DAY-06: Final Day in London - On to Southampton

Day - 06: Monday, June 1, 2015

Starting Location: The Trafalgar Hotel, London, England, UK

Interim Location: Local London Walking Tour

Ending Location: Hilton Hotel, Southampton, England, UK

This was a no-rush morning as we had no firm plans other than meeting our driver for a ride to Southampton at 4 PM. We packed up and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. By 1100 we had turned our baggage over the the hotel bellman and were on the street. We had given some thought to visiting the British Museum but changed our minds and being that the time was right, headed toward Buckingham Palace to see at least some of the changing of the guard ceremony. Along the way we passed the monument to Elizabeth's parents King George VI and Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

We basically got in with a crowd moving toward the palace and stopped where crowds were standing and police positioned. Within a few minutes we had front row position for a marching band moving via St. James Park toward the palace.

After repositioning closer to the palace we saw what one would think as somewhat strange, a dinosaur, appearing to have been wounded being carted off on a flatbed. Nothing more to say about that.




So with our new vantage point across from the palace near the Queen Victoria statue we again were witness to another band unit and the Royal Horse Brigade (my choice of names, don't know what they're actually called.)

So with the changing checked off, we headed to Westminster Abbey where we purchased tickets, received our audio players and proceeded through the inside tour. No pictures allowed here so not much to show for the visit. Within Westminster so many people we've all heard about throughout history, are buried or commemorated, e.g. Capt. Cook, Mary Queen of Scots, other kings and queens from as far back as the 11th century, writers and other artists, Charles Darwin, and so many others; it's a pretty amazing place.

We completed the tour and headed back up Whitehall Street toward Trafalgar Square. Along the way we dropped into a London Underground station and had the residual balance on our Oyster Pass cards refunded. Of the $40 worth of credit we had actually used less than half, our travel estimate obviously was less than expected.

This was an interesting statue. The figure is Winston Churchill. As the story is told, it was intended that the statue have his image looking to the right toward the houses of Parliament but as actually configured he actually faced toward his favorite local pub. Sounds a bit like folk lore but who knows maybe it's a fact.




Further along Whitehall we passed the gated entrance to 10 Downing Street; unfortunately Prime Minister Cameron was away. We're sure if he'd known of our visit, we would have been invited for lunch.

Just beyond Downing Street we came to the horse soldier's gate guarded by the stately uniformed guards.

Since we had missed lunch with the PM, we stopped in The Old Shades, a proper English pub near the square. Sheila had fish & chips and for me bangers & mash. This was the best meal so far, the sausage and potatoes topped with gravy was great.

With lunch over it was about time to meet our driver at the hotel but we had one last stop, a souvenir store to pick up a few cards and as can be seen, a "selfie-stick". We'll see how that works, but we may be the oldest people on our cruise using such a device.

Cristian, our driver, was right on time and by 4 PM we were packed in and on our way to Southampton. The drive at peak rush hour wasn't as bad as I expected, sure there were all-stop zones and intersections barely moving but in just two hours we arrived at our destination the Southampton Hilton, our home for two nights.

We checked in but did little unpacking. Our room was nice and comfortable though Sheila mentioned something about living like we were camping. 

Having had a late lunch we headed down to the bar for drinks and a light snack for the night.