Our Baltic Sea Cruise Part I: England

A year ago our good friends Barb and Jim invited us to plan a trip with them to Russia, via a Baltic Sea cruise.  We agreed, made the reservations, saved our "shekels" and finally it was here.  Now, hard to believe, but it's already behind us!  Ah, well.......

We flew from San Antonio to Heathrow on 11 July and immediately transferred to Southampton via a National Express bus.  (Perfect transportation and we'd recommend it to anyone.) 

We spent four days in the south, visiting various noteworthy locations, beginning with Stonehenge.  What a magnificent and awe-inspiring structure, rightfully added to the list of World Heritage sites.

No one knows for sure its true story; there are many theories. 
We walked around Salisbury, a wonderful medieval town with a glorious cathedral, and, of course, made plenty of time to search for geocaches on the way. 

This is a restaurant converted from an old mill.  It's only a short walk from the Salisbury Cathedral. This is thought to be the finest example of a medieval cathedral in southern England, if not the world, and is associated with the book and recent movie by Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth.  It is also home to one of the few original copies of Magna Carta, a foundational document for so much of the liberty we all enjoy.

Southampton itself is an intersesting town, home port of the Mayflower and the Titanic, with memorials to both.

Much of the old city wall is intact and makes for a very interesting hike.

We spent a full day wandering around Winchester, early home of the Saxon kings of England.  Here is the statue to Alfred the Great who united the various regions of the island into one country. 

The beautiful guildhall nearby houses the visitors' information center, where we obtained maps and self-guiding walking tours of the city.  Winchester Cathedral (that's right: just like in the '60s hit song of the same name.) is another wonderful medieval structure with a fascinating history.  As is the case with most churches of those times, deceased individuals often find their repose under the feet of the worshipers, buried under a slab in the floor of the cathedral.  Winchester is noted for the final resting place of author Jane Austen, and a plaque nearby commemorates that fact.

We did all of this touring on local buses and on foot.  Great ways to get around!  And very important exercise before two weeks of cruise food!

Finally the next morning, 16 July, we were ready to embark on our cruise to visit seven cities, including capitals, mostly of countries we had never before set foot in.  Here we go!