menu like on some other ships.

We tried to stay in our room until about 9 AM but our steward prompted us to get out (that was also a first for us). 

Walk-off was easy since we had cleared immigration earlier (our passports were vetted by British Immigration).  There were no lines and no luggage to find in the zoo of bags.  It was nice.

We located the taxi queue and found a couple to share a cab with to Southampton Central Train Station.  It was a very short ride and cost 6 pounds – our cab mates wouldn’t let us pay our half.  We thanked them and headed into the station.

We were ticketed on the Great Western Railway Southampton Central to Bath Spa – 7.50 GBP pp per trip – total 30 GBP total round trip purchased on line.  I showed the ticket agent the email confirmation and she asked me for the credit card used and ran two charges for 7.50 GBP.  I asked her about these charges since I had paid for the tickets in full and she said these charges were not extra (included) and were only used to redeem the tickets.

We were scheduled for the 12:27 PM train so we had quite a wait.  The waiting area near the ticket counter was tiny with uncomfortable seats (with no power plugs).  I asked the man watching the entry point to the trains and he said a real waiting room was through the gates and down the platform a bit.  He said we could go through and later he would let us use our tickets to “go through” the gate (I didn’t understand that since we were already “through”).  Even more importantly, the washrooms, he said, were right next to the waiting room.  We headed down there and found comfortable seats with plugs – the bathroom however was under maintenance so I had to cross over the tracks (via bridge) to reach the facilities on the other side (not that big a deal).

Waiting for the Train

 

Southampton Central Station

When the train boarding time got close, we went out on the platform to wait (wouldn’t want to miss the train).  We double-checked with a railway employee manning the tracks as to the location and timing of the train.

Almost Here

The train to Bath Spa was a clunky looking old green train with only three cars.  We did not have assigned seats so we could sit anywhere.  Our bags also got good seats since the car was essentially empty. 

It was a surprisingly comfortable ride – 1 hour 40 minutes (scheduled arrival 2:12 PM).  The windows were clean enough to get some nice pictures of the English countryside.

     

Scenic Ride to Bath, UK

The train arrived on time at Bath Spa Station.

Bath Spa Train Station

I had gotten walking directions from the hotel a few week earlier so we decided that we would walk to the Holiday Inn Express (almost exactly one mile along a busy street, Lower Dorsett Road).  I pretty much knew how to get there but I had the directions confirmed by a gas station along the way.  What I didn’t count on was the uneven and rough sidewalks leading to the hotel.  This made “wheelie-dragging” very difficult – also, the wheels on my suitcase were damaged by dragging them through the deluge in Dubrovnik.  We did make it to the hotel – a very robust workout - but decided then and there that we would not walk back to the train station with our suitcases. 

The Holiday Inn Express, Bath is a nice new (or recently renovated) building.  We were greeted by a very friendly desk clerk, who gave us some good information on Bath, including a better way to get to the City Centre.  This “short cut” would avoid the traffic heavy main street and give us a more scenic route.

Our room was at the end of the hall on the third floor (number 340) and it had a nice view of a green area behind the hotel.  The room looked comfortable – the bed was a bit soft but the bathroom was nice and roomy (unusual in a British hotel). 

View From Room 340

After resting in the room for a while, we headed out to the City Centre to scout for a place for dinner.  After checking out a few places (all a bit pricey), we settled, grudgingly, on a TGIF located on the ground floor of an office building.  Ellen had a salad with grilled salmon and I had a British version of veggie fajitas (don’t ask).  I also ordered a peach iced tea, which I also regretted right away because drinks are notoriously expensive overseas (and I hadn’t looked at the price).  Well, it turned out that the iced tea was reasonably priced.  It wasn’t a terrific dinner but it did the trick.  We will look for something better next time.

The Iced Tea was not 5 GBP

We walked back to the hotel and, from a bridge on the way, I got some very nice pictures of the River Avon (not THE River Avon – “Avon” means river in Celtic and there are several Avon rivers throughout England).

River Avon, Bath

Back in the room, we did some reading, watched some awful British TV, and finally called it a day.

Hoping the room will be quiet tonight – we are dealing with a multi-night sleep deficit.