175 years later, the now Carnival owned Cunard Line, celebrated with a Queen Mary 2 re-enactment of that very first scheduled crossing of Cunard’s first ship, “Britannia”, from Liverpool to Halifax and Boston. This was just one of the celebratory events. At the end of May, two months earlier, the entire Cunard fleet assembled in the River Mersey opposite the “Three Graces” and in front of a million people who had turned up for this unique (until it happens again in Liverpool) event, the “Three Queens” performed a kind of formation exercise rotating almost a complete circle, before positioning themselves alongside each other with their prows pointing towards the open sea.
Today is my 100th day since arriving back at a freshly lock-downed United Kingdom on 27th March. Everything was normal when on January 9th. Roger “chauffeured” me in my silver Peugeot 508 to Southampton’s Novotel. This is a much better arrangement than what I used to do previously, travelling by rail from Macclesfield, usually “scrounging” a lift from home, and transferring by taxi from Southampton Station to the port, sometimes, treating a couple of people in the queue to a free ride to the waiting ship. Never, on the numerous occasions that I used the train, were there any problems; the train was always on time. Driving down does entail a necessary overnight stay, which is always a pleasant start to the holiday.
By now, I should have been making preliminary arrangements for another voyage in August. But of course, with almost the entire cruise and travel industry suspended, I shall have to wait until next year, as described in numerous previous blogs. Instead, outside, the wind howls, the skies are colourless, the rain falls, and the inclination to leave the house, non existent.
But, for everybody else, today is also special. Pubs and restaurants are open from today. You can get a haircut. Unfortunately, covid- 19 has not gone away and there is a real danger of a resurgence of the virus. Tomorrow, I go for my first meal out. It will be as interesting as it is pleasurable to see what the new reality of eating out is. Below are a few retrospective photographs.
Thanks for reading, David 10.57hrs 4/7/20.
David's Cruise 