Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe

Our first tour of the day started with a drive around Lerwick. We then headed to Jarlshof. On the way our guide told us about the use of the Shetlands during WWII. When we got close to Jarlshof, the highway crossed right over the runway for the major airport. There are gates similar to railroad crossing signs that block highway traffic when a plane is landing. Jarlshof is another one of those areas that was uncovered during a huge storm back in the 1800s. This site has settlements from 4500 years ago, through the bronze age, then the iron age, then Peeks arriving, Christianity, the Vikings and then the Scottish. Each timeframe built on top of the previous ones. We enjoyed the tour but HATED the bus drive. The driver accelerated then let off on the ... read more

We made it back across the English Channel, so we changed times zone. We actually gained an hour last night. That was good because we stayed up late watching horse races – awaiting the Preakness. We wore out at about midnight Central European Daylight Time, so we missed the main race by about an hour. We are sure Elizabeth was watching it and thought it would be fun to watch it with her, but we were “scratched” before the race. This morning, we got up at 8:00 UK time and headed down to the Palm Dining Room to have a leisurely breakfast. Unfortunately, they closed early today because so many people hit the buffet before leaving the ship. So, we had a leisurely breakfast at the buffet instead. We will try another morning and someday will ... read more

We had breakfast in the room since we had an early excursion plus Susan had to get to medical center early to get her stiches out. Our first excursion was the included one that we finally got confirmed on yesterday. The tour drove through the countryside and we saw many sheep and cattle but no trees. The baby lambs were so cute. I could see them jumping and playing. The countryside was very green with rock fences but there were no trees since the winds can get near 100MPH often. The hills had large patches of brown and the guide said that heather grew there in the fall. I can just imagine the blue and purples on the hills. We saw some burial mounds that were several thousand years old and then we came to ... read more

Susan just got her 4th new country, and I got my 3rd. I now have 68 different countries that I have been to. Our port was Ullapool Scotland. We didn’t get into port until after lunch and there was a bridge group that was going to meet in the morning, so I joined them. It was fun. The 3 people at my table had been on the world cruiser that this ship had just finished. During that 160+ day cruise they took bridge lessons and played on the sea days. My partner knew how to play. The other couple, not so much. George told me if there was another bridge group meeting, he wanted me as his partner. After lunch, Susan and I started a movie until around 2 when they let people take the tender ... read more

Thursday, we went to our next new country Northern Ireland. We woke up in Belfast. Our tour was supposed to be later that day. We went down to the shore excursion check-in and got on an earlier excursion. The guide for our tour was very knowledgeable and explained the history and unrest of the area. There is still unrest today but it’s more between the people that want a united Ireland vs the people that are loyalist to the crown. Sections of town have peace walls separating the neighborhoods to keep others out. In some areas there are gates that are closed in the evening and sometimes on weekends with a no-mans land in between. He explained how the murals seen on many walls show the political leanings of the area. We heard about when Queen ... read more