Wednesday,
May 15, 2013
What a
surprise to wake to calm seas and sunshine this morning. We would be
able to tender into St. Peter Port, Guernsey, after all. When we
were picked up by our driver on shore, he admitted that he had not
thought we would make it in either.
We had
an excellent tour of the island in a small van. Learned a lot about
the history and the living conditions. The northern part of the
island was once a separate island, but one of the kings decided that
would be too difficult to defend, so he had the estuary filled in and
straight roads built to access it so he could move troops easily. We
saw a lot of the remnants of the German fortifications. The Germans
also built a lot of defensive walls from the readily available
granite. The granite on one side of the island is gray and it's a
pinkish color on the other side. The gray is more durable.
The
English were perfectly happy to have a ton of German troops tied up
on Guernsey—fewer troops to fight on the mainland. Our driver was
of the opinion that if the Germans had invaded England from Guernsey,
they would have succeeded because England was pretty vulnerable at
the time.
Guernsey
has loyalty to the monarch as a direct descendant of William the
Conqueror, but they don't consider themselves to be part of Britain.
Control of the island passed back and forth from France to Britain
over the years, and most of the roads and place names are still in
French.
The
Guernsey cows are interesting. There are two methods of having them
graze. One involves cutting off their horns at a young age and
turning them loose in the pasture. The other involves putting a
chain around their horns and staking them to a particular spot.
There they graze in a circle. It is said that those cows produce
richer milk because they spend less energy walking around.
We
visited the small church built by a De la Salle brother who liked to
spend his free time doing such things. After he built the first
church, he wasn't satisfied with it and tore it down and started
over. After the second church was finished, a fat bishop showed up
to bless it. He couldn't fit through the door, so it was torn down
yet again. The third and final version is covered in broken
Wedgewood pottery pieces and shells and is a miniature version of the
church at Lourdes. It was very interesting.
After
we finished our tour, we walked through the town and had lunch in a
nice café. We were wanting
some of the famous Guernsey ice cream for desert. It was quite good.
Then
came the bad part—standing in an endless tender line to return to
the ship. There must have been 3-400 people in line and Celebrity
was operating only one of the ship's four tenders. Another example
of the lack of attention to detail on this vessel. A fellow standing
in line behind us said he has another long cruise booked on Celebrity
and he's cancelling as soon as he gets home. We stood in line for at
least half an hour until some bright light on the ship decided to
send the rest of the tenders in to collect the passengers. Needless
to say, we did not sail on time.
Returning
to the ship, we faced yet another horrendous line to surrender our
passports. We've decided it's Celebrity cruiseline with the emphasis
on lines. At the end of all that standing in line, my legs had had
it. I tried to make to the front of the ship for the Cruise Critic
party, but about halfway there I could see my legs wouldn't take any
more standing around, so I returned to the cabin and took a nap.
It was
formal night at dinner and we had another great shared table in Blu
with some Texans who knew Carolyn by reputation. I must say we're
meeting a lot of interesting folks in Blu. And it is WAY more
pleasant dining there than in the main dining room or the buffet.
Still
no internet on the ship.
Thursday,
May 16, 2013
Woke
up about 8:00 and went to breakfast. Heidi and Carolyn were heading
out into the countryside for a long tour, so they were anxious to get
off the ship as soon as possible.
I, on
the other hand, had planned to stay in Cobh, and just walk around. I
had a long shower with all the multiple spray heads spraying my sore
knees and then left to go to town. A lovely woman at the tourist
information centre just down the road from the port told me about a
little tourist train that goes around the village and up to the
cathedral. I had asked her about the easiest way to walk up there.
Clearly the train was a better option for my old legs!
So,
off we went on the little train, compete with commentary. There are
lots of works ongoing to rebuild their retaining walls as they have
had problems with earth moving lately. It seems that lots of
manufacturing jobs have left Cobh. Cobh is the second largest
natural harbor in the world after Sidney, Australia. The Titanic
stopped here on her fateful voyage, but did not enter the harbor.
They wanted to shave an hour off their time to New York. The mail
and passengers were tendered out to the ship in the mouth of the
harbor. Lucky anyone who missed the tender!
Interesting
commentary about several protestant churches which have closed due to
lack of parishioners. Also comments about the HUGE house occupied by
the bishop—all by himself. And comments about houses formerly
occupied by the British military which have now been subdivided into
more reasonable size. There is an interesting row of stairstep
houses by the cathedral that are quite old, but I can't remember what
he called them. Will have to see if I can find the answer once I'm
back to reliable internet access. And we saw the crescent houses
which are now the most exclusive area in town due to their fantastic
view of the harbor.
Returned
from the train trip and stopped in Kelly's Pub for a cup of coffee
and a scone and some internet access. It had been a bit chilly on
the train, so the coffee was welcome! The scone was delicious. And
the internet worked. Seems Eric now has two competing job offers.
Will be interesting to see how that turns out. Also got the news on
my friend Mary who has just had surgery for breast cancer. It feels
so strange to be almost out of touch.
Exited
the pub to sunshine! Apparently a rare occurrence in Ireland. The
fellow who was playing guitar and singing commented on it and had to
sing a special song about it.
Came
back to the ship and had lunch and took some photos from the vantage
point of the upper deck. Then got a chance to reorganize the way the
stewards had hung my clothes in the closet and decided to pack up my
warm weather clothes to give more space. Discovered that Celebrity
ruined one of my brand new shirts in the laundry. It's a light color
and they apparently put it with a dark color when it was wet. Just
threw out all my laundry and dry cleaning receipts last night. Oh
well.
Enjoying
having a bit of down time today since tomorrow will be Dublin and a
very long day.
Friday,
May 17, 2013
We got
up, had breakfast, and took a cab into Trinity College. Stood in a
fairly long line to get in to see the Book of Kells. Very
interesting exhibit. Encountered a rude tour guide who felt we
should all move along since she wanted to bring her group in to see
the actual book. We informed her that we had paid our money and
would move on when we had finished viewing the book! Some of us
hadn't even had a chance to view it when she barged in like she owned
the joint.
Then
we headed off walking toward Dublin Castle, which happens to be
closed because it's the year of something or other. Don't remember
what their excuse was. We then passed by Christ Church Cathedral and
headed for St. Patrick's Cathedral. Great park outside with tons of
school children eating their lunches and enjoying the sunshine.
Interestingly, they charge admission to the cathedral. It's a
cathedral, pretty much like other cathedrals. However, it had a
saving grace: free and fast wi-fi! So that was worth the price of
admission.
Found
a pharmacy on the way to the cathedral, so I was able to buy some ace
bandages for my knees. I've been using Heidi's one, but it seems to
help to have the knees wrapped, so I wanted to pick up two and be
able to do both. Also picked up some ibuprofin. Cost almost 20
euros for the bunch! Certainly not Costco pricing.
We
then headed back toward the Temple Bar area. Stopped to have lunch
at The Bull and Castle. (Our cab driver later informed us that was a
very good place to eat—they raise their own beef.) Then wandered
through the Temple Bar area. That's got to be absolutely insane at
night—it was very lively on a Friday afternoon. All kinds of
interesting characters.
Finally
decided that since it was late Friday afternoon, we should probably
grab a cab back to the ship. The traffic was pretty fierce. There's
some sort of soccer event this weekend, so that added to the crowd.
So, we
didn't get to see as much as I would have liked to see, but we're
learning the limitations of our old legs! We were pretty stiff and
when we got up from the dinner table, we could hardly move. We're
certainly not doing any night time partying on this leg of the
cruise!
Saturday,
May 18, 2013
Liverpool.
Arrived to overcast skies. Forecast was for rain. I had
pre-purchased a ticket on the HoHo bus for 6 pounds when I discovered
it pretty much followed the route I had mapped out for myself.
Probably the best money I ever spent. I was able to see everything I
wanted to see and not waste the energy walking from one site to
another.
Hopped
on the HoHo bus and stayed on until the Catholic cathedral.
Liverpool has two cathedrals, one Catholic (designed by a protestant)
and one Anglican (designed by a Catholic). The Catholic one is a 60s
modern one and has a ton of stained glass. On a sunny day it is
supposed to be spectacular. Unfortunately, today was not a sunny
day. Very beautiful and serene church.
Hopped
back on the bus and went down hill to the Anglican cathedral. It's
one of the largest in the world. They were getting ready for a
wedding and were working on the flowers—apparently the rector's
daughter was getting married that afternoon. Happened to be there in
time for the noon prayer. I like that they always remind people that
these are houses of prayer.
The
bus was now heading back to the docks. Decided to get off at the
docks and go back to the ship for a quick lunch before heading out
again. Discovered that they have a little bus which drives you down
to the ship—the passage up from the quay is rather steep and long.
They have a special little bridge that just accommodates that bus.
After
lunch, got back on the HoHo bus and headed for the Beattles are
around Mathew Street and the Cavern Quarter. Got all the obligatory
photos and then got back on the bus to head up to St. George's Hall.
LOTS of weddings going on at the registry there. It was difficult to
get around because they had a lot of things closed off for the
weddings, but managed to get a look at the great hall which is pretty
amazing and talked a young guy into showing me the way to get out
without going down tons of steps.
Came
out and it wasn't time for the HoHo bus yet, so decided to drop in
the library which is just across the street to catch some free
internet. Well, their internet was down (have they been hanging out
with the ship???) but what a spectacular place the library is! It
just reopened a few days ago after extensive remodeling and it is
absolutely gorgeous! There's a rooftop terrace which offers good
views of Liverpool. And a central court which goes up about 5
stories. Really loved it.
Got
back on the bus and headed back toward the docks. Decided to admire
the Albert Dock from the bus since there was not sufficient time to
explore it. Got back and got my private ride back to the ship.
Carolyn
decided to skip dinner—she and Heidi had been on a long bus trip to
Wales—so Heidi and I went up to Blu for dinner. Landed in Domnic's
and Ida's section for a change. We made the mistake of not following
Domnic's recommendation on what to order, but no big deal since we
weren't very hungry. Ida said we could each have two deserts to make
up for not liking our main course. Worked for us!
We
caught Ric Steel after dinner. He was great as usual and Ruth, the
bar waitress from Colombia, really outdid herself dancing tonight.
They have developed a legion of fans.
Internet
still not up. Went to the internet center when I got back on the
ship to see if they might have a signal there and perhaps the wi-fi
just wasn't making it up to deck ll. No signal there either.
Sunday,
May 19, 2013
Very
overcast. Dev picked us up at the gangway and we started off on our
adventure in Paddy's black cab. Paddy's is black. Dev's is blue.
We met up with Paddy later on.
We hit
the motorway to get going up the coast as the coast was completely
socked in by fog. When we turned off to the coast, they took us to
an overlook where normally one can see the sea and the valley and the
Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge. Not today. Fog was the only thing
visible. The Coastal Causway Drive is supposed to be one of the
great drives in the world. Probably is when it's clear.
We
then went to a tiny church and house built with some salvaged
remnants of ships. Some portholes used for windows, for example.
Then
off to the Giant's Causeway. Amazing geological formation.
Hexagonal stones. From here one should be able to see to Scotland.
Not today. People are climbing all over the stones, but they were
slippery from all the rain they've had lately and we didn't have any
walking sticks so decided to let other younger folks risk their
necks.
Then
Dev whisked us off to a small café
for a quick lunch. Paddy and his cab were there as well. There were
actually three of his cabs out from our Cruise Critic group.
Then
off to The Dark Hedges. An interesting road leading to a manor home
which has been planted with trees to overlap one another. Some of
the Game of Thrones was filmed here.
Then
we headed back for Belfast because we had tickets to the Titanic
Museum for 3:00 p.m. Dev drove us over to the pump house (from which
we could see our ship) and talked about the shipyards.
The
Titanic Museum is an absolutely fascinating place! Both artistically
and the contents of the museum. Could have stayed much longer, but
it was the end of the day and museum fatigue set in about an hour and
a half and we had to get back to the ship. Dev was waiting for us
outside the door. I must say that touring with your own driver is a
great way to go. Not cheap, but really a good way to tour. You get
to control where you stop and what you do. And he's right there when
you're ready to go. We ran into our friend, Sally, searching for the
Celebrity bus from the tour she was on.
Came
back to the ship and decided to try to get on the internet from the
computers in the iLounge. Eleven minutes later I had deleted a bunch
of e-mails and tried to respond to two e-mails. One seems to have
gone and the other wouldn't go. The internet service is beyond
awful. Don't know if this blog will see the light of day in the near
future or not. I'd have to take my laptop off the ship and find some
place with fast service.
Had
dinner with Domnic and Ida and then went to hear the other guitarist.
The two of them are friends and do some sets together, but only
after 10:00 p.m. By then we're wiped out after touring all day.
Monday,
May 20, 2013
We
left the ship early for our tour with Great Scot Tours. Our guide
was David Frood and he was excellent and very funny. Went to Loch
Lomond and the village of Luss. The Celebrity tour bus was there as
well, so we saw lots of folks we knew. Interesting small village.
We then headed into the Trossachs National Park. Next stop was
Aberfoyle. We got to see a sheep herder demonstrate the prowess of
his border collie. Except he was demonstrating hearding ducks, not
sheep. Guess they didn't want to wear the sheep out.
We
then proceeded through the Dukes Mountain Pass. We stopped high on a
hill to sample various varieties of single malt scotch (or whiskey,
as the Scots call it). We tried to get Carolyn to have several shots
to dose her cold. It did stop her cough for a while! Then we
stopped to see Hamish and Heather, Scottish highland bulls.
We
proceeded to Callander for a nice lunch. All the other vans out from
Great Scott Tours were there as well. I was pretty much out of
pounds and decided to look for an ATM. Suddenly realized that my
wallet containing my cash card was locked up in the safe on the ship!
Instead, I found a more interesting ATM. We ran into Christine and
Craig and Craig insisted on lending me ₤20
in case they wouldn't take my credit card later at Sterling Castle.
Well,
of course they were more than happy to take my credit card for both
the castle admission price and in the gift shop, so the ₤20
returned to the ship unspent and I was able to return it to Craig at
dinner.
Sterling
Castle was very interesting, and David took us around to see the
highlights. One was a 4-minute film about the castle showing how the
statues would have originally looked when they were painted. Must
have been a very impressive sight. The Royal Palace part of the
castle has been recently restored and was interesting. As part of
the restoration, new tapestries were prepared. They were quite
remarkable. Their were costumed period characters in each room.
I had
asked David if we could see the Falkirk Wheel on the way back to the
ship, so he had allowed time for that. Unfortunately, he missed the
correct exit from the motorway. So he apologized and said we would
get a tour through Glasgow instead. We just drove through the city
and he pointed out various sites and buildings. It's quite a large
city.
Then
we returned to the ship. Tried to access the wi-fi in the terminal.
The woman volunteer said it was a bit dodgy. I told her she hadn't
seen dodgy until she saw the internet on the ship! But it proved to
be as advertised. Heidi could get on; I couldn't. Finally just gave
up and came back on board.
Carolyn
was wiped out and skipped dinner, but Heidi and I went to dinner and
then caught the remains of Ric Steele's show before calling it a
night.
Tuesday,
May 21, 2013
Finally,
a sea day! After all those ports in succession, this was a welcome
break. I awoke just in time to make it up to Blu for breakfast.
Heidi and Carolyn slept in. When I got back to the cabin after
breakfast, Heidi was still sleeping, so I went up to Café
al Bacio to sit in one of the big, comfortable yellow chairs and read
my Dave Barry book I picked up in the library for a while. All of my
electronic library books expired while we were out doing all those
tours, so I was out of reading material.
Met up
with Heidi and Carolyn for lunch at 12:30. They wanted to see if we
could switch to select dining on the next leg of the cruise. We've
gotten used to that from dining in Blu, but we won't be able to dine
in Blu on the next leg of the cruise since none of us are in either a
suite or Aqua Class. Went down to Guest Relations to inquire how to
go about that. He said we had to show up at the B2B meeting. I
said, “The one that's at 9:00 a.m. on a sea day???” Yup, that's
the one. Will see.
Wednesday,
May 22, 2013
Today
we had a tour with WOW Scotland. Our tour guide was Zane and she was
very interesting. Two of the people who had signed up and paid for
the tour in advance never showed up. I called their cabin. No
answer. We waited half an hour and finally decided to leave without
them.
We
experienced the full range of highlands weather today! Sun, warmth,
sudden showers, sleet, and massive temperature drops and a wind that
could blow you back to England! The weather turns on a dime. Zane
managed to time things well, seemingly getting us in the van just as
it would start to rain, and varying the itinerary to try to take
advantage of the weather changes. She got us to Cawdor Castle before
the buses, so it wouldn't be crowded and we could have lunch in
peace.
All
the plants are behind season up here as well. The gorse is just
blooming—it smells like coconut, interestingly.
We
visited several small villages and then Beauly Priory (which is a
ruin—hasn't had a roof for centuries but is remarkably well
preserved. Some walls have been taken away to use the stone
elsewhere.)
We
then went to Cawdor Castle. It's interesting in that it is actually
occupied. The Dowager Countess moves out of her apartments in the
castle in the summer (to another house on the estate) so that tours
can be run, thus providing income to keep the castle going.
Apparently she has been quite smart in the business of running the
estate and has managed to keep most of it together. And she's our
age. Interestingly, the Thane of Cawdor did not leave the property
to his son by his first wife, but instead left it to his second wife.
Perhaps he knew she would be better able to manage it. We had lunch
in the café and spent a bit
in the gift shop.
We
then went to visit the Clava tombstones, a Pict burial mound that is
between three and four thousand years old. That's where we
experienced the incredible temperature drop and wind. So we didn't
linger too long! We did see some Pict cupholes, round indentations
in the stone which apparently are their first expression of art.
Then
we went to the Culloden battlefield and visitor centre. Again, there
were severe winds, so we elected not to visit the battlefield itself.
I toured the visitor centre because I had read about the exhibit
recreating the battle itself. You stand in the middle of a room and
the battle takes place on screens on all four walls of the room. You
can see the British troops mowing down all the clans.
Thursday,
May 23, 2013
Last
day of this cruise. We had to show up at the sky lounge at 9:00 a.m.
to pick up our B2B information—they basically hand us a packet of
information that they could easily deliver to our cabins. Seems as
though things are run for the convenience of guest relations, not the
customers.
The
big buffet was held today. Decided I'd had enough of big food
scenes, so left and went upstairs for a pizza and peace.
Had
our last dinner in Blu and said good bye to the great wait staff,
although we'll see them for breakfast tomorrow.
Went
to the show which was a variety show featuring all the performers who
have appeared so far. There's a woman who is pretty funny—we may
try to catch her next cruise. We don't have all those 8-hour shore
excursions on the next cruise.
I have
a few minutes left on this package and the internet seems to be
actually working. I think everyone has given up and gone to bed.
Will try to get this posted.
We've arrived in Bergen, the last port of call on our Norwegian fjords cruise. Our lovely sunny weather has deserted us. I hear that it almost always rains or is foggy in Bergen. Very foggy today. We bag the idea of the Floibanen (funicular), because we wouldn't see anything in the fog.
Iselin
