Split Second in Southampton
In Southampton, there are a series of walls built around the town for protection. Unbelievably, this section known as Bargate, was built in 1290. Nearly half of the walls, gates and towers are still standing. Originally, the walls protected an area of 1.25 miles around the town.
Originally 29 towers, this is one of the thirteen remaining. As you can see, there is some deterioration at the top.
There is a variety of architectural styles around Southampton. It was fun walking through streets, each unique.
Home of novelist Jane Austen, Castle Square is an area of Southampton that shouldn't be missed. We walked through the arches of the castle. I think I took 30 photos from every angle... I'm always drawn to rock buildings and structures.
Due to weather complications, we spent 11 days aboard the Norwegian Getaway. First we missed Ponta Delgada because the seas were too rough. The plan was for immigration to board at that stop and clear us all on our next couple of sea days. Instead, we had to clear customs at our third stop, Southampton. Our floor was the last one called and we didn't get off the ship until 5:30pm. We spent about an hour walking the streets. Everything was closed by the time we got to shore. Time to plan a return trip to check out all the things I wanted to see!
Walking around town, it soon became apparent that EVERYTHING was closing before we got a chance to explore. Most of the kiosks had already broken down for the night. It seems as though we missed out on a lively little area...
Considering we didn't really walk too far, it was interesting how many different styles of buildings we saw. This is completely different from the one I posted above. Not enough research was done to see if the difference was due to era they were built or some other reason. No matter why, it was fun to turn a corner and be surprised at what we saw.
With the early shutdown of Southampton, we found ourselves headed back to ship only an hour or so after disembarking. After so many days at sea, I wasn't quite ready to return. So we walked right past the port entrance and came upon a charming wine/book store.
The Canute Road No 4 Coffee and Wine Shop was a fun spot! We checked out the wine list, selected a bottle with a plate of cheeses and meats and went to pay the bill. It was then I realized I didn't bring my credit card... only my cruise room key. That key doesn't work as well on land as it does at sea!!! Almost ready to tear up, I felt a card in my pants pocket. It was the debit card for our Irish bank account. Experiencing a couple minutes of panic when I couldn't get the pin number correct, I realized I jotted it down on my iPhone notes. Crisis averted! We spent almost two hours visiting with locals who tried to convince us to return in the evening when the area woke up... but we had to get back to the ship :-)
Good info: http://www.discoversouthampton.co.uk/uploads/media_items/old-town-walk-map.original.pdf
