Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe

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

Hello from Falmouth, England. Last night we sailed from Cobh and had the smoothest night’s sail of the whole cruise. Unfortunately, we have started to reacquire the colds we had in St Louis prior to leaving. Janet was actually able to sleep pretty well last night, but David was all congested and didn’t get much sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better in all respects. We had breakfast in the Marketplace on deck 15. From there we had a good view of Falmouth. This is the 3rd time we have been here, and we knew it involved a 25-minute trip to/from shore in one of the lifeboats. This just didn’t appeal to us, so we had planned to have a quiet day on the ship. This enabled David to have a 2-hour nap after breakfast. Lunch was ... 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

We woke up, ate breakfast and Susan headed to the medical center for her bandage change. She also got them to evaluate her for her cold. She came back with cough syrup, lozenges, and a z pack. We then decided to take the shuttle from the ship to the port terminal. I’m glad we didn’t try to walk as it was a LONG way but also had many turns that we would not have known which way to go. Once at the terminal, we got a city map and walked into the town. There was not much going on and no cute little shops to go into. At least we got some steps. After a bit, we headed back to the ship, settled in then went to lunch. We took several pictures from the deck of ... read more

I haven't yet shown you our last super day in Devon. Monday was wet so we had a lazy day in the caravan. just popping out to the Ship Aground in Mortehoe for a drink and meal when it eventually stopped its persistent drizzle. I should say though that we didn;t get the storms of the rest of the country, just a bit of wetness. Tuesday was really pretty nice again. We did get a couple of isolated raindrops but most of the day was lovely. First to the swimming pool tunnels in Ilfracombe. Historical Victorian dating from the days when men and women were not allowed to bathe together and ladies used bathing huts. Really enjoyed the visit and the light on the sea on the ladies beach was magic. We didn't visit the Men's ... read more