Yesterday, a quick and quiet train ride (I found the quiet car) brought me to Southampton, where orientation is being held and where we'll get on the ship.  Or as we were taught today, where we'll "embark."  Lisa and I went looking for the ship a little while ago but she actually hasn't docked yet.  But here's what the harbor looks like:

  

There's a working port a little to the left, but this picture was taken from atop this wall:

 

According to Wikipedia, "Archaeological finds suggest that the area has been inhabited since the stone age.  Following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 and the conquering of the local Britons in 70 AD the fortress settlement of Clausentum was established. It was an important trading port and defensive outpost of Winchester, at the site of modern Bitterne Manor. Clausentum was defended by a wall and two ditches and is thought to have contained a bath house.  Clausentum was not abandoned until around 410.
"The Anglo-Saxons formed a new, larger, settlement across the Itchen centred on what is now the St Mary's area of the city. The settlement was known as Hamwic,  which evolved into Hamtun and then Hampton.  Archaeological excavations of this site have uncovered one of the best collections of Saxon artefacts in Europe.  It is from this town that the county of Hampshire gets its name.
"Viking raids from 840 onwards contributed to the decline of Hamwic in the 9th century,  and by the 10th century a fortified settlement, which became medieval Southampton, had been established."

Indeed, the town seems to be littered with old ruins...

...and Tudor structures.

This is Westgate.

Southampton has a wonderful mix of people, working class, white collar, tourists, and quite a visible LGBT scene.  It even has a pedestrian mall like Charlottesville, though with slightly less-fancy stores.

But with a castle ruin anchoring one end instead of a hotel.

Here's where we had dinner last night. 

Gotta get in my fish and chips at authentic old English pubs while I'm actually in England.