And just like that we are in England, arriving to a very dense 34 degrees. We stayed near the airport so as to collect our rental car in the morning for an easy getaway. It seems weird to have London within arms length and not visit, especially with the weather being so good compared to last year. But time to explore somewhere else.
A jet lag wake up saw us out walking at 5am in 24 degrees. Our first dedicated walk since leaving home. We saw our first squirrel of the trip.
Enterprise rental car company hires 600 cars per day and 16 staff are based outside with iPads to check you in. Not enough space inside apparently. Lucky it was fine! We decided to take the less travelled roads to Southampton and stopped at Windsor where Thomas played cricket in 2012. It wasn’t as busy as we expected. Some shops had signs of early closure, or weren’t open at all due to the ‘red heat warning’. Temp got to 35 at one point but cooled now we are by the sea.
Thomas played cricket here. It was an amazing day. If memory serves me correctly, he has the bails from the wicket he bowled.
Our drive to Southampton was via the B roads and smaller lanes with crops starting to ripen along the way.
Southampton is a university town and of course is famous for the Titanic, which departed from here in 1912.
God’s House Tower is a late 13th century gatehouse into the old town. Currently being restored, the timber framed ceiling is from the 15th century, held together with wooden pegs.
The Tower protected the medieval town from attack. In the 1780s, the building was used as the town’s prison and now it is a visitor attraction. Much of the wall still exists.
We had a wander through the fairly extensive High Street. A bit scruffy with a number of homeless people, and a very modern shopping mall and cinema complex. An easy 90 minute commute to London.
Five cruise ships left the harbour at dinner time, including the Queen Mary 2. Plus car and passenger ferries sail frequently to the Isle of Wight. A lot of Americans are in the hotel so we suspect they sailed here.
Delicious meal in the hotel.
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