October 3 train to Southampton

It was a mainly cloudy day, very little wind and temperature about 17°C. We had breakfast at our hotel, Travelodge Gatwick Central. There is a free 30 minute block of time for the hotel’s Internet use. Larry took advantage of it to post yesterday’s text and the one photo. This was a good idea since we could not connect with the Gatwick Airport internet while we waited an hour for the train departure at our scheduled time. We checked out of the hotel and took the shuttle bus back to the South Terminal at the airport, less than 15 minutes, to catch the Southern Railway train to Southampton. By the time we got to the South Terminal, the shuttle bus was standing room only. We wanted to be sure that we had plenty of time to catch the train and had about a 70 minute wait for our train. So far, we have experienced only the late departure of the plane from Rome airport, which is close to a normal trip rather the cancellation and delay that plagued our spring trip.

On the TV this morning, there was a delay of a southwest train due to a tree falling on the track. There is a train strike planned for October 5, the day that our ship departs. These railway strikes were postponed from September in respect for Queen Elizabeth’s death September 8 and her funeral on September 19. We had logged just 2,605 steps so far.

The 10:09 eight coach train to Southampton Central divided into two trains of four coaches each at Horsham. Our coach was about 40% full. Face masks are not required to travel by train, so we were in a minority wearing our N95 face masks. We kept our suitcases with us taking up two seats each. The towns were closer together between Gatwick and Horsham. The train sometimes jolts sideways as it passes over a rail track joint. Each coach was a ticker tape style electronic banner above the doors to the next coach that inform passengers of the train destination and next stops. A conductor came through the coach after Horsham to check for tickets. We had bought our train tickets online in August and had the QR codes on our travel phone as well as a paper copy. Some stations have flower boxes filled with dark orange flowers. There was more travel through the rolling countryside after Horsham, the stations were further apart. There were over a dozen stops after Horsham. We saw horses, cattle and sheep grazing in fields, farms, market garden greenhouses, a huge manor house (which we were told belongs to a Duke), large arrays of solar panels in fields, villages and wooded hillsides. In some towns the railway tracks are right beside people’s back yard fences. Most of the houses visible from the train were two storey, tiled roof, brick or stucco side-by-side duplexes or fourplexes.

There are a few trees with leaves changing, but not many. The clouds were thinning and the sun started to shine as we arrived at Southampton Central train station about noon. We could not find a paper map of Southampton in the station. There were poster maps of the Old Town, where we were, that we followed as we took in the sights walking to the hotel. The sidewalks were not smooth and the suitcase wheels sometimes got caught in an uneven section. We were in no hurry since check-in was 3 p.m. We made our way to Castle Way and at Hamtun Street there was a mosaic tile mural called Southampton Mural 2013 celebrating the city iconic buildings. A plaque stated that the artist Joanna Dewfall designed the main mural and local residents made the framing mosaics. The plague made refer to Hamtun Street Mural that was around the corner. There was a 19 meter long by three meter high mosaic mural originally created in 1978 for the façade of Sainsbury’s Supermarket, but was put in storage in 1990 for 20 years. It was restored and gives a history of Southampton from the Romans and Saxons to the modern docks and liners. Larry met a man who told him to go down Bugle Street to get to the hotel. On Bugle Street we found St. Michael’s Square and the medieval church dating back to the late 11^th century. Across the square from St. Michael’s Church is Tudor House built in 1492 and restored in 2010. Shortly we arrived at the hotel having taken 70 minutes to walk there with all the stops we made. The hotel is close to the waterfront, again. In Civitavecchia, for the previous cruise, we also had a hotel near the water. We were too early to check in, but left the luggage with the concierge to store, but kept our backpacks, and headed out to explore the Old Town and find some lunch.

Across the street is part of the old city wall which was first built after the French and Genoese soldiers raided Southampton in April 1338. We started on Cuckoo Lane where many wealthy merchants lived in the 1200s near their warehouses. Houses were built within the walls. After the raid, they blocked their warehouse water entrances and had the walls built where their houses once stood. The new houses boasted as a resident in the 1600s the Earl of Southampton, William Shakespeare’s patron. In the late 1700s, prisoners from the Spanish wars were held and some died near Cuckoo Lane. The cruise terminal was visible from the old walls. It would only take ten minutes to walk from the hotel, but we do not relish the idea of dragging our suitcases, again, to the cruise terminal. We could also see Mayflower Park which is a memorial to the Pilgrims who sailed, over 400 years ago, to the Americas on the ships, Mayflower and Speedwell. The roundabout by the hotel is called the Mayflower roundabout.

Continuing along the Southampton Wall Walk, which went back to street level, there was a replica of a medieval cargo vessel in front of the Arcades. These were the former merchants’ warehouse entrances that were enclosed to build the wall after the 1338 French and Genoese raid. It was King Edward III that ordered construction since the invaders had pillaged his wine and wool. The warehouses were right on the water 700 year ago, but today the waterfront is 500 meters away. There are towers built into the Arcades and other parts of the wall. By the West Quay Retail Park (shopping centre) there is Gardrobe Tower remains which was a toilet which had a system to sluice the waste away with the tides since it was right over the water. Also Catchcold Tower which was built to carry cannons and in World War II held anti-aircraft guns, it’s last defensive use. Further along at the northwest corner tower is known as Arundel Tower where we turned east to walk the wall crossing over Castle Way which was one of the streets that we walked to get to the hotel. On the wall bridge there was plaque stating the Jane Austin and her family went to this fashionable seaside resort in the late 1700s when sea bathing became all the rage. The wall was incorporated into Southam Castle, and in Castle Square Jane Austin lived in the early 1800s. With her garden abutting the wall.

We soon arrived at Bargate, the main north entrance to the Old Town, there was a barricade (bar) across the entry to regulate people entering or leaving at the gate. Originally it was just a round arch. The two towers were added in the 13^th century, then in the 15^th century the north front was added. Famous people who passed through Bargate were: King Henry VIII and his first wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon; Queen Elizabeth I; Giuseppe Garibaldi the famous Italian general, who in 1860 unified Italy into one kingdom; and Queen Victoria. To the north of Bargate is Above Bar Street also known as QE2 mile, which is partly a pedestrian shopping street. Along it we saw American fast food establishments – Burger King, Taco Bell and Starbucks. Later in the West Quay Retail Park the food court has KFC, Krispy Kreme, TGI Fridays and Five Guys. At Civic Center Rd, just four blocks east of the train station, we spotted Sib’s Fish and Chips, which is just a take away shop. We ordered the battered cod and chips, which were made fresh. We took our boxes and walked over to a park bench in Palmerston Park. We had a bottle of hand sanitizer to clean our hands and had a nice lunch, but we did decide if we ordered Fish & Chips again it would be one order of two cod pieces in one box since there were too many French Fries with two single orders. It was after 2:30, seven hours since finishing breakfast in Gatwick and we had walked over 7,200 since arriving in Southampton. We walked through part of the park toward the hotel finding a different route back, glimpsing the IKEA store, then through the West Quay Retail Park where we saw the other fast food American names in the Food Court. We walked along Harbour Parade past the indoor swimming pool -The Quays Swimming and Diving Complex and approached the hotel from the opposite side than earlier. It was after 3 and our room was ready. We picked up our suitcases from the concierge and went to see our second floor room. It had a gorgeous wooden wardrobe, with a coffee station to make tea or instant coffee. It is an accessible room and the sink counter is low for a person in a wheelchair. Its bathroom also has grab bars for the bathtub and the toilet.

We freshened up and read the newspaper online and reviewed today’s pictures. For dinner we walked over to The Standing Order pub less than a ten minute away. We wore jackets as the sun was setting and the temperature was only 17C. Most of the clients were in their 30s. We found a nook to have our dinner. Then we walked back and worked on today’s entry and decided that we would go a little further for breakfast tomorrow and then wander more in the Old Town.

Total steps 14,696