August 21, 2012 Winchester, Lunch – sandwiches and Dinner – Queen Mary II

August 21, 2012 Winchester, Lunch – sandwiches and Dinner – Queen Mary II

We decided last night to go to Winchester today, rather than waiting in the hotel until departing for the ship at 2:15 p.m. 

So at 9:00 a.m. we crossed the highway to the bus stop at Chitham Roundabout and boarded the bus to Winchester.  When we arrived at the Bus Station, some friendly folks directed us to the tourist Information office located in the Guild Hall, where we were given a walking tour map of the downtown.  We followed the route up the high street past several lovely bakeries with appealing sandwiches toward the West Gate.  Winchester confronts one with up to a 1000 years of English history at every turn, starting when one walks out of the Bus Station and is confronted by the statue of King Alfred who united England after the Middle Ages and made Winchester his seat of government.   Winchester was the seat of government of England during the 13^th Century also when King Henry of Blois came to rule.  Winchester’s fortifications were started by William the Conquerer after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and for many years Winchester was a fortified walled city.   It has built and destroyed several times over the years and now very few of the original walls remain other than those between the west gate and the council hall which was part of the original fortifications dating from the 13^th century. 

We followed the guided path through some of the remaining sally ports below ground where the soldiers could leave the fort and cross the dry moat to attack besieging forces.  When we walked into the Council Chamber, which was the largest building in the 13^th century fortress still intact, we were amazed to see on the wall the Round Table, build by Henry II in the 13^th Century.  We were confronted by a real table of real historic significance that we thought only existed in legend and fiction.  At dinner two of our dinner mates from England (Michael and Noni) said that the legendary round table pre-dates the Norman invasion, but it is not clear to me if the legend preceded the real Round Table or the real Round Table influenced the literary legend.   The real table built in the 13^th century has the names of 24 of King Henry’s knights and their crests painted on it with his picture in the center.  Very, very cool.

Next we walked down from the fortress area and back into town through old streets of really old houses, most of which are maintained by the Winchester City Council. and over to Winchester Cathedral and were amazed again.  Winchester Cathedral was also begun in the 13^th century and is a beautiful high gothic cathedral.  It has the longest nave in England and its barrel vaulted gothic ceiling towers high above its high clearstory windows.  Its scale is so imposing that it is hard to describe, so here are several pictures.

We saw a famous illuminated bible from the 13^th century and two globes from the 16^th century, one geographic showing California as an island and the other astronomical showing the constellations in its library.

We returned to the High Street after the Cathedral visit to buy several sandwiches that we wanted to eat on the bus back to Bassett where our hotel was located.  In one particularly appealing bakery we bought a hot ham and pineapple pizza and a cold egg, bacon and salad sandwich and a blackberry juice and took them back to the bus station.  When the bus arrived we ran up to the top deck and sat in the front row and ate our pizza pie and sandwich and drank the juice as the bus drove back toward Southampton.

We arrived at the hotel around 1:30 p.m. and at 2:15 our taxi arrived to take us to the Queen Elizabeth II Quay to board the Queen Mary II.  We boarded around 3:00 p.m. and were greeted by a complimentary 1/2 bottle of Pol Acker champagne, so we unpacked our clothes and then poured a glass of champagne and went up on deck to watch the ship disembark, but there was a technical problem and the ship did not leave until after 6:00 which was when our first seating for dinner was scheduled, so we went to dinner.  We are seated at a table for 6 persons, Michael and Noni are retired teachers from England and the other couple’s husband is a college professor of design and architecture.  They are all very friendly and intelligent so it is interesting to talk to them.

My first impression of the food is that it is just okay.  Suzette ordered gazpacho that was sweet, yuch.  I ordered tomato bisque, which was okay but not nearly as good as the delicious chunky roasted tomato bisque with fresh herbs at Suzette’s restaurant, the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery.

We each had a salad that was fresh and pleasant with a few canned artichoke leaves and we each ordered the mushroom stuffed guinea fowl with duchess potatoes and sliced snow peas and one stalk of asparagus and a bottle of Spanish Viura ($34.50).  I requested and was given more steamed asparagus.  The guinea fowl was tender and delicious with that characteristic wild game taste of pheasant.  I liked it a lot.  The mushroom stuffing was not so good.   It was rather dry and tasteless.  There was very little sauce and it had very little flavor, so on balance about a C+.   

For dessert Suzette ordered the Canyon Ranch Cranberry Strudel and ginger ice cream with a nice combination of slightly crunchy apples and the bit of tartness from the cranberries, with a light crème anglais sauce with a scoop of Ginger ice cream.  I had the profiteroles which were small and filled with egg custard and topped with a chocolate sauce, plus the waiter brought me three scoops of ice cream: one coffee, one the ginger, and one vanilla.  The ice cream was fresh made and good and the ginger one with bits of candied ginger in it was great.  I can tell we are going to be eating in the special Todd English dining room some, if we want exceptional food.    

After dinner we wandered into the Clarendon Gallery to see its offerings of art and drink a glass of champagne.  I saw one pastel I liked by an artist named Simon Kenan.  All the rest was junky.   The art assistant signed me up for a lecture and some special information on Simon Kenan.  Then we returned to our lovely state room and our comfortable bed.  Suzette briefly opened the door onto the balcony to breath the fresh air and was almost sucked overboard by the air coming under our door from the corridor and because it is windy and the boat is going about 30 knots; so much for a romantic evening on the balcony of our cabin.

Bon Appétit