Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Travel Tuesday: Mom's 1953 Europe Road Trip - Arrival in Southampton, England

Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, London, England / Ewan Munro / CC BY-SA 2.0

From Mom's Europe trip diary, in the "GOING" section:
Saw Le Havre from boat.  Crossed English Channel—arrived at Southampton about 2 p.m.  Went through immigration on boat & had to wait until 5:25 before getting off boat.  No trouble through customs.  Got car O.K. and drove to London, 78 miles away arriving at Cumberland Hotel by 10 P.M.

She tells the story a little differently in the "PLACES VISITED" section:
August 12 – Southampton
Landed at 5:25. Went through customs without them looking into suitcases. Had to wait for car. Gas cost total of 2 pounds 25 shillings and 5 pence – about $6.38 in all – got full tank.
Decided to drive on to London – no trouble with left side of road – just cyclists. First time I ever made a left turn on red light.
Countryside beautiful – green, hilly – interesting villages, shops, and houses – roads sometimes lined with trees.
August 12, 13, 14, 15 – London [4 pages, excerpt only for this day]
[Aug. 12] Drove to Cumberland. Could only get singles for night. Went out and had supper and got some English money.

The "HOTELS STOPPED AT" section indicates this is the Cumberland Hotel at Marble Arch, pictured at the top of this post.

This is the sixth in a series of posts about my mother's 1953 Europe Trip.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

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