London - no thanks

What a difference a few kilometres north can make. All the stories about England weather are true. Paris was sunny, hot and humid and Southampton is cold, windy and miserable, almost as bad as Sydney.

There was a rush on buying tracksuits in the onboard clothes shop and, quite clearly, there were only two colours, grey and pink, in uneven proportions. There are quite a few men in pink which is refreshing but a little odd on the eye.

The gangways opened and we all went ashore. A ripple of conversation went through the crowd and a quietness washed over the dock as we realized that we were standing where the passengers of the Titanic had stood in 1912. Almost as a single group everyone turned and looked toward the sea as if expecting to see the Titanic returning to Harbour. No-one threw any large diamonds into the harbour so in true Anzac style, after a minute or so, the hustle bustle and buzz of excited septuagenarians picked up again.

So, all rugged up we headed for London through some of the greenest countryside you might want to see. Every few kilometres there was a little village with cobbled streets, fish and chip shop, tea-rooms, large castle, large church and Morris Minors by the bakers dozen. I was living an episode of “Heartbeat”.  

The United Kindom has a population of 62 million with 7 million living in London.  London is Sydney on Ectsasy but every bit as architecturally and historically rich as nearby Paris. The Romans founded London as a communication centre shortly after they invaded Britain in 43 AD. Londinium, as it was called then, was a little village on the Thames. London rapidly grew to become the biggest city in Europe.  

London City is not a nice place to walk around when compared with other large cities, the streets are narrow and cold and its as busy as downtown Mumbai with all the aggression of lunch hour in Sydney. I can see why I was warned about pickpockets, you are jostled and bumped into constantly as you walk around. 

We jumped a red double decker topless bus and worked our way around the obligatory sights so we could leave the city. There was a lot to see; Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, 10 Downing Street, the Tower Bridge, Barbican Arts Center, Nelson's statue in Trafalgar square, the wax museum and Buckingham Palace.

We were relieved, a few hours later, to leave London and head down to Brighton. One of my goals was to visit Brighton Pier (note the pebble beaches). Brighton and Hove were much more civilized and calmer to walk around. Both towns were essentially seaside homes for the English Gentry and even the Royal Family had their summer Palace here. An absolute must is to visit the Summer Palace as you can walk through every room and have tea and scones on Queen Victoria’s private balcony, left of Dome in picture (which I did of course).