Back to Southampton

Having exhausted the Isle of Wight zoo, we decided to go and sample the delights of Ryde as a way of killing time before our ferry was due.  Talk about tacky.  I'm sure the place was very elegant once, but any grandeur has long since disappeared to be replaced by fast food outlets and "Pound" shops.  Time for a quick getaway...

I'll start with a couple of panoramas taken on the ferry.

A couple of my fellow passengers, including another in my set of old sea dogs.

Once out in the Solent we started to meet other ships, including a Red Funnel ferry going in the opposite direction and the two enormous cruise liners we'd seen berthed in Southampton that morning.  They were pretty impressive (in a slightly obscene, consumerist way), with the gleaming white paintwork standing out starkly against the brooding sky.

  You could definitely tell it was August in England!