Thursday 8 March - Southampton

Last day in Edinburgh I went back again to the old part of the city to explore more and decided to do the undercity vault tour. I hoped it would be one that provided info about the construction and history of what is a truly interesting underbelly - but it turned out to be a ghost tour and not a very good one. Took about an hour to go about 20 feet, and most of it involved standing in the dark in a group listening to the guide drone on about ghosts, hauntings and occurrances - with not a lot of really informative stuff. I was bored in about the first 5 mins of being in there - and had very sore feet and back after about half an hour of standing on cold stone floors. Maybe a few enjoyed it, but the Swedish guy I talked to in the hotel when I got back had the same disappointment as me.

Really glad I was inspired to go to Edinburgh. I had no expectations, but found something not only interesting, but quite unique as a city, full of history and friendly.

Travelled south to Southampton on the train from Edinburgh day before yesterday. Thought I'd take the long trip via Glasgow and through the west of England. Really glad I made that decision. The region between Edinburgh and Glasgow is so wild and empty - and quite beautiful. Old stone farm houses scattered in such isolation - sheep and loads of newborn lambs - small fields surrounded with stone walls. Wet, green and with snow-covered highlands all around.

Didn't cost much extra to upgrade to a 1st class train fare and very glad I did it. Train was delayed getting out of Glasgow by an hour and a half and various other delays along the way meant it arrived into Wolverhampton (my changeover stop) nearly 2 hours late. No big deal though, and the service couldn't be faulted.

I think I've pretty well paid for the Britrail pass with the travel so far.

Decided yesterday was to be a full rest day and so did bugger all other than read and rest in the room all day. Went out in search of food late afternoon then back for more reading before an early bed time. Was a good move.

Woke up this morning to a beautiful blue clear sky - the first one I've seen since I arrived in Munich. Early start and decided to head to Winchester on the train and check out this ancient city.

Loved it - the history of so much of what makes up the culture of the English is centred here - in particular the history of architecture, the monarchy and the church. I saw Arthur's round table (well the one built in the 12th century), the great hall where Sir Walter Raleigh was tried, queens and kings hung out and where the Romans in an earlier structure were located.

Winchester cathedral is amazing - the fact that it's both Norman and Gothic fascinated me as I really like the Norman architectural style. The audio tour was fascinating and the dates on some of the burial stones in the cathedral go back to the early 17th century. Saw Jane Austen's stone also.

The library has a couple of globes that pre-date any discovery of Australia. Really underscores how relatively young Australia is in the greater history of settled cultures.

Love having meals in the old pubs and there are so many of them - and the cups of tea are huge, hot and good. It must be wonderful to have this much historical connection within and easy train ride.

Nicholas Waller's House, now a pub built 1509.

I'm getting a good picture of what my background is and the history of who I am and where I came from. It's having a very strange effect on me though - not in a good way either, but I'll take more time to assess this.

I'll see what tomorrow brings, but may try to either go to the Isle of Wight tomorrow, or may just potter around the town here and take a look at the history here locally.