Hello from Jolly old England!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! I can't believe it's nearly July! It's going well out here, and we are already through our seventh port visit! As I said in last week's email, we pulled into Portsmouth, England late Friday evening. Actually, we were pier-side two hours earlier than we were supposed to be, which was a nice surprise for everyone! That evening, I had duty and was on Shore Patrol, so I got to scope out the town a bit earlier than the rest of the people in my duty section. I had a nice dinner with one of the Chiefs that was on Shore Patrol with me, and then we wandered around rounding up all the NORMANDY Sailors when it was time to get back to the ship. Since we got in so late, it was a quiet night, and we didn't have any problems with people out on liberty!
Saturday, after Duty Section Turnover, Erin, Shawna, and I packed up our things and took the train from Portsmouth to London. Beate, the Norwegian midshipman that was onboard for a while, was leaving at the same time to go home, so we said goodbye to her at the train station and took off running to meet our train in time. Two hours later, we were back in my old stomping grounds, and I realized just how much I missed London! What a great city!!! It's changed a lot, but much is still the same, and it was easy to get my bearings and find my way around again. Racing through the Tube (subway) stations reminded me of going from Hatch End to Bond Street when I worked at CINCUSNAVEUR one summer (by the way, Dad, I rode past 7 North Audley and remembered running around Hyde Park with you at lunch!).
Anyway, Friday night, as soon as we pulled in, I checked the internet (on a whim) form the ship to see if Wicked, a musical about how the Wicked Witch of the West became wicked, was playing and if there were tickets. Luckily for me, it was, there were seats, and they were GREAT seats, so that was what we did Saturday evening, after dinner at the Texas Embassy, my favorite restaurant in London, and home of the actual Texas Embassy from when it was an independent country. But I digress... As many of you know, The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie of all time (I was always a witch for Halloween...save the sarcastic comments please!), and I have wanted to see Wicked since it opened several years ago. Tickets in NYC run about $200+ and are often sold out a year in advance, so getting these tickets for half the price, and having such great seats, was thrilling! I was so giddy with excitement...I was like a little kid at Christmas! And it was nice to be back in the theater again! Actually, the Apollo Victoria Theater, where Wicked was playing, is the same theater in which I saw Starlight Express with Nana, Gramps, Todd, and Jake when they came to London several years ago.
Sunday morning, we woke up in our dive of a hotel (actually, it was closer to a youth hostel, but it was the LAST room in London for Friday night...believe me, we tried to get other places!!) and had breakfast before venturing out into the dreary rain that is London's signature feature! I introduced the city to Shawna and Erin (neither had been before) by way of the "up top bus" (double decker) tours that we went on when I lived here before. We toured the whole city in a couple of hours, took lots of pictures, and tried to stay dry by wearing some very tourist-y looking ponchos that said "Big Bus Company" across the front!! After the tour, we grabbed some sandwiches from Marks & Spencer, a gourmet English grocery, and caught the train back to Portsmouth. It was a great 24 hours in an incredible city, and I'm so glad I was able to make the trip...and see Wicked (and Mom, I bought the "highlights" soundtrack, so I can introduce the music to you before we go see it in NYC)!!! That evening after getting back to Portsmouth, Shawna and I dried out, then went out into the village for a quick bite to eat. We wandered around the port a bit and went to the movies...so nice not to have subtitles!! We saw Ocean's 13, which was good, although not as good as the first in the series...but still nice to see an American movie every now and then! A quiet night, and an early one, but that is ok, since we had duty on Monday.
Tuesday, I gave my division a treat for working hard the first two months of deployment. We worked for a couple of hours in the morning, and at lunch time, I gathered them up and we took the train to Salisbury and then the bus to Stonehenge. I'd never seen the rock formation (even though I lived here, it was one of the places I missed out on) so it was a nice treat for me as well. After touring the site and learning how Stonehenge was used as a calendar (honestly, a palm pilot is so much more convenient, and easily fits in your pocket...haha!), we got back on the bus/train and ventured back to Portsmouth. Once back at the harbor, we met the rest of the division (some people opted not to spend the money going to Stonehenge) for dinner at a well-recommended steakhouse in town. Actually, it was mostly a burger joint...a cabbie told me it was British food, but she was wrong...but we had a great time anyway and it was good to get out with my guys! A wonderful day, and I was back on the ship plenty early enough to get a good night's sleep before pulling out on Wednesday morning...
Wednesday we said goodbye to England and are making our way to our next port stop, where we will be in time for Independence Day. I am hoping for a nice sunny beach where I can relax and save some of the money that the last seven port visits have robbed me of! Honestly though, I've seen some really cool places, so I can't complain! I will be standing watch in Combat during this underway period, which will be interesting, because usually I am only there for my Strike Exercises, so it'll be a good refresher for me!
I also just found out that when I go to my next command (Destroyer Squadron 22, or DESRON 22 for short) I will be a part of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group. Pretty ironic considering that was Patrick's first ship and the ship that Uncle Bruce just left! I guess TR is staying in the family for at least two more years! Anyway, plans for my transfer in a couple of months are starting to firm up, and I will keep you all posted as I get more information!!
That's it for this week! Stay tuned for more updates from the Mediterranean!
Cheers!
Kate
