We left the marina for a walk into town to see more of the town. Southampton was heavily bombed during WW2 so not very much of historic buildings are left. Along with the busy harbour, one of the reasons for the heavy bombardment was the Supermarine factory that produced the Spitfire fighter.

We decide to visit the Sky museum on the town’s aeronautical heritage. Supermarine was the main focus and although the company is most famous for the Spitfire, a lot of information was presented on the fast seaplanes that won the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes 1927, 1929 and 1931. There were a number of planes on display – ranging from WW1 early fighters to jet planes and a lot of information on the WW2 era including a display on the life in Southampton during the blitz. There was a map where each bomb that had hit the town was marked and you really can understand why so little is left from before the war. It was also interesting to learn the logistical challenge to still be able to keep up production by dividing the manufacturing out on many small workshop spread over a large area instead of the original large factory.

All over town there are painted zebras which brings some colour to the city.

Then, we took a walk in the city and got a train ticket for Göran who should leave on Thursday. We visited the Dancing man local brewery that was located in one of the few remaining historic buildings. One main attraction in the city was its Sea City museum with an Titanic exhibition. Southampton was also the departure harbour for the Mayflower pilgrims. The fact that the city was a major port for the D-day soldiers that naturally gets its attention. We took the walk back to the marina through the industrial neighborhood that felt like it had seen its best days.

In the evening, we go to Quay Fifteen and meet up with Rocky and Barrie. Their motto is Fine Dining without the fuzz. We could really testify to that. Outside, the restaurant looks like a normal lunch restaurant with camping chairs but the food was something extraordinary. We ask what we should do after this and Rocky asks if we would like to see the hotel where the first class cruise passengers stayed before embarking the ships to America – including the unfortunate passengers of the Titanic. We thought this was a great idea so Rocky calls his friend “Edi” who is the manager of the restaurant Grand Café. As we come there, she is busy but after an hour, she get the opportunity to show us around. The hotel is now private apartments but we could see the stairs and ballrooms that was very impressive. Naturally, we also had some drinks in the bar so we get to talk more with her on the history of the hotel.