Wet, Cold Typical English Weather

Aloha Everyone,

Both of us were reluctant to get out of our comfortable bed. After I braced myself and jumped into shower, I nudged J.J. to get dress.  

Stopped at Salisbury Supermarket for some provisions. The cashier remembered us from yesterday and greeted us warmly.

Bargate and Guildhall is an impressive medieval structure located at one end of West Quay Mall. Fortunately, I was able to visit it yesterday under much sunnier conditions.

Light drizzles on our way walking to Blue Island Greek Taverna. J.J. and I shared Giant Prawn dish with pita and a large plate of mixed Souvlaki with beef & chicken, Greek salad and crispy fries.

The owner/chef is from Cyprus. He was happy to see us enjoy his cuisine. J.J. and I treated ourselves to a Baklava.  

Just as local weather forecast predicted, when we woke up from our nap, it was raining hard.  We had pizza and Capucchino in the hotel bar along with at least 50 other fellow guests who were sheltering from the rain.

Aloha -- Cathi

To Southhampton

Aloha Everyone,

Our room is comfortable. J.J. and I were able to get sufficient sleep and after a hot breakfast at Holiday Inn Express, we packed and waited for our pre-arranged ride.

The driver showed up promptly at 11:30 am. Monotonous landscapes continued for 90 minutes before arriving at Leonardo Hotel in Southhampton. The cost was US$162.50.

The two of us had Asian-fusion dishes at a restaurant named Wagamama, in Japanese translated as fussy, willful or self-indulgent. My gochujang rice bowl with bean curd was Chinese influenced and J.J.’s Tantanbeef ramen was a spicy Korean dish. Located on the 5th floor, we accessed via elevator. This was one of the high-end eateries in the mall.  Great service for so-so food. We paid US$41.60 including tip.

Leonardo Hotel is “centrally located” in the city center but to go to main mall district, one has to traverse through Palmerstone Park. Beautifully maintained gardens with stone monuments depicting the history of Southampton attracts retirees as well as families with children.

Leonardo Hotel offers complimentary WiFi, coffee and tea service, but no breakfast. In pursuit of simple croissants for breakfast we walked to 5 bakeries and coffee shops. Salisbury Supermarket purchases and Greek pastries for dinner plus Cadbury chocolate treats came out to less than US20. It was a good first day. J.J. walked 3.5 miles while I did 4 miles.

Aloha -- Cathi

Greetings from London

Aloha Everyone,

Our 9 1/2 hours flight from LAX to Heathrow was manageable. Paying additional $500 per person each way for extra legroom seats was well worth it. 

Dinner and breakfast were served hot. Overall inflight service was excellent.

We moved smoothly through designated lines for travelers with preferred passports including UK, EU, Australia, Canada, US, Japan etc.

To get to our hotel, Holiday Inn Express, it took us about 20 minutes using a shuttle ride at about $8.00 per person. The hotel is actually located just across Terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport, but we weren’t about to pull our two suitcases and walk.

Urban Brasserie is one of the 3 main restaurants within the Holiday Inn Express and Crown Plaza complex. J.J.’s choice of Fish & Chips is appropriate for his first meal in UK. I chose more ethnic fare of Indonesian Nasi Goreng.

Aloha -- Cathi

Departure Day

Aloha Everyone,

Had a very light breakfast followed by 3 miles walk.

Our Lyft driver, José is from Salvador. Polite but friendly man he told us that he’s been living in California for 10 years and learned to drive a car only 5 years ago.

José was surprised that we travel with only two small suite cases. Actually, we decided to take our medium size suitcases since we will be gone for a total of 60 plus days.

Smooth check in. We are now at our gate. Two hours minutes to boarding. Our flight departs at 5:00 pm. So far everything is going like a clockwork.

Aloha -- Cathi

Final Stop at Our Storage Locker

Aloha Everyone,

Without our RV to store miscellaneous things including suitcases, kitchen appliances and household items, J.J. and I made our final trip to our storage locker.

We also were able to purchase disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer. We are set to go!

Aloha -- Cathi