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Southampton

Travel Guide > Southampton

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(ok I know Southampton is just with one H I did it on purpose je je!,I can´t correct or deleted it ,sorry!)

Southampton

My experience after almost 4 weeks at Southampton and towns nearby

I had a short tour of the historic highlights in the local area as we drove from the ariport to my hotel, Jurys Inn Hotel(definatelly not a hotel for backpackers)in Southampton. I learned a few things I did not know, for instance that Southampton is the place where they made the famous combat airplanes of World War II “The Spitfire” . I have to admit that I’m an airplane fan. Actually, there is a Spitfire set as a monument on one of the roundabouts near the airport. The route from the airport to Southampton is very beautiful as there are a lot of green fields and natural parks. Before I went to the hotel, I went to Southampton city centre and to the docks and the the pier, where I have to take the ferry to go to the office. Yes, I have to take a ferry to the office!!!!It´s very different from how I go to work in Madrid! After the brief tour, I finally arrived at the hotel , had a pint of beer in the hotel bar. By this time I was very tired, so when he left the hotel I had a cup of English tea at the restaurant and I went straight to bed.

Next day, I went to Brokenhurst a town 15 minutes away by car from Hythe’s Marina, where you can find a second hand bicycle and some accessories (bike night lights) for me to go everyday to the office (I love riding on a bicycle). Beaulieu was another lovely town in the New Forest areaan there is also a beautiful place call The National Motor Museum, property of Lord Montagu a famous personality in the UK.

On Friday evening after I left the office, I went to the pier in order to buy a “ten trips” ticket(18 pounds) bonus for the Hythe’s ferry service. The pier is not just a pier, it is a very special place that withholds many stories. As the pier is very long, it has a small train that goes from the sale tickets window to the boarding area. This train is made of wood and it is very old and traditional. It goes through rail tracks parallel to the cyclist and pedestrian area. Walking along the pier, I realised that people had written messages on the wood . You can see many types of messages ; love for ever declarations, families , engagements dedication, sailors names and many more. This place has been an eye witness of many important events in UK and world history. Southampton was one of the boarding ports of the British and American NAVY for the invasion to Normandy (D day) in the World War II and it was the departing port of the famous Titanic, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth etc.

After the visit to the pier, I had my tea at the hotel’s restaurant and then I went to my bedroom for “my final landing” till next day. However, it would just so happen that at 01:30am the fire alarm started to ring and this tremendously annoying noise woke me up from my wonderful “run way bed “. At first I did not know what to do, so I walked around my room for 2 or 3 minutes thinking that my room was the only one with that horrible noise but finally I decided to go out of the room and down through the emergency stairs from a 9th floor to the reception desk. Of course by that time I realised that it was a fire practice for the hotel and firemen but it was quite an experience because it was the first time that it has happened to me in a hotel at 01:30 in the morning. A Japanese guy and me were the only ones wearing pyjamas and flip flops in the hotel’s reception since everyone else got fully dressed before going downstairs as they realised it was a drill.

Next day on Saturday, I woke up late to have my breakfast and I came back to the room because it was raining. When the weather was better I decided to go out and see the city centre. A lot of people were shopping in the street and I finally found an internet café so I could write to my friends and family. On Sunday I did exactly the same and also I went to pump up my bike tyre. I think the people who saw me in the street thought I was a little bit weird because I was only carrying my bike tyre with me, so some boys in the park asked me: "Where is your bike mate?". A few days later, I asked myself the same question.

On Monday morning I felt really bad because I had a cold. I was coughing a lot and could barely breath properly but despite of that I took my bike to go to the ferry’s terminal and then I went to the office. It only took me 10 minutes to reach the ferry terminal as I had planned out the route there the day before. I took the ferry and it only took 13 minutes to reach Hythe’s Pier and another 5 minutes to get to the office on my “new” bicycle. In the evening, I took the same route back to the hotel although it was really chilly, especially on the ferry. When I got to the hotel, I locked my bike up outside the hotel’s entrance as I always do. That was the last time I saw my bicycle.

Next morning, I approached the place where I had parked my bike, only to realise that there was no bike . I would have liked to have seen my face in a mirror because my mouth was completely open and I just could not believe that this had happened to me. I spoke to the reception manager in order to report the incident to the local police, so my bicycle adventure finished before it even started. I guess that things like this happens everywhere, doesn’t it?. My advice, be carefull and tie your bike safetly.

Thursday! That was definitely the best day so far that I have had during my two weeks here in Southampton. The sunshine finally came out and the views of the harbour completely changed. After my colleagues and I left the office Sam, Amy, Phil and I went to Lymington, a fisher village 5 minutes by car from the office . They invited me for a beer and then we jumped on to a small boat to the Isle of Wight. The landscape was simply amazing, the sea was very calm and the sky was a very deep blue. I took a lot of pictures of the yachts, boats, ferries and specially of the spectacular sunset that made a perfect contrast with the old bay forth and the light house. We finally arrived to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight and ate a delicious fish and chips, specially made for us in a restaurant called Saltys. The owner of the place, Mr. Salty attended us personally and he was such a character. After we finished our meal we came back to Lymington Marina. The sky was full of stars and I was lucky enough even to see a “shooting star”.

On Saturday, Sam his girlfriend and some other friends picked me up at the hotel and we went to a traditional English pub to watch England play against Australia in the Rugby World Cup. The atmosphere was excellent and it was very funny to see how Sam is a passionate fan of Rugby, fortunately England won the game. After the game, just the men and one of the girls with her boyfriend, continued with the victory celebration in a cocktail bar. The day would not have been perfect without having a dinner in the best Indian restaurant of all Southampton called “Kutis”. The food was excellent and it had a very particular Indian decoration with a dominated color: Purple.

Sunday was a city tour day. I went to the tourism office to collect some tourist information about the city and the surroundings areas. I started walking around the old city walls and historic sites until I got to the Ocean Marina, which is a very nice residential area close to the Southampton aviation hall and the cinemas. As soon as I realized that it was a cinema, I bought a ticket for the next movie session. In my opinion the price was more expensive that what I normally pay in Madrid (half of the price) but al least the English movie that I watched was very good, so it was worth the money.

Back at the office on Monday, Amy my “buddy” took me to a very curious but at the same time creative event at Hampshire Four Seasons hotel; a very luxury 5 stars hotel located in beautiful area close to a town called Hook.

On Friday on my way home from work, I was very lucky to see the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship departing from the docks, so taking advantage of this opportunity I took some pictures. That evening after we (my girlfriend, her parents and I) ate at the hotel restaurant, we met a couple of friends who had come down from London to visit us, we walked all the way down to the restaurant area. We finally got to the Piano Bar close to the “Mint Casino”, where the atmosphere was very good and we stayed there for a while until we decided to go to The Grapes, which is a very traditional and famous pub in Southampton. It was a wonderful night as I got spend it with my girlfriend, her parents and my friends.

The next day in the morning, we took the ferry to Cowes on the Isle of Wight and we spent the whole day there. Despite of the fog in the morning the weather improved during the rest of the day and we enjoyed of a pleasant temperature. We arrived at West Cowes and then took a bus to Newport, which is the capital of the Isle. There, we bought a full day ticket to use the bus service. We went to Ventnor and then onto Shanklin, where we got off the bus. We went for a coffee, walked around the old part of the town before heading to the beach area. There are many beautiful and big houses around that area where you can also find hotels and B&B. There is also a lift that takes you from the cliff top down to the beach, which I would normally call “visual contamination”, however the landscape was very beautiful. We walked from Shanklin to Sandown the seaside promenade. It was very curious to see the little and colour full “beach kiosks” where some people have all their beach kit (surf boards, sun umbrellas, etc) and even a small kitchen inside. We got to Sandown and the first thing that we saw was a bizarre 1980’s style Pier with many neon lights advertisements. There, we got in the bus to Ryde where we went for walk around the town. From Ryde’s Pier you can take a Ferry to Portsmouth, actually the people can see Portsmouth from the Pier. After I bought some souvenirs, we took our last bus to Newport and then to West Cowes where we got in the next ferry to Southampton. We arrived at Southampton Town Quay Marina around 9 pm and then watched the Rugby World Cup Semi-final game England versus France at the hotel’s bar; it was a very exciting game with a great atmosphere because England won.

Sunday was our last day together with my girlfriend’s parents. They were very kind to drive us around the New Forest area. We went to Beaulieu, Brockenhurst and before we went to Lymington we stopped many times to take pictures of the wonderful views, it’s amazing to find donkeys, horses, ponies and cows in the middle of the road. We arrived in Lymington at midday, where the weather was better than the day before and we took a walk around the marina and enjoyed looking at the variety of the yachts and boats. When we finished there the car was waiting for us to take our last trip of the day to Winchester “The King Alfred City”. It only took us 25 minutes to get to the city and the first place we visited was the Cathedral were many Kings and British personalities are buried. More recently it has become famous as they have used the cathedral to record films such as The Da Vinci Code, The Golden Age and Elizabeth. By visiting this city and its historic places I have learnt more and had a better idea about the history of what it is now the Great Britain; King Alfred statue, The Wolvesey Castle, The Winchester College, The Pilgrim’s Hall , Jane Austen’s House and the City Mill. It is amazing how we managed to fit so much in to one day. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time see the famous King’s Arthur Round Table but instead we enjoyed a tasty and very English Roast dinner in a local pub.

The next day we had dinner in an Indian restaurant called “Tiffin Club”. The food was very good and it was not so spicy. In this restaurant I felt like I was at home because it is not a very big place and it has such a warm atmosphere and much more when the chef came out from the kitchen and asked us personally if we enjoyed our meal.

I was trying to hold onto to every single detail of the city in my head but it is easier to do with the help of my camera. I managed to take a picture to two squirrels that were standing up eating a nut. It could sounds silly, but having on my way to the office, beautiful parks full of squirrels with a marvellous autumn views or getting a ferry from a Pier to go to the other side of the bay where the office(the place people go to work everyday!) is located in a charming Marina is everything but common for me. Because of the Sunny day today, on the ferry I took my last pictures on my way to the office.

That´s what I can say about my trip to this beautifull area of England.

Germán Suárez