Edinburgh In The Rain – What Can You Say!

      Today was the last port in the British Isles. We head to France next. We decided before the cruise started to simply go ashore and find our own way. There is a train station 200 steps up from the landing of the tenders. We were off early. Once ashore, a local company offered a bus ride into the city centre and back for about the same cost. Too convenient!. They dropped us at the beginning of Princess street which is the main street of new town. There is a park in a valley that separates old and new town. We followed the street along towards the hill at the end.

Scot's Memorial

On Top Of The Memorial

Edinburgh Castle

     The street is filled with upscale stores and being Saturday they were filled with shoppers. We did venture into one upscale department store called Jenners. They were having Blue Cross sale. We were curious! It is an added sale but the a sales lady said there was not much difference in prices. Across the street is the Walter Scott Monument. Of course we went up to see the views of the city. Unfortunately is was a cloudy, misty foggy day and the views were good but not great. It has 4 levels of viewing with a total of 287 steps in a winding staircase. No lift here. Over 200 feet high, it was completed in 1844. The passageway was very narrow at the top as was the actual viewing area..

Bannerman's Pub

     We continued to the Regent Gardens at the end of the street. They also overlook the city. It has a partially completed Parthenon, a modern day Greek structure. It was never finished due to a lack of funds. We crossed the bridge and walked down the royal mile which leads to the Edinburgh Castle. We diverted from the main street looking for a place for lunch. We asked a policeman for a pub where the locals go. Withing 100 yards we found the Bannermans Bar. It was probably the most interesting pub of all the places we had visited. It is called a “Rock and Whisky” bar whatever that means.Definitely local. There were people in there dressed in their finest, probably going to a wedding which was going on across the street.

    Back to the mile for a stroll just as the rains moved in. We made our way to the castle where there was some type of concert going on. Now we were getting wet! We decided to head back to 

The Mile In The Rain

the bus pick up point. The mini bus ride back was quite enjoyable as the driver gave us a commentary on what we were passing. Sean Connery has a house in the area; and Harry Potter's Hogwarts School was close by although the fog and mist blocked the view. After all the rain it was good to get back to the ship for a little rest.

    We did attend manage to get to Skywakers for some pre dinner drinks and snacks, then headed to the art gallery for some champagne and cheese. We seem to get invited to these things all the time. We think it is because we have won some free art in the past and are now “collectors”. Dinner and a wonderful performance by a singer ended the evening. She was better comedian than a singer. Her voice was so deep that Judy said it scared her. She thinks that she was a male!

 

Invergordon – Gateway to Loch Ness

     After a good sleep we were ready to head to Inverness for a look around the Scottish Highlands. Our first impression was ok where are the highlands. I guess we had a mental picture of Scotland and although there are some low rolling hills, we did not see Highlands as such.

    The port is about 15 miles from Inverness and the only way to get to town was a transfer. They did not have a local train and the local bus takes hours. We opted for and Inverness on your own with the plan to take local transport to Loch Ness. The bus driver that we had did not seem to know where he was going. We drove around a few times before he figured out the drop point which was right next to the Loch River. Go figure. By the time we got into town and figured out the bus schedule, we would have had only a short time at the Loch. All the tours from town had already departed by the time we got there. We decided rather than taking a chance of not making it back to our bus, to just stay in town and do a walking tour.

Inverness Selfie

Along Loch River

The local tourist information office had maps prepared that showed the 25 or so buildings and places of interest within walking distance.

Book Store In Old Church

     We stopped at the local museum for a very nice overview of Scottish history and then went to the Castle of Inverness. It is not that old and is now used as government offices. There are some interesting old buildings in the town and we did visit a number of the old Gothic churches and the chapel cemetery. The most interesting place we visited was the old Gaelic church. It was the first church built for Gaelic worship in 1694, rebuilt in 1702 and in 1792 became the Greyfriars Free Church. It isow a second hand book shop. Stacks and racks of books in an old church. The photo gives a better idea of what it looked like inside. The church is not that big.

Scottish Pub Lunch

      We wandered along the Lock River for a few blocks and then went back to Church Street where we found a nice pub for lunch. We had a nice lunch, a nice cider for Judy and a pint for me. We sat and watched the locals. I'm sure they were watching us as well. The Ruby has only been coming into this port since May. We also had a chance to see some of the British Open. Finally we wandered along the river for a bit and ended at St. Andrew's Cathedral. It was finished in 1869 in the Victorian Gothic style. It was suppose to have spires but they were never added.     We were back on the bus and back to the ship in late afternoon. They had a Scottish music and dance troupe in (very small) for a pre sailing show. Dinner and a show by a Canadian magician ended the evening.

Finally A Day At Sea

     Finally today we had a sea day. We have been on the go for about 12 days since we arrived in Ireland and today was the first sea day that we had. There are only 2 on the entire trip. No such thing as relaxing until today. We did manage to sleep in with no real plan for the day. A small breakfast followed by exercise . We had a nice morning tea (tea and a dessert). We were waiting for the pub lunch to open. On many sea days they serve fish and chip and other English meals in the Wheelhouse lounge. The ship calls they British Pub Days. There is always a lineup but we only waited for about 10 minutes. We joined up with our table mates from Calgary.

Passing At Sunset

Self Portrait

 The first champagne auction of this trip was this afternoon. Princess has changed the way they do the auction. Today they only sold things in “lots” and one went for around $18,000. All items were in the thousands of dollars except for a few token ones. Hard to believe that they would sell that type of art. Gone are the days of the low price paintings. We noticed a few changes on the last cruise but this is not the old days. Everyone got a piece of art when they left – a small glossy print of something.

     We did go to line dancing. Karen did a good job again. We first met her on the Crown Princess on a crossing a few years ago and she seems much more polished now. She confirmed that the Crown was her first contract with Princess. She did what she called an intermediate dance. It was a beginners all the way. However she keeps the class moving so at least it was a chance to move around a bit. She also does the zumba class in the morning.

Formal Night

Dressed abd Ready To Go

   Chocolate covered strawberries arrived and we had a glass of wine, then went to the Captain's party. Of over 3200 people aboard, there are only 162 with “Elite” status. Dinner and a new production show that was a bit off the wall ended the evening. We really enjoyed the day at sea!

Castle Culzean and Ayr – Greenock Scotland

   Today was a very long full day tour. We were waiting to go ashore at 8:30 and returned at 5:30 along with everyone else. There was a very long line waiting to return as we were suppose to sail at that time. Again we were late sailing but that does not mean anything to us. In fact tomorrow is our first sea day. 

Another Ruined Casstle

     We followed the coast from Greenock. It took about 2 hours to get to the Culzean Castle. We did make one photo stop (another ruined castle – they seem to be everywhere) before we got to our destination. We travelled south along the Firth of Clyde passing many small towns. Our guide took us through all the battles that Scotland fought for hundreds of years. It was interesting to note that there is (was) a strong Viking influence in this area, with some of the names having been derived from them. All I could think about was Hagar!

    This astle and the extensive grounds are now a country park. It has been updated and is a wonderful place to visit. It is not just one building but has many 

Ruined Gate

buildings including stables a laundry house, ice house walled garden ponds, etc. It is really an impressive place. We walked through the ruined arch across the viaduct to the castle itself. The castle has been well maintained since it passed to Scotland in 1946. The rooms are all furnished with paintings, etc. In fact you can rent it out for weddings and parties. The third floor was kept as the Eisenhower apartment.

Culzean Castle

 It was designated for him in recognition of his war effort. Being an avid golfer, he did stay a few times when he was president. Today you can rent rooms on the third floor. We joined a tour where the guide explained every detail in each room. We got lost in 15th whatever of whatever! We headed out and just wandered through the rooms. Each room had an attendant that answered any questions. The estate belonged to the Kennedy's but they were Scottish clan not the Irish clan.

     Since our guide gave us 3 hours at the castle, we had plenty of time to wander through the gardens, woods and walks of the area. We crossed the Fountain Court in front of the castle (very well maintained) and over to the Walled Garden which is full of flowers in bloom. We then made our way to the Swan Pond (no explanation needed) and then back through the woods. There were many people there but I think that we were the only tour from the ship to visit the castle. 

Wall Of the Fountain Courtyard

Most were locals – families, people having picnics, kids playing, etc. Just before we left it started to rain a bit. We had left the ship in a downpour in the morning but had beautiful sunny weather for the day.

      We did stop in the town of Ayr, home of Robert Burns. Our guide read some of his poetry and we saw where he was born, where he lived, etc. The town itself was packed people and there were kids galore. Being the summer holidays, we assume that it was mainly Scottish visitors. There certainly were not tour buses lined up in the area. We found our way to the “Wee Windaes” Pub for a bowl of soup, a sandwich and a Fosters.

Relaxing in The Walled Garden

When we were back on the bus and heading for the ship, our guide played some Scottish music for us. She had selections of both traditional and modern music. The modern selections were quite nice. She sang a song that Robert Burns composed. We all knew it instantly as the one we sing when ringing in the new year!

     Back on the ship, we headed for Skywalker's – the highest part of the ship. We discovered that they have a small buffet for Elite passengers (as on other ships that we have sailed on) but we did not receive notice of it being available. We will start going after tomorrow night. It is the second formal night and the Circle party will be the event.

  

Wee Pub In Ayr

   Everyone was at dinner and then we saw a new show. It was a mix of so many things and did not seem to have a theme. It was something like the crew show but with the entertainers. So some dancing by the troupe, a few songs, solo by the musicians, etc. We talked to other people and they had the same reaction. We also saw an Irish comedian (has been in the U.S. for 40 years). We have seen him before. We recognized some of the stories that he used but he was very funny.     

Belfast and The Giant's Causeway

     After another late departure last night. To date this trip is completely opposite to the way we normally cruise. Sailing in the morning with free time and then in port in the evening. We did our last zumba workout until a few days from now. Today the schedule called for arriva lat 11:00 am with an 8:30 pm departure. We were late leaving. After this all the remaining ports will be morning arrivals and late afternoon departures.

Overlooking Giant's Causeway

Selfie At Causeway

     We were ready to go ashore shortly after arrival. We had a 6 hour ship tour to the Giant's Causeway which is about 2 hours north of Belfast. It is an UNESC World Heritage site and a wonder of the world. It is something that I taught in geography. It's formation is much like  Devil's Tower (Close Encounters of the 3^rd Kind) in Wyoming that has the 5-7 sided columns. However, they are only about 50 feet high whereas at Devil's Tower is is over 800 feet high. Despite that the area is quite impressive. The columns are about 18 inches wide vs 4 feet in Wyoming. They reminded me more of the basalt lava flows that you would see in Yellowstone park which were formed in a similar way. Despite that, it was a great place to visit.

Judy on Giant's Steps

Giant's Steps

The tour was late leaving because of 2 missing people. They handed in their vouchers but never got on the bus. After about 2 hours we stopped to view a mostly destroyed castle right on the ocean. After arriving at the Causeway and collecting our audio guides, we walked down to the formation and were able to use the stones to walk all over the place. There were hundreds + (?) of people there and from they looked like ants crawling all over the place. It's really hard todescribe what it looks like and we hope that the photos

On A Step

give you an accurate idea of the structure. After about a mile walk downhill, and the walking all over the structure (we were part of the ants!) we decided to walk the long way back to the visitor's centre. We were only given 2 hours to see the place. We could have done a lot more but needed to head up. It was a bit of a hike, especially after zumba in the morning but we got back to the bus area in time to have an ice cream cone. Most people were back in time which was amazing considering the distance that we needed to walk.

North Ireland Coast Slump

    We took the coast road back with some great views of the North coast of Ireland, stopping a number of times to see the landscape. We also passed through a number of small towns. Back in Belfast, we had a short tour of the city. This is where the Titanic was built and there are plenty reminders of that. A very modern museum is in front of the area when it was constructed. The paint shop still stands. In the city itself, the office where the ship was designed is also still standing. The guide made the point several times that the Titanic was good when it left Belfast. There is a mix of old and new and not much evidence (at least where we were taken) of the “troubles” as they called the conflict. This is marching season and many of the town that we passed through displayed their colours from which you could tell what “side” they supported. They refer to the situation now as “tolerating” each other. An interesting side note is that they have a hockey team. They built an arena to develop a “neutral” sport that could be supported by either side. In all a very good tour.

     After dinner we attended the country western night and then saw a production show.

Liverpool Home of the Beatles!

      After a late departure last night, we did not get to Liverpool until after lunch. We were trying to figure out why the delay in leaving and arrival. The best explanation of it was it has to do with the tides. We did notice that we were at low water around 6 last night (old navy training comes back) . At least it gives us a chance to sleep in and relax in the morning instead of the afternoon. Regular routine. Light breakfast followed by a 45 minute all levels zumba workout. Then a quick shower and line dancing. It was better than most dancing on the ships. Karen did not teach the Electric Slide but started with something else. We have seen her before on another cruise. She really impressed us when she did Poker Face. Taught it, practised 4 walls and danced all in quick order. Lunch followed and we were off the ship by about 12:30 sneaking into line with all the tours.

Beatles Museaum - The Cave

      We were along side the Albert docks. It is an area of renovated waterfront warehouses. There are all kinds of shops, restaurants and museums. We headed directly the “Beatles Story”, the best of the Beatles museums. It took about 90 minuted to go through the whole thing. It follows their story from their school days and a skittle band through to the shooting of John. They have many artifacts. They have “reproduced” a guitar shop, the Cave, tours , recording, record shops, etc. It was all well done and crowded. As we moved to the end, the people on the ship's tour were also there. If you are a confirmed Beatles fan you must see this museum. Being in Liverpool, it is the definitive place. It was well done and well worth the visit.

Liverpool Catheral

After The Climb

         From there we moved away from the docks to the Liverpool Cathedral. It was up a hill and  bit hard to find the entrance. The Anglican church is the 5^th largest church in the world. St. Peter's is still number one. I thought that it was bigger but I don't know how they determined that. At first they would not let us in because there was a graduation ceremony in progress for a local college. I cried (OK whined a bit – said I travelled 5000 miles to see it.) One of the ladies said follow me and we went in past the guards. Massive describes it. We made our way to the tower entranced after 2 lifts (10 stories) and 100 plus steps we were overlooking the city. Check off another high place we have been to. We then headed back to the docks, stopping at the Maritime and Slave museums. We only had about 30 minutes before they closed. They are free so we did go in for a quick visit. Judy did the Slave museum and I went to the Battle of The      Atlantic portion of the Maritime Museum, then

Albert Docks

 back to the ship.

      A quick snack and a cup of tea an a rest followed. Dinner as usual and then to the theatre for a performance by the 'best' Beatles Tribute band. It was more like a concert than anything else. A really good show as Ed Sullivan might say! The place was packed, the first time we have seen an overflow crowd this trip. They received a standing O. It brought back memories.

A Day In Howth

    What a great experience! We spent the entire day with Ida and Liam. We met them on an earlier stop in Ireland. We did not get to Dublin until 11 this morning (we sailed at 10:30 pm) so we did have a bit of time this morning. We did go to the zumba class. It started at 9:30 and ran for about 45 minutes. It was not the gold level. Great workout! The instructor is not as good as the one we had in South America but it was as intensive. I am sure they both went to the same school! A quick shower and we were ready to go ashore by 11:30 which was the arranged meeting time.

    As we headed ashore we were caught in the crowd of ship's tours that were headed off at the same time. We did manage to find Ida and Liam. I think they saw us. They were parked just beyond the buses which is where they were the last time they met us.

We headed downtown for a quick ride around the city centre, then headed out of town for about 10 miles to a small fishing port called Howth. Being Sunday if was busy. It is a working port where the trawlers put in to land their fish. It is on a very narrow strip of land with fish markets on one side of the street and the trawlers on the other.

The Castle

    They had made lunch reservations at an upscale restaurant called Aqua. Very nice. In all our emails we had insisted that we take them for lunch. Their son Nile and grandson Connor had just arrived from Spain and accompanied us to the restaurant. After a great bowl of chowder and an order of fish and chips, I was stuffed. The biggest surprise is that they treated us again. They would not hear of us paying.

Howth

    After we drove around the area. We went to an old castle close by. The manor was now closed but there was a golf course on the grounds. Some boys were kicking coloured 'soccer' balls down the course. We realized later that there were large basket like holes with flags in front of every green. Soccer golf? Even our hosts had not heard or seen that before. After a bit more site seeing we were back in Dublin.

    We ended our visit to one of the neighbourhoods with old restored row houses that we visited the last time we were here. The area is a very exclusive,

Dublin Doors

expensive part of the city with many professional offices located in the various buildings. The doors are all brightly painted in many different colours. It was very impressive. A short ride found us back at the ship where we said our goodbyes. It was wonderful day. We did not get back until 7 in the evening.

  Dinner was fast and sparsely attended. Most were off watching the soccer game! We were served in record time as the waiters had something planned. A group called “Gaels Afloat” played Irish music with 3 dancers in the Princess Theatre. They were very good. That ended probably our best day so far thanks to our wonderful hosts.

Cobh – Pronounced Cove

     This was our second visit in the last few days. We decided to have breakfast in the dining room. We were docked only a few feet from the centre of town. We had already been to Blarney Castle so we simply went ashore in this town and did a nice walk about. It is the second largest natural harbour in the world but there isn't nearly as much traffic as other ports that we have visited. The ship was port side to (the jetty) which is rather unusual. However that put our cabin right next to the train station.

   

Purple Hat Ladies

We had a few specific stops that we wanted to make. However the first thing we encountered was a classic car show and local ladies dressed in “classic” dress. We took our pictures and has a nice chat with they. They are a local group that dresses up in various outfits and goes around to various functions. Today the were dressed in White and purple.

Deck Of Cards Houses

      Our first stop was a Titanic memorial plaque. We walked down the main streets until it basically ran out then made a u turn and went up Wolfe Tone street to St. Colman's Cathedral. A typically

Gothic structure if there ever was one. It is only about 150 years old. From there we walked until we came upon a road with turn of the century row houses called the deck of cards. The reason for that was that it was built down a hill and when you see them they look like cards. They were refurbished in the last few years with various colours being used. It was a good chance to do some street scape photography. The closer we got to the main street the more we encountered people from the Ruby.

By this time it was after bar opening time so we started to look for a nice local pub. We 

Old Row Housing

saw a few but none with outside sitting.

White Star Line Offices

         Our wanderings took us to the office of the White Star line which has a Titanic Exhibition. There was a long lineup to get in so we browsed the gift shop and went on. After that we simply returned to the ship.

     This afternoon they had a troupe of local dancers preforming traditional Irish dances in the Princess Theatre. As the last of the tours returned to the ship and we were getting ready to sail, a band preformed on the dock. It is always nice to see this type of sendoff as it demonstrates how important these visit are to city.

     With the soccer game on tonight the dining room was sparsely attended. Our California table mates did show up, but one left in the middle of dinner to go watch the game and then came back during half time. We did attend the late show. The violin performer was excellent. The photos show the wandering around Cobh including the church, White Star office and the Deck of Cards row housing among other things.