Aloha Everyone,
Our room is comfortable. J.J. and I were able to get sufficient sleep and after a hot breakfast at Holiday Inn Express, we packed and waited for our pre-arranged ride.The driver showed up promptly at 11:30 am. Monotonous landscapes continued for 90 minutes before arriving at Leonardo Hotel in Southhampton. The cost was US$162.50.
The two of us had Asian-fusion dishes at a restaurant named Wagamama, in Japanese translated as fussy, willful or self-indulgent. My gochujang rice bowl with bean curd was Chinese influenced and J.J.’s Tantanbeef ramen was a spicy Korean dish. Located on the 5th floor, we accessed via elevator. This was one of the high-end eateries in the mall. Great service for so-so food. We paid US$41.60 including tip.
Leonardo Hotel is “centrally located” in the city center but to go to main mall district, one has to traverse through Palmerstone Park. Beautifully maintained gardens with stone monuments depicting the history of Southampton attracts retirees as well as families with children.
Leonardo Hotel offers complimentary WiFi, coffee and tea service, but no breakfast. In pursuit of simple croissants for breakfast we walked to 5 bakeries and coffee shops. Salisbury Supermarket purchases and Greek pastries for dinner plus Cadbury chocolate treats came out to less than US20. It was a good first day. J.J. walked 3.5 miles while I did 4 miles.
Aloha -- Cathi