Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway.

Overcast skies greeted us as we berthed in Belfast early this morning which didn’t bode well for our trip today to the Giant’s Causeway. We boarded our coach to be greeted by our guide, Malachi, who could have been related to comedian Frank Carson. At least most of his jokes were.
As we drove on the motorway from the city the sun slowly showed itself and by the time we passed the Royal Portrush Golf Club it was beginning to look quite good.

This course will host The Open Championship next year, only the second time it has been held in Ireland, and it is already sold out.
The next photo opportunity was the ruined castle of Dunluce standing alone on the headway.

Driving through the town of Bushmills, home of the oldest licensed distillery in the British Isles (unfortunately no stop here today) we soon reached the major destination for today, The Giant’s Causeway.

Scientists insist that these hexagonal basalt columns are the result of volcanic lava cooling but locals would say that they are all that are left from the giant Finn McCool’s bridge to Scotland. I always believe the locals.
Whatever it’s origin this UNESCO World Heritage site is absolutely stunning and as you might expect very photogenic as both Sylvia and I discovered.

The sun had by now come out……….

……but it was extremely windy…...

…so we took shelter at the base of the columns.

The only criticism of the place is that it was full of tourists and you couldn’t get a clear shot….

…we , of course, did manage the obligatory selfie.

A great place to visit and one that is worthy to have the title of “The Eighth Wonder of the World”.
The journey back to he ship took us along the Antrim coast through some very pretty towns to the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. We didn’t have a chance to cross this small swinging bridge but were able to get a picture.

The next viewing point was across to Rathlin Island where Robert the Bruce spent a number of years in exile and since he is the recently discovered 21st Grandfather of Sylvia, this was a poignant moment.

The hills in the background of the photo are on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland where we will be sailing close to tomorrow.
Prior to returning to the ship we had a brief tour of Belfast city taking in the sights of the City Hall, The Market Place, Queen’s University and the Harland and Wolff shipyards amongst others. Altogether a very enjoyable and educational day made even better by the sunshine.

In Dublin’s Fair City.

The cruise berth for Dublin is some way from the city centre and the walk, although possible, would involve walking part way through a working dockyard. A shuttle was therefore provided and within 20 minutes or so we were pulling up in Merrion Square opposite a statue that looked remarkably like Jonathan Ross.

It was, of course, Oscar Wilde who lived at one time just opposite the statue.
We made our way to our first port of call, the GPO Witness History Museum passing another famous statue on the way.

It wouldn’t be a visit to Dublin without seeing dear old Molly.
We got to the museum just as it was opening and it was very quiet, which meant we could take our time looking at all the exhibits. The museum is very well put together and in addition to the various exhibits illustrating the background to the Easter Uprising of 1916 there was a major audio-visual presentation of the events. It also continued the story highlighting the different factions to the eventual treaty….

…that lead to the formation of the Irish Free State and thence the Republic of Ireland. Altogether a very interesting and informative exhibition that gave me an insight into this important piece of history.
In the courtyard a memorial to those who fell in the conflict can be viewed.

On the main GPO building there are visible signs of the uprising with bullet holes still showing.

A short walk along the banks of the River Liffey took us to another harrowing piece of Irish history, the Great Famine. Along the riverside is a memorial to all those affected by the famine with the suffering clearly showing on their faces. A very moving sight.

A walk back along the river, taking in the sights of the Custom House….

….and Temple Bar….

…..before settling down with some tea and cake at Bewley’s.

Suitably refreshed we made our way back to the ships shuttle passing the Department of the Taoiseach on the way.

The day had started a little cloudy but throughout the day the clouds disappeared and the sun came out giving some lovely views of the Aviva Stadium from the ship.

A great day in Dublin seeing and doing things we had not previously experienced - tomorrow Belfast.

A Damp Day in Cobh.

The last time Sylvia and I sailed into Cobh harbour was on the overnight Swansea to Cork ferry. Today’s journey was a lot smoother. Apart from that, however, little has changed - the cathedral still sits majestically looking down on the harbour below and it was raining.

Although we have visited Cobh and Cork on many occasions we have never been to the new Titanic experience and so that was to provide the focus for today’s visit. At the entrance each visitor is given a replica of a ticket for the voyage featuring the name of a real passenger who boarded the ship at Cobh (or Queenstown as it was then known). At the end of the visit we could find out whether our passenger was a survivor or not. The visit comprised of a mixture of live commentary and pre-recorded segments telling the story from boarding through to the demise of the ship.

At the end of the experience was a small museum featuring photographs and memorabilia from the ship. Here we discovered that my passenger had perished in the ship while Sylvia’s survived. This is a small attraction but it was very well presented and definitely worth the visit.
The rain which had started as a slight drizzle was now fairly persistant as we made our way up the hill to visit the cathedral, our ship almost disappearing in the mist.

Inside the cathedral work was in progress cleaning the stonework which entailed much scaffolding and made photography very difficult.
Walking back to the ship through the rain took us past memorials to the Luisitania and the many immigrants that left for a new life across the ocean from here. A look across the sea promised little change in the weather.

Back on the ship we started the hunt to find Timothy, the “star” of ITV’s Cruise programme who is Joey’s hero. He was working on the excursions counter but there was a long queue waiting to book or change their trips. We waited around for about half an hour or so until he was clear and then approached him for a photo. He was a very pleasant character and promised me an autograph later in the cruise when he was less busy, but we did get a photo.

Today we took part in our first two trivia quizzes, and won BOTH. However I should mention that only five people turned up for the early morning one and we all got prizes. The second was won fair and square.
After a very interesting (but very long) dinner with eight other diners from all over the USA we were entertained in the atrium by some unauthentic Irish music and dancing.

Tomorrow we are in Dublin, hopefully the weather will be a little better.

Guernsey.

The first sight that you see after leaving the tender at St Peter Port is a stautue of Prince Albert - Consort or as one American was explaining to his wife, “This was before he became King”. Sylvia resisted giving him an English history lesson…just!

Although being much closer to the French coast than to England, Guernsey is very firmly British and has been since William I became King in 1066. There are signs of their Britishness all over the town in their telephone boxes….

and their post boxes.

Although they seem to have a problem with their colours.

The town itself is quite compact with narrow shopping streets, some of which are cobbled, decorated by many pretty flowers.

We made our way through the town towards Candie Gardens which houses the Art Gallery and Museum. I was a little disappointed in the gardens as most of the flowering plants were past their best. I guess this is the price to pay for visting so late in the season. The museum featured a history of the island from ancient times together with an exhibit on the folk and ghost tales of Guernsey. Some grisly exhibits here including some mummified cats!!

The art gallery as well as featuring work from art students had an interesting feature on the artworks of Victor Hugo. The author was exiled to the island for many years and apparently finished “Les Miserables” here. What I didn’t appreciate is that in addition to writing he was a very accomplished artist and the museum had on show many of his works.
As well as featuring a statue of the famous author…..

….the gardens also offer views across the bay where you may just notice our ship.

Dominating the harbour sits Castle Cornet, a fortress that has stood guard over the port for the last 800 years. It is accessed from the town by a long walkway known as the Emplacement above which sits a large cannon that is fired everyday at noon.

The island of Guernsey offers so much more than we could do justice in just one day and is yet another place to add to the list to revisit.
We reboarded the ship and at 5.00 set sail for our next port - Cobh in Ireland taking one last look at the pretty town of St Peter Port.

The Captain announced tonight that there are 3800 passengers on board from 27 different countries so what are the chances of meeting someone you already know? Well tonight we bumped into Sarah Saunders and her husband, friends of Sylvia’s sister Lorna.

Just a little note for Joey, the shore excursions team include a “Timothy”. We haven’t seen him yet and don’t even know if its the same one but I’ll keep you posted.

A Sunny Day in Southampton.

After a very uneventful journey from Wales we settled in our hotel last night to watch the first of the new series of GBBO. The programme had just finished when we were treated to a magnificent firework display from the dockside that lasted 15-20 minutes. Apparently it was the naming ceremony and maiden voyage of the new Azamara cruise ship and this was their way of celebrating.

Although we have visited Southampton on a number of occasions , principally whenever we cruise, we have never visited some of the historical sights. So today we rectified that, with first a walk along the ancient city walls …..

…...towards the medieval gate that stands in the centre of the shopping street.

Followed by a visit to the old Tudor house…………………...

…..and gardens.

It’s quite remarkable that so much history remains in the middle of a city that must have suffered terribly with bombing in the last war. It was also interesting to see how much land had been reclaimed with the sea front now some distance from the old wharfs.

We needed to check out from the hotel by mid-day so we returned to load up the car and make our way to the cruise terminal. Never before have we had such a quick and quiet journey making it from the hotel to the ship’s buffet in less than 45 minutes. A NEW RECORD!!

This meant that we could spend all afternoon reacquainting ourselves with the Royal Princess, our home for the next twelve nights and get the first selfie on board.

There appears to be a majority of Americans on-board together with a large contingent of French, so much so that tonights movie will have French sub-titles.

We are just about ready to set sail after having the safety muster. We arrive at our first destination is St Peter Port in Guernsey tomorrow morning and the weather looks fine. I’m looking forward to my potato peel pie!!

A Day in Perth with Andrew, Sam and Family.

Andrew, Sylvia’s god-son, drove to meet us at the port at 8.30 this morning and after a welcome hug we were heading back on the 12 mile journey into Perth. Today our base was to be King’s Park a 1000 acre area in the centre of Perth made up of parkland, bush and botanical gardens. It is suppossed to be the largest inner city park in the World, even bigger than New York’s Central Park.

While we waited for Sam, Andrew’s wife, to bring the children from home we had a pleasant walk through the Botanical Gardens, stopping to admire the floral clock....

.....and the views of the city.

Although it was pleasantly warm the sky was a little overcast but if anything, that made walking a bit easier.

The gardens were very well labelled with most of the specimens individually identified and larger signage providing further information.

We meet Sam and the children and headed towards the children’s play area. Grace after a momentary burst of shyness was soon climbing all over the many animal sculptures such as these “Bullockornis”.

Grace and I played hide and seek while Sylvia and Lydia sat and chatted.

In addition to the cultivated parkland much of the park is made of up of bush....

......which gave Grace plenty of chance to find sticks to play with.

It was soon time for lunch and we made our way to the Old Brewery which is conveniently located just under the park with an outside eating area bordering the Swan River.

Andrew and Sylvia decided on barramundi and chips, while Sam and I chose pork ribs and Grace had chicken and her favourite “chippies”.

The meal was finished off with coffee for the adults and a baby-chino for Grace which she really enjoyed.

Before long it was time to say our goodbyes and for Andrew to return us to the ship. It was a brilliant day spent with a lovely family but over far too soon. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see them again.

Three days at sea now with a tropical cyclone to navigate before the next stop at Bali and the next post.