Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Another early morning room service breakfast. We docked at Portland, England. Before anyone could get off the ship, we had to go through the dreaded face-to-face Customs and Immigration check. Only other country that has made us show our passport live in front of Customs agents before today was Ireland. Such a pain.
The ship prints a schedule of when you are to get in line for your turn. People on HAL excursions that were to leave by 9:30 were to line up at 7:45 (that was us).
Walked down at 7:30 and the line had already snaked back from the World stage (the meeting point) pass the BB King Lounge. I know all those people in line were not on HAL excursions. The staff could have easily checked to see if people had shore excursion tickets, but they chose not to do so. People kept coming and getting in line. Ridiculous.
The line didn’t start moving until after 8:00. When we finally made it to the World stage, the agent stared at the passport, stared at me, and finally said Cheers and waved me through. I think the most annoyed woman that I saw was the British lady who still had to show up in person to be allowed into her own country.
Before you left the World stage, the HAL staff put a green sticker on the keycard because you were not getting off the ship without the sticker. There were people trying to get into BB King Lounge for their tour but were turned away because they hadn’t been to Inspection (really should have read the notice). By now the line was almost the entire length of the ship as everyone was ignoring the Cruise Director about their times to line up. I doubt the people who hadn’t read the directions to line up at 7:45 were going to make their HAL excursion.
At 9:00, we walked back to BB King Lounge as this was the meeting place for our tour. Since everything was behind schedule, the Shore Excursions staff asked us to come back closer to 9:30 as the Lounge was getting too crowded. We just came back to our room to wait.
Adding to the chaos on Deck 2 was that the gangway was also on Deck 2. So, there were people in line to see Customs, people trying to get into BB King Lounge for their excursion stickers, people trying to leave the BB King Lounge when their excursions were called, and all the people trying to leave the ship via the gangway. Total confusion. Just as we got to the gangway, we were all stopped by Security as they were having difficulty getting a person in a wheelchair up the very steep ramp and didn’t want people crowding behind them.
If HAL had only enforced the times and kept people out of the line until their time, it would have been far less crowded. All they did was try to keep people in some sort of single file. If the comments I heard were any indication, HAL was going to get an earful about the procedure. I know they can’t control Immigration processes, but they can control their own processes.
We finally found our tour bus and left the port at 10:00. It was a partly cloudy day, so we had a nice view out the window without the blinding sun. The bus was comfortable, and the sound system was very good. Our guide had a thick British accent, but we could understand her. Our HAL tour today was STONEHENGE.
The tour description: Visit Stonehenge, Britain’s most remarkable and intriguing prehistoric monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As old as the great temples and pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge exerts a mysterious fascination. This mighty symbol of pre-history draws thousands of visitors each year to witness its awesome majesty. Simplicity, solitude and a powerful air of mystery surround this enigmatic and ancient circle of stones set within a grassy landscape. Seen by some as a sacred site, the henge attracts with its uncertain but ancient history, its sheer size and shape and its fame.
Built in several stages from about 3000 BC, Stonehenge is also Europe’s most famous prehistoric monument. Anthropologists can only guess at the rituals that took place here, but the alignment of the stones leaves little doubt that the circle is connected with the movement of Earth relative to the sun and the seasons.
It is thought that the stones, aligned with the rising of the mid-summer sun and set within a landscape of ceremonial structures, may have been built by sun-worshippers or as part of a huge astronomical calendar. Whatever their purpose, it is recognized that the transport, engineering and shaping of the stones — some of which came from South Wales — represented an enormous effort in time, organization and physical labor.
The prehistoric builders possessed a sophisticated understanding of both arithmetic and astrology and built this monument with only primitive tools to help them cut and shape these huge stones. Stonehenge remains as compelling today as it was to the people who built the first phase more than 5,000 years ago.
It commands attention, inspires awe and generates speculation. The mystery of why and how it was built may never be properly solved, but for scientists, historians and visitors, the fascination persists.
Notes: Travel time to Stonehenge is approximately two hours each way.
As we drove through the bucolic countryside, our guide kept up a running commentary about the towns we passed, WWII, pirates, the history of Stonehenge, and her life growing up in the area etc. She was very entertaining and knowledgeable.
Once we arrived, I downloaded the free app to take the self-guided walk around the monument. I highly recommend downloading the app as it was very informative about the history, construction, and significance.
Some people couldn’t believe we were going to see “some rocks.” But we’ve heard so much about it on the History Channel that we were excited to be there. I thought it was fascinating to see Stonehenge up close. Even if you can’t get close enough to touch it.
After we walked all the way around it, we went back to the visitor center and got some lunch at their cafe. We each chose a cheese pasty and a Diet Coke. Once we finished, we walked around outside exhibitions of the Neolithic huts they believed the workers lived in while working on Stonehenge.
Our last stop was the inside Exhibition Center which showed aspects about life during the creation of Stonehenge.
It was a very pleasant day. It was cool but not cold. We didn’t feel rushed and had plenty of time at the monument to enjoy it, listen to the audio, and take photos. We were very glad we took this tour.
Once we were back in Portland, we had time for the driver to take us to the highest point to get a nice overview of the area. Looked like a very nice port town. It played a big role in WWII as a defensive port.
We got back to the ship about 4:00. There were a group of singers and musicians playing 50’s and 60’s music serenading the passengers. Then at the 4:30 sail-away, three military men gave us a canon salute.
Spent the remainder of the evening listening to the Ocean Bar band, eating dinner in the Lido, playing in the Casino, and listening to the BB King band before calling it a night. Moved the clock forward one hour again.
Travel Trivia
England
England is the birthplace of many scientists who had a huge impact on the globe. Just to name a few: Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking.
Cheese rolling is one of the strangest sports taking place every year in Gloucestershire, in the west of England, during the spring. In this competition, an 8-pound round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled from the top of the cooper hill and participants chase after it down to the bottom. They are supposed to catch the cheese, but it is kind of impossible so who crosses the finish line first wins the cheese.
Even though there are different traditional dishes in England such as Yorkshire Pudding, Fish and Chips and Shepherd’s Pie, Chicken Tikka Masala is widely considered the country’s national dish, even though the origin of this dish is India.
Pubs are the main hub of various local communities, and they are a place to socialize and have a drink. But you are not allowed to get drunk there, it is illegal.
King Henry III had a pet polar bear which he received from the King of Norway. Kept on a leash in the Tower of London, the bear would swim and catch fish in the Thames.
The “London Bridge is Falling Down” nursery rhyme may be over 1000 years old. It may also point to the many fires and collapses the bridge was prone to over the centuries and take a dig at ‘my fair lady’ or Queen Eleanor who may not have made the best use of bridge revenues.
The first-ever stamp known as Penny Black was issued in May 1840 in England.
The towering British library located in King’s Cross, London is the world’s most extensive library ever.
Weymouth, England
Pronounced: Waymuth
One of the most renowned novelists and poets in English literary history, Thomas Hardy arrived in Weymouth in 1869 aged 28 and is believed to have taken up lodgings in Wooperton Street up until 1871.
Now known as D-Day, the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944 was the largest seaborne invasion in history.
The harbors of Weymouth and Portland were one of the biggest departure points for US troops. It’s recorded that over 500,000 military personnel, including support staff, and 144,000 vehicles were part of the fleet.
The South West Coast Path has two routes around Weymouth and Portland—one around its coast, and one along the South Dorset Downs. The path is the United Kingdom’s longest national trail, at 630 mi.
Weymouth Beach is rated among the best in England.
Weymouth has been used as a location in both film and television, particularly the esplanade which features prominently in the 1958 film The Key, the 1967 version of Far from the Madding Crowd, and the 1963 Hammer Horror production The Damned. Scenes for the 1965 wartime adventure film The Heroes of Telemark were shot in the bay. Other war films filmed in areas in and around the town are The Dam Busters (1954) and the 2017 adaptation of Dunkirk. Appearances on television include the 1980s detective series Rockliffe’s Follies, where Weymouth was the setting for the fictional town of Maidenport. Some scenes from the series Broadchurch were filmed there in 2014 and in 2008, the town was the subject of an episode of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.