We Made It

I worried a great deal about this trip with Covid on the rise again and all of the travel regulations in the cruise industry. We had to have a negative Covid test within 3 days of boarding the ship. We tested negaive Friday, which was a relief. Our flight left late Friday night and we arrived at Heathrow Saturday at 2pm. I had pre-arranged our pick up with Southampton Taxis, who did wonderfully for us and cheaper than other transportation options for 3 people. We stayed at Premier Inn West Quay, which was perfectly situated. Our first evening, I wanted to visit a 400 year old pub called Duke of Wellington. We were able to walk there and have our fist pint and fish and chips.

We had a nice walk around Southampton and saw St. Michael the Archangel Church (1000 years old) and Tudor House. We also enjoyed the medieval city walls and caught a glipse of an apartment where Jane Austen had once stayed.

Sunday we Ubered to Winchester to see the Great Hall and Winchester Cathedral. Austin loves history, so this town was a joy for him. We spent a good bit of time exploring the ruins of the old castle and learning about the history of the Great Hall, which began construction in 1067.

We then walked down High Street and visited the Sunday market and watched the street performers. We then made it to Winchester Cathedral and walked every inch of it very deeply. Austin told me about the people there and the various stages of the architecture of the building. His favorite seemed to the the morturary chests holding the remains of former kings. There is so much history in the building that it takes forever to see.

We finished our visit to Winchester at the Royal Oak pub, which claims to be the oldest pub in England. After an Uber back to Southampton, we had a very British dinner at Five Guys burgers with dad and then prepared to our next day boarding of the ship. Fortunately, embarkation of Island Princess went very smoothly. We boarded quickly on Monday and checked into our mini-suite. Thus far, we have had an uneventful sea day are are looking forward to our arrival in Norway tomorrow.