Blogs from Europe - page 2

Happy Birthday to Janet! It’s time to celebrate, and we scheduled something special for tonight. The ship docked in Zeebrugge this morning. The panoramic view from our balcony was basically a large commercial port – not very spectacular. When the “port lecturer” described this town, he said Zeebrugge is the primary port for all of Belgium. However, he said it was the most boring place we will visit on the whole cruise. There was nothing of interest here except the train station so we could go somewhere else. Wow! That was brutal. But having seen it from the ship it appears he was correct. However, there is a jewel to visit near here. There are 12 excursions to Brugge with a variety of different options. Brugge is a really remarkable place to visit, but we did ... read more

Another outstanding day! We have been so lucky with the weather here in the Republic of Ireland. Knowing Ireland’s reputation for rain – it’s not called the Emerald Isle for nothing – we anticipated cool, wet weather and came prepared with warm clothes, raincoats and umbrellas. To date we have had only a couple of rainy days and on only one of those days did it rain all day. Showers are fine, you can fit a lot in between showers! But we are delighted that most days have been at least fine, and many have been blue sky and sunshine all the way. Before heading out this morning, we started with breakfast down in the hotel dining room. It probably makes for an expensive breakfast but it’s the easiest thing to do. We are so spoilt ... read more

We got up early as we wanted to be ready as soon as the boat docked. We had an all day private tour scheduled. As soon as we got the “you could go to shore signal”, we left. Our driver was outside the gate with a sign with my name of it. The car was a van and was very spacious and our guide was great. He drove us from Invergordon, where our ship docked through small villages and our first stop was to see the long hair cows common in the area. These 2 where named after Outlander characters. Our next stop was Beauly Priory where Claire, from Outlander, picked herbs. Unfortunately, it was under renovation to shore up the structure and that won’t be completed until June. We then walked around the town square ... read more

And it is sail day!! Doug and Cheri were up and out early for a morning walk around the small village, but were back time in time for a leisurely breakfast at Alex’s, the taverna from the night before. While they were wandering Ken had found a coffee place and treated me to a nice americano on the boat, before we headed across the small road to a patisserie that was providing wonderful chocolate croissant smells to our line of boats. We stocked up on some yummy pastries and enjoyed a spinach pie until it was time for our daily route update. Over coffees our boat group of 8, heard our route to Sagiada, with a suggested lunch stop in Iggy’s Cove at the ½ way point. Doug, Cherie and Ken went to a second briefing ... read more

Not sure we mentioned but it shouldn't rain here in the summer. Yet during our first ten days it rained three times including a flood while we drove from Sougia to Plakias with hail. Well, things have thankfully returned to normal as no rain since. Yay. Okay, now for the best experience thus far. We visited the Archaeological Museum to view information of the Minoan civilization, and we certainly were not disappointed. This is the best world class museum that we have never heard about. Artifacts are wonderfully curated beginning in prehistory extending to Roman arrival. In particular, however, this is the best presentation of the Minoan Civilization in the world from the early days during the late Third Millennium BC until it collapsed about 1450 BC. There are several theories regarding the collapse ranging from ... read more