WE BOARD THE QUEEN MARY II TODAY

We spent some time at the Westquay Shopping Centre located across the street, and had lunner at, again, Wagamama.  We ate at one of these restaurants when we were in Copenhagen after visiting Tivoli Gardens.  Had an excellent pork ramen there with beer.

What we experienced at Westquay was amazing.  We thought Southampton was just a dull port town with maybe a stoplight.  Not so.

• Has a population of more than a quarter million, and is famous more than anything else as the departure point for several fatal ships.

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  In 1620 the Mayflower carried 120, Pilgrims to America, making anchor near Cape Cord, Massachusetts.  Many died on the way, and only 50 survived the first winter.

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  Of course, the other that left here was the RMS Titanic in 1912 on a maiden voyage to New York, something we will also do soon, but hope to succeed.  That's an actual photo of the ship leaving Southampton.  Around 550 of the 2224 passengers and crew died, the deadliest sinking of any ship in history.  500 on board were from Southampton.

• 
  This was a major embarkation point for D-Day in 1944.  While the casualties are a mere guess, more than 4400 Allied forces passed away.
• Became a spa town in 1740.  Not much of beaches, but geothermal fluids were found.  There is today a geothermal electricity production of 2 MW  plus heat, the only geo-energy produced in the UK.

So back to our walk, I've never seen a shopping center with so many people eating at the same time.  A few photos.

We saw way up at the top a Wagamama.

So we went up and had to stand in line.  Huge restaurant going all the way to the back.  Took a photo from where I was standing in line.

Pork Belly Ramen.

We board the Queen Mary II in an hour.

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