Nostaglia in Southampton

Awoke to another miserable day today - raining yet again!  One of those mornings when you really don't want to get up.  Eventually persuaded myself that work needed to be done and so went downstairs and cooked myself a breakfast of sausages with brown sauce - lovely.  Part of my protein diet! Sara and I were both in all morning and I spent on paperwork and emails.  Today marked two great anniversaries in shipping history - the 60th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the US liner, SS United States and the 175th anniversary of the founding of the P&O Line.  I marked the former by flying the Stars and Stripes (confusing some people into thinking that I had hoisted the flag for Independence Day one day early!  The latter I marked by deciding to go down to Southampton to witness the sailing of all seven current P&O cruise liners which had come into their home part together this morning.  They were due to sail at 6 p.m. in convoy led by a Trinity House vessel with the Princess Royal on board followed by HMS Dragon - one of the latest Type-42 Destroyers. Before going down to town Pier to watch this procession, I went to St. Mary's to get Tom's and my shirt personalised with our initials and Premier League badge (so nice to have that back on our kit again reminding us of those great 27 years in the top flight).  I had intended to get these done at West Quay but was told that they could only be done at St. Mary's.  This meant a long walk to St. Mary's in the pouring rain and a long queue to get them done.  I also bought tickets for the Memorial games on Saturday 14th July (which unfortunately will clash with the Parish Fete).  I trudged to Town Pier in the pouring rain and joined thousands of others to witness the departure of the seven liners - Adonia, Ventura, Arcadia, Aurora, Oriana, Azura and Oceana.  By the end of it I was soaked to the skin, shivering with intense cold and my camera stopped working because of the rain which had penetrated it.  Fortunately, it was working again by the time I got home.  The bad weather prevented the Red Arrows from performing and whilst we could hear the fireworks we certainly couldn't see them.  The highlight for me was seeing the three tall funnelled ships - Oriana, Aurora and Arcadia all together, one behind the other in the Western Docks.  It was like the old Southampton when the funnels of liners dominated the landscape/seascape.  Although I felt, physically, very miserable, I did feel nostalgic not only for seeing the ships but walking along the same bits of Southampton as on my first date with Sara.  It brought back memories of the greatest day of my life - one which changed my life and my world forever.  a day I never will regret.