A picture of the Holiday Inn in Southampton at the beginning of a holiday blog can only mean one thing…Sylvia and I are off on another cruise. While Britain sweats in its first heatwave of the year we are turning left at the Isle of Wight and heading for the arctic circle. Our first stop, on Sunday, will be the oil capital of Norway, Stavanger and then we will progress through a series of fjords until we reach Honningsvag, the most northerly point of mainland Europe. We will be here on June 20th in time to experience the Summer Solstice and the midnight sun.
The packing this year was a little different with wooly hats and gloves replacing the normal tee shirts and shorts, although I am determined to keep the shorts on for as much of the journey as I can.
Southampton is particulary busy tonight as the Isle of Wight Festival is about to commence with the ferries looking quite full.
In addition the park just below the hotel seems to be hosting some kind of motorcycle rally with the bikers racing up and down the dual carriageway. I hope they don’t go on too late. Some nice bikes though.
We will be boarding our ship, the most inappropriately named Caribbean Princess tomorrow lunch time to begin our journey. Hopefully when we get up in the morning we will see her moored where the Ventura was today.
