Trip across North America and back
In the morning we took a taxi up to Tilbury Town, where the docks are located to pick up some drug store items we needed. On the return, we encounter a wild pig going nonchalantly on the road. Unfortunately, I was unable to get my phone out in time to take his picture. In the Continue Reading
We arrived in Dover, greeted by the famous White Cliffs. In the morning, we took a shuttle bus into Dover and looked around the town. We were looking for an antique shop and failed to find one open. However we did manage to do a bit of shopping and to take a quick peek into Continue Reading
Tuesday: We are anchored well off shore from Dublin and decided that since we had already done the tourist thing in Dublin a few years back (with Seaglass Chorale), that a long tender ride followed by a long bus ride wouldn’t be worth it. So, we decided to spend Tuesday on the ship. Weather is Continue Reading
This morning, we docked in Holyhead, Wales, the chief import/export hub for Ireland and Great Britain. We started out off Holy Island to the mainland (I think) and to Bodnant Garden. As with yesterday, the flowers were six to eight weeks ahead of Maine. The rhododendrons, magnolias and such were gorgeous. This was again a Continue Reading
We are briefly in England. We had a shore excursion to Port Sunlight and the Ness Botanical Garden. Port Sunlight is a company town built by William Lever in the early 20th century. Sunlight was the name of the first soap that he produced. It didn’t use the harsh caustics of other soaps and it Continue Reading
It was the first rainy day after 7 beautiful ones, however, we were prepared with raincoats. We went out early on the Food Tour. We had took a bus into downtown Belfast and stopped initially at St. George’s Market and walked around and sampled food at a few of the places. At this point, we Continue Reading
Our last day in Scotland. Ullapool is a small Highlands village, right on a Loch. A Loch is another name for a fjord in this case. We had a relaxing breakfast in the restaurant and then caught a tender over to the dock. We then walked through the town and did some shopping. After that, Continue Reading
We had a tour today entitled “Orkney at War”. The islands were important in both World Wars, given the position in between the North Sea and the Atlantic. The Scarpa Flow is a huge saltwater port area, which has been used in both World Wars to host the British Fleet. In World War I, it Continue Reading
Today we experienced our first rides on a tender to shore. Quite an adventure! We boarded the bus once ashore and proceeded to Broomhall, the home of the Bruce family, direct descendants of Robert the Bruce, the hero of the first war of Scottish Indepence from England. He was king in the 14th century. His Continue Reading
Our first day in the Highlands was great. We went to a “Hunting Lodge” which was used in the past for the gentry from London or Edinburgh to shoot little animals. We drove for quite a while, through Inverness, the capital of this part of the Highlands, and then stopped for a rest break in Continue Reading