Brittany Ferries - Santander to Portsmouth/Southampton

Nov 16 we boarded the Brittany Ferries Pont Aven for our trip over to England. It normally takes 24 hours to get there.

harbour views from atop the ship

 

  

the maritime station from above

interesting looking cargo being loaded

the loos, WCs, toilets, banos - an interesting looking building

there is a pyramid on the shore

some sort of fueling station

the working part of the harbour

leaving the dock

here's that "bubble wrapped" building -  looks like an open space right now - actually I looked it up and  it is an arts and cultural center, still in the building phase, but nearing completion

sun is setting as we leave

all of a sudden this little boat starts heading at speed towards the boat

and pulls right along side

stays for a few minutes then takes off with 2 men on deck - it was a Police boat - I am thinking they were picking up the harbour pilot , because we had just about cleared the harbour

  

another interesting looking structure on shore - the Festival Hall of Cantabria 

- an auditorium and performance venue

bye, bye, Spain

this was our view at night

and in the daytime

inside the ships lounge, very light, spacious and open

We made it to Southampton after an extended ferry trip from Spain. We were over 3 1/2hrs late in arriving due to rough seas - made walking like a drunken sailor real easy, a "technical" problem and a medical evacuation that took us off course so a helicopter could pick the patient up.   The rough seas caused a bit of "mal de mer" but nothing significant. We were also told that a WWII bomb was found in Portsmouth harbour yesterday, which closed the port for while. It has since been towed out to sea and exploded. There is always something interesting happening.

Because of our late hour of arrival, we opted to take a taxi from Portsmouth to Southampton.  My original plan was to take the train, but again, without the internet I could not find out when they travelled.  I had done my research for earlier departures only.  We finally checked in to the hotel about 10:30.

Now 2 nights here then we are off on the Queen Mary 2 to New York City and then home. This lack of internet availability has been the pitts!