There are definitely too many numerals in the title of this blog post. 2025 is fine. Days 4 through 9 would be fine. But minus 1? This blog is going to cover our departure from London on day 4 of the trip and our time staying at Southampton, which we left on day 9. However, there’s a day in this span in which we were in Winchester, so I’m going to give that it’s own post. That’s the minus 1.
Why Southampton? I attended and presented at The Global Jane Austen Conference. Otherwise, I probably would not have taken my family to Southampton. This is not to diss the city, but I’ve been there before, and there isn’t anything too exciting to see there. There is a Jane Austen connection, but it’s not enough to drag a child and sister to Southampton. This is why while I was at the conference I sent them to Chawton!
Traveling from London to Southampton is easy. You get on a train in London and soon you find yourself in Southampton. And we were lucky enough to find a table, so we played cards en route. We played a game called Casino with my Jane Austen deck. 🙂
The trouble is getting yourself to the Waterloo train station and then getting yourself to your lodgings in Southampton when you have to drag around suitcases and carry backpacks. So many stairs. So many opportunities to lift your heavy bag. We were not delighted to find that we had to walk uphill to get to our flat in Southampton. (We could have taken a bus I guess, but the walk to the flat was only 17 minutes.)
Yes, we stayed at another flat. This would be a four-night stay, so we opted for a place with a kitchen and washing machine again. As in London, we stayed at a “luxury” apartment. The pictures on AirBnB looked great, and the host seemed nice and responsive before the trip started. What could go wrong? A lot. I asked the host if we could check in an hour or so early. I was told I could do that if I paid a fee to have the cleaner come early. No thanks. I was told by the host that he would contact me when the flat was ready, for you have to have a code to enter the building and then the flat, and I had no code. So, we sat at a Starbucks on the warm afternoon of July 9 waiting for Michael to message me. Finally at 4 p.m. (the scheduled check in time) I got the generic message he sends to all guests with the code. Great!
We made our way to the flat, got in, and were surprised to find that there were things missing and things that should not have been there. Here’s what was missing: sheets for the sofa bed, pillows for the sofa bed, towels for a party of three, and soap. There wasn’t any soap anywhere, but there was a moldy, empty soap dispenser. Here’s what shouldn’t have been in the flat (besides a moldy dispenser): garbage and someone’s mobile phone (inside the couch and on with 42% power and an alarm that kept going off). So much for that cleaner taking the time to do their job.
I messaged the host to report these problems and was told that he would send the cleaner over and that I could tell her what to do. Really? Eventually she showed up and we just took the towels and sheets and sent her away. It’s kinda funny that she seemed surprised we didn’t have what we needed–as if she wasn’t the cleaner. Maybe she wasn’t. Luckily, we found a closet with some supplies and pried it open (there weren’t any handles!) to get some of what we needed, including a fan. It was hot as hell that week. Two days before we checked out I heard water dripping in the bathroom and thought someone had left the shower on. Nope! That would be a leaky ceiling. Apparently the tenant on the floor above us was taking a shower. It was clear to me that this day was not the first time the ceiling had leaked. I told the host, who said he was “devastated.” Not devastated enough to do anything about it. We put down towels and a large mixing bowl in the bathroom to catch the water.
Oh, did I tell you that the host didn’t send anyone to pick up the mobile phone? We couldn’t get it to turn off, which means we could not get the alarm to stop going off. My sister figured out who to turn the flashlight on so that the battery would drain down and we wouldn’t have to listen to an alarm go off for four days.
Other than those issues, the apartment was fine. 😀 And I enjoyed the massive tub.
Unfortunately, my conference experience was limited by illness and mindlessness. I had terrible allergies and sinus issues and had to miss the first day. I needed rest, so I sent my sister and niece to Stonehenge while I stayed at the flat and basically slept for 40 hours. I went to the conference on the second day only to find that there wasn’t any air conditioning. It was hot as hell, remember? Still, I saw some friends, heard some interesting papers, and went to a lovely concert tribute to Jane Austen. By the way, a student gave me the shirt!
On the last day of the conference I was set to give my paper and chair the panel I was on (don’t recommend: it’s a recipe for disaster). Things didn’t go as planned (understatement), but rather than rehash my foibles I’ll just say I learned a few valuable lessons: when chairing be sure to start the panel on time, stay on task as a chair and a speaker, and know that even when you time your talk ahead of time things can still go awry with time. I felt really bad about my performance that day, so I left the conference at lunch time because I needed to recuperate. I knew I couldn’t be a good conference participant for the rest of the day. I got back to the flat and rested but I was feeling so pitiful emotionally that I decided to walk to a museum just to take my mind off myself.
So I went to the SeaCity Museum because it was a 15-minute walk from the flat. I knew there was a modestly sized Jane Austen exhibit there, and the website suggested there was a huge Titanic (as in the ship) exhibit. It helped me pass the time until my sister and niece came back to Southampton, and I actually really enjoyed spending time at the museum. I learned a lot about the Titanic and why it sank.
I also got to see some old wild games, though I have no idea why they were there in the museum. Maybe because they are boardwalk games? They are kinda creepy, don’t ya think?
The good news for that day, which was day 7 of the trip, is that Lacy and Kensington went to Chawton that day! They loved going to Jane Austen’s House! They ate at Cassandra’s Cup and toured the actual cottage where Jane Austen lived and revised and wrote her novels across the road. They played dress up and had a wonderful time. Without me. 😦
They took a series of buses from Southampton to Winchester to Alton and then walked to Chawton. Their transportation woes from day 5 of the trip had passed. On day 5 they successfully made their way to Stonehenge.
They took a train and then a bus there, but coming back to Southampton they got on the right train and things didn’t work out or they got on the wrong train. Don’t know. They eventually made it back to the flat hours after expected.
The final thing we all did in Southampton was walk down to Bargate so that I could show Kensington what I was calling the smallest castle (it’s actually a medieval gatehouse). We had some time to kill before our train, so I thought why not show them another historical site situated in the middle of a bustling city. 🙂
In my next blog post I’ll talk about the minus 1 day: the day we went to Winchester: Sunday, July 13.
Misty Krueger 
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