This was a promised trip for Jeff who has humored me for years with all our Caribbean cruises, now it was time for a cooler weather cruise. In hindsight, this was a “working trip”. There was very little downtime as it was nearly daily excursions that were lengthy (8 to 10 hours). Our trip timing was impeccable. The weather was cool but not cold, there was no rain but just a few sprinkles. The countryside was 1,000 shades of green, the sheep had their lambs already, and the early spring flowers were in full bloom.
We spent one day in London pre-cruise, and found our way to Buckingham Palace and a few other central London spots before the time change caught up with us. I found an excellent App of the London Underground (called Destination online) which helped us get from place to place instead of looking at a map with 2 point font that for my eyes was unreadable.
We returned to the airport to catch our bus to the South Hampton cruise terminal and then departed on a 12 day cruise. We visited Guernsey which is a Channel Island, and then in Ireland we went to Cork and visited Belfast in North Ireland (where we heard about the “troubles”). In Scotland our first stop was Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands (which is, for the time being, the furthermost north either of us have traveled). Our next stop was Inverness Scotland where we traveled to Loch Ness and then on to Edinburgh. Our last stop was La Harve which was our stepping off point for a whirlwind trip to Paris and then we returned to South Hampton and ended our stay with an additional 3 full days in London.
Along the way we discovered that even though all the countries we visited spoke English (with exception of Paris in France), some of it was extremely difficult to understand (especially an Irish bus driver). We discovered that there are a lot of similarities but everything is just a little bit different. We say yield, they say give way. We say exit, they say way out. A firth is an estuary, Inver means mouth of a river, Bally means time land (Ballypatrick means time land of Patrick). Haste ye back means see you again and take away is carryout food. Wiskey is spelled with and without an “e” depending on whether you are in Ireland or Scotland. There were no billboards along the roads and highways. Most of the green space in and around London had been hunting grounds for the royals. And finally, there were so many tourists! Each of every place we visited was unbelievably crowded.
We were disappointed with our cruise ship. It was one of the largest we have been on with 3150 passengers and 1200 crew. The food was just okay, there was never enough seating available at breakfast and the entertainment was sub par. They had it figured out on how to get us off the ship for our excursions in an expedient manner but getting back on always involved incredibly long lines with only one ramp open and it always seemed that everyone arrived back at the same time.
Now you can just look at the pictures or read if you would like to hear more detail (this is really for me so I can remember the details!).
May 11, 2019 Fly to London overnight arrive May 12
Because the airline cancelled our original trip from OKC to Chicago we had to take an earlier flight which resulted in a really long layover in Chicago – about 7 hours. When we boarded our flight to London, they just about immediately fed us dinner, I had a couple glasses of free wine, then put on my neck pillow and eye shades and tried to snooze. We made it into London on time, spent over an hour in the customs line, gathered our luggage and made a few false turns before finally finding the city bus terminal which is located inside Heathrow airport and took the city bus to our hotel. After we checked in we walked down the street to McD for dinner. Then we took the city bus back to Heathrow and bought Oyster cards for London Underground – that is their prepaid pass system. We hopped on the underground and went to Buckingham Palace. It was a beautiful, warm afternoon and we walked around for a couple of hours. We went through St James park, Covent Gardens, down to the Thames River where we saw the London Eye, then rode the underground back to Heathrow, caught a city bus back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
May 13 Bus transfer to South Hampton, Board Ship
We made our way back to Heathrow (on the city bus) and met up with the cruise ship personnel and checked in for our bus ride to South Hampton terminal (about an hour an a half bus ride). The ship wasn’t quite ready for us to board so we waited in the terminal and people watched. It wasn’t long and we were allowed to board and explored the ship and waited for our luggage to arrive. We found our dinner seats where we seated with two ladies from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. They left their husbands at home working (actually, they weren’t interested in the trip).
May 14 Guernsey (St. Peter Port) Channel Islands
There were no ship excursions for this port. We took the tender into the port and planned on exploring Ft Cornett first before venturing into the town. While walking we saw stairs down to the shoreline that didn’t appear to be blocked off. We veered off the beaten path and took the stairs down to a rocky shoreline to hunt for shells. There were a lot of crustaceans and searching did turn up a few shells worthy enough to bring home. We were the only ones that went to the beach. We went back to the fort and decided to forgo the steep entrance fee. When we made it back to the main square there was a women with a placard that said “information”. We had already determined that our exploration would be toward the direction of 3 towers up on top the hill. We asked the information lady what they were. She said the first two belonged to a college but the third one, Victoria Commemorative Tower (built 1848), was well worth a visit. She instructed us to go to the gift shop of the Candie Garden and ask for the key to the tower. She told us that it wasn’t advertised, but we could get the key, unlock the tower, and climb the 95 steps to the top. So we walked up the hill to the Garden, found the gift shop, asked for the key … and surprise, we were signed out a skeleton key and climbed the 95 steps and were awed by the scene from the top of the tower. We returned the key and walked through the rest of the gardens before making our way back to the “shopping district”. A plaque at the gardens indicated that the Beatles had played there in 1963. We found Jeff a shirt before queuing back up for the tender ride back to the ship. In hindsight, this was a lovely little island and was one of my favorite stops on this trip.
May 15 Cork Ireland
Cork Ireland has the second largest natural harbor behind Sydney Australia. From here we boarded a bus for an hour drive to Blarney Castle. The countryside was green and there were sheep and lambs everywhere. The sheep were spray painted by the owners to identify them using different colors and numbers. We learned that the hedgerows that surround the fields are protected by law and the landowners can only trim them certain times of the year.
Blarney Castle is actually the 3rd structure to be built on the property and was built by the MacCarthys in 1446. The estate is 60 acres and includes gardens, avenues, arboretums and waterways. We choose to view the grounds rather than stand in the 2 hour line to “kiss” the Blarney Stone to gain the “gift of eloquence”. Some believe the Blarney stone to be Jacob’s pillow, brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah. Legend says it was removed to mainland Scotland where it served as the prophetic power of royal succession, the Stone of Destiny. After MacCarthy sent 4000 men to support Robert the Bruce in his defeat of the English in 1314, the stone was split in half and sent to Blarney. Some years later, a witch saved from drowning revealed its powers to the MacCarthys.
The grounds were beautiful and the spring flowers were in full bloom, especially the azealas and rododendrums. There was a fern garden and a large stream ran through the property. There is a private residence on the property were the owners live. Choosing not to enter the castle and instead view the grounds kept the masses of tourists away from us so that we felt like there were only a few people there, well that is until we visited the retails shops before returning to the bus.
We stopped at a local hotel for lunch and were treated to an Irish singer and dancers. After lunch there was a photo stop at Charles Fort at Kinsale and that was followed by an hour and a half bus ride back to the pier.
The weather today was cool, but a light jacket sufficed. The only time I felt cold was waiting to board the ship.
Cork had a huge incinerator near the port where they dispose of their garbage.
May 16 Dublin Ireland.
Our excursion today was to a 1000 acre estate located at Enniskerry County Wicklow, along the western side of Ireland at an estate called Powerscourt in the Wicklow Mountains. There are 47 acres of gardens overlooking Sugarloaf Mountain. The gardens of Powerscourt are billed as Number 3 in the World by National Geographic (#1 is Versailles and #2 is Kew Gardens in London) The house is not inhabited (following a devastating fire) but is filled with shops. The walled garden and Rhododendron Walk were both in full bloom. The day was beautiful, slightly cool but no rain. The symmetry of the Italian Garden and the terracing were very well done and the imported statutes added to the ambiance. The castle had been ravaged by a fire and the interior of the building was now made up of shops and a restaurant. There were also two golf courses on the estate.
We had some free time after our tour and decided to hustle across town to visit St Patrick’s cathedral rather than shop.The building dates back to 1220 and over the years has survived wars, revolutions and a reformation. This church is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland and is an Anglican church. According to tradition, St Patrick used a nearby well to baptize converts to Christianity. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, preached here and is buried here.
May 17 Belfast, North Ireland.
North Ireland was created in 1921.We heard about the “troubles” from our guide. Protestant vs. Catholic.
This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We had a 3 hour trip to get to Giants Causeway (the eighth wonder of the world and UNESCO site) which is an area along the coast made up of 40,000 interlocking hexagonal columns of basalt which were formed by continuous lava flows. Over the centuries, ice and rain have knocked the tops off and left unique formations.
May 18 Glasgow, Scotland
Our excursion today was to Culzean Castle. Along the way we passed a castle in ruins called Dunure where some episodes of Outlander were filmed. The Culzean castle was built in the 1770s. This was definitely more of a grand European estate like Downton Abbey. We got in behind a tour group which blocked our access through the house so we made our way outside and toured the grounds. We made our way down to the rocky beach and searched for shells and visited the swan pond that didn’t have any swans. From here we stopped at a small town called Ayr. Nothing of interest to me, just a shopping stop.
May 19 At Sea
Formal night on board
May 20 Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
This was the furthermost north that we traveled. There were very few trees. Our guide informed us that there were 120,000 sheep on the island and I dare say we saw them all! Because of weather we got off the ship late which caused our excursion to drastically shorten our time at the Standing Stones of Brogdar (similar to Stonehenge) which was the only worthwhile stop on this excursion. Once we got back into town we walked through the shopping area and found a really old cemetery outside the St Magnus Cathedral. The church was built in the early 1100s. The oldest gravestone is thought to date from the 13th century and is carved with a morning star symbol and a sword – thought to be a crusader or Templar Knight. The gravestones are made of sandstone and most have weathered so bad that you can barely read the carved inscriptions.
May 21 Invergordon Scotland
Our first stop was Cawdor Castle (no photos allowed inside) which is still occupied by the Dowager Countess Cawdor (although she didn’t show her face). It was another home stuck in the Downton Abbey era. We enjoyed the gardens so much more. It was early in the morning and there was a heavy dew. They had a hedge maze but it was closed. While we were walking through the gardens we could hear rushing water. We asked one of the docents and he said a river ran behind the castle and we could access it and a walking trail through a gate in another garden. The gate turned out to be a door built into a rock wall. We could hear the water but not see beyond the door. I made sure that once we were on the other side we would be able to reenter the garden. And then we passed through the doorway we entered the most beautiful forest with a rushing river, huge trees and plants I’ve never seen before. It was like entering another world, yet familiar. I swear if I’d have moved a fern leave aside there could have been a fairy hiding underneath. The noise of the river blocked out any sounds that indicated civilization was on the other side of the wall. We were the only ones there and marveled at the huge trees and we were both disappointed that time would not allow us to take the hiking trail and see what else there was to discover.
May 22 Edinburgh Scotland
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland (since 1437). It is situated on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. The weather was lovely while we were here and we just needed a light jacket. We choose an excursion that took us to the Edinburgh Castle followed by a drive around town and of course the obligatory shopping. Our guide took us up to the entrance of the Castle but wasn’t allowed to accompany us inside. There has been a castle on this site since the 12th century. It was originally a royal residence and later became a military base and garrison. Today it has shops, reenactments and historical displays. It is located on the “Royal Mile” which is basically a mile of shops between the castle on one end and Holyrood Abbey, the ruins of a 12th century abbey, at the other end.
After our self guided tour of the castle we ate lunch and visited a couple of shops. During our bus drive through town we drove past the Holyrood Palace which is where the Queen Elizabeth stays for one week during the summer but is most famously known as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots.
May 23 At Sea
May 24 Paris
The ship docked at La Harve, France, and we took a long, full day tour to Paris (only because this was the only way I was going to get Jeff to Paris, it is not someplace he is interested in visiting). This was mainly a bus tour, driving past the major sites such as Notre Dame (a truly sad site after the fire), the Louve, Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe and Hotel des Invalides. We had lunch at a local restaurant followed by free time at the Eiffel Tower but not enough time to do anything other than take a few pictures. It is really sad what has happened at the Eiffel Tower. When I was there with the kids 5 or 6 years ago it was wide open although there was a police presence. Now high plexiglass walls and ugly fencing surrounds the tower and you have to queue up and go through a security checkpoint to get close to or the climb the tower.
May 25, 26, 27 London
We decided to kill two birds with one stone, combine our transfer from South Hampton to Heathrow with an excursion to Windsor Castle. This allowed us to be one of the first ones off the ship and we got to Windsor Castle and were able to queue up before the grounds opened and before the crowds showed up (although we were still behind hundreds of people). We probably stood in line for half an hour before we reached the security check point. We could stay with the guide or explore on our own … we choose to go on our own. The highlight for me was St George’s Chapel were Megan Markle recently married Prince Harry. It was exciting to visit a place that I had seen recently on television. We were able to watch the changing of the guard which included a platoon from Tibet called Sikh, which thrilled Jeff.
We were dropped off at the airport and made our way to the London Underground terminal at the airport but it turned out they were working on the rails and instead we were bused, free of charge, to the closest working terminal. From there we made our way on the underground to South Kensington, which is where our hotel was located. It was a short two blocks to our hotel, dragging suitcases. Our room was the same size as our cruise ship room, maybe smaller! We spent this afternoon and the next two days exploring London. Just an aside, they call their subway the underground. To them, a subway is an underground walkway.
We visited Kensington Gardens, Princess Diana memorial , Harrods, the British Museum, the Museum of Natural History (all the museums in London are FREE!!), the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London (the highlight for me was the Crown Jewels), St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey (walked by and chose not to stand in line for HOURS), Westminster Cathedral, Parliament, and Big Ben just to name a few. It was an incredible couple of days. I was amazed on how much there is to see and do in London. We walked and walked and walked. Not once did we not feel safe. The weather was gorgeous. The highlight of London was the British Museum and the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London where we were not allowed to take pictures but OMG, the size of those diamonds was insane!
Westminster Abbey, St Margaret’s Church. We did NOT stand in line to get a look inside. Got to save something for the next trip 🙂
May 28 Stonehenge & Bath
This was our only organized tour in London (with the exception of our transfer after we got off the cruise ship). We took a day tour to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge sits out in the middle of the countryside in the middle of a field. You check in at the visitor center and then queue up for a shuttle ride on a bus to the site. That sounds like you would wait a long time but it was actually very efficient and took longer to load and unload the bus then it did to stand in line. Once at the sight there is a paved path the runs around the stones (you cannot get close to them). Because of the topography, there were actually a couple of spots where I could take a picture and it looked like no one else was there.
It is estimated that the stones have been here for 4500 years. The locations are marked where the sun shines through on the solstices.
Bath has more protected historic buildings per capita than any other town in England. The entire city is built in the creamy , warm toned limestone. There is a lot of Gregorian style architecture. Of course, Bath is known for its supposed healing hot springs. Although the water I saw, I would not get into … yuk-o! Although legend says that Queen Mary, suffering from infertility, gave birth to a son 10 months after she bathed in the hot springs.
The town square is bordered by the Roman Bath, the Bath Abbey and of course, shopping – you can’t go anywhere in the world without shopping nearby. After we explored the area, including a lovely water feature, we retreated to a bench in the square and listened to a young artist play his guitar rather than shop.
May 29 Travel home