Monday, July 25, 2011

Day 60 Cobh, Ireland

Day 60 Cobh, Ireland

A friendly harbour town, houses painted bright colours, planters and hanging flower pots, quaint Irish Pubs, Irish music and singing, and our last European Port.

Our early arrival to Cobh, pronounced Cove, allowed us time to have breakfast and disembark in a leisurely pace. The shops in Cobh did not open till after 10am so there was little point in starting earlier. Some passengers went on tours to Cork, Blarney Castle, or Muckross House and Gardens.

Our walk through the town and up a steep street to St. Colman's Cathedral would normally take about 20 minutes, but we took our time to stop occasionally to look at the Emigration, Titanic and Lusitania memorials, and shop window displays which featured an Australian Theme. 10am mass in the Cathedral became our first objective for the morning. Paul's maternal grandparents emigrated from Ireland and Cobh would have been their last walk on Irish soil. They were Catholics and we are presuming they would have celebrated mass in this cathedral before they sailed for Australia.

After mass we enjoyed a pint in a quaint local bar, hosted by the owner and friendly staff. On the wall were photos of the last surviving passenger of the Titanic, who at the time of the sinking happened to be 4 months old little girl. This lady only died 2 years ago and had visited this little bar on many occasions when on holidays from America. 

The town's people gave us a friendly farewell at the pier. As we stood on the deck, the Cobh Fraternity Band played various songs, including some Australian and New Zealand.  People waved Irish, Australian and New Zealand flags along to the beat of the band.

We had a couple of Australian themed tea towels and gold kangaroo stick pins and handed them out to various locals. The children who we had given the pins to were quite appreciative and beamed in excitement, but I am not sure about the men whom I gave the tea towels to. I laughingly explained that they were not to give them to their wives but to use the tea towels themselves!

Day 59 Dublin, Ireland

Day 59 Dublin, Ireland

Blue skies, white puffy clouds, castles, stately homes, suffering….

We arrived early this morning on the incoming tide and the intention is to leave this afternoon on the outgoing tide. We heard 4 passports were handed over to port authorities in Greenock just before we sailed yesterday. A road accident caused 2 Princess Tour Buses to arrive an hour late into Port.  Hmmm….

Six of us hired a taxi for 4 1/2  hours @ Euro 50 an hour. We were taken out to Wicklow to see Powerscourt Gardens. The 47 acres of landscaped gardens and 13th century castle which was converted extensively during 1731 to 1741 by the Slazenger family. They are considered by some to be the prettiest gardens in Ireland and as I haven't seen any other at this stage, I am impressed and can see why.

The gardens consist of a walled garden, several different ponds and fountains, a huge lake, pet cemetery, Italian Garden and a Japanese Garden. A lot of the statues and fountains were bought from Versailles, Milan, Paris and Bavaria. 

Today's weather was perfect for our morning walk around the gardens; I believe we are very fortunate to be in Ireland on such a lovely day. We were the first to arrive there, so by the time we left, two tour buses had just arrived and another was coming through the gates as we left. Yahoo what a win.

The taxi driver drove us into Dublin, showing us the Georgian apartments which housed the English over 100 years ago. The individual front doors are now proudly decorated in bright colours. The places of interest we visited in Dublin were Trinity College, Dublin Castle, Guinness Brewery and St Patrick's Cathedral. We walked around Trinity College and thought of seeing the Kell Book but there was a long queue to get in. The Guinness Brewery had 5 huge tourist buses parked outside, so we decided not to join the many cruise passengers doing the tour. Next stop was to the cathedral but the charge into see it put us off. ABC. We walked around Dublin Castle and its medieval record Tower and into the Chapel Royal. To top off a great day in Dublin we ended with a stop at one of their department stores which just happened to have 50% off Waterford Crystal!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Day 58 Greenock, Scotland

Day 58 Greenock, Scotland  

Last night after watching the stage production (which just happened to be the best one yet-Classically Yours) Paul and I walked the Promenade Deck before retiring to bed. It was one of the most unusual nights we have experienced sailing to date. It was an extraordinarily mild night with little breeze, and the sun was still high over the horizon as it reflected a path of silvery gold across the water. Yesterday the North Sea was calm; a glass like surface most of the day, as the ship made its way past the Shetland Islands and Northern Scotland. One stage I saw a seal bop its head out of the water to look at the ship as it passed.

We docked early in Greenock, but our tour bus didn't collect us till 8am, which enabled us to prepare for the day in a more leisurely pace. We headed to Edinburgh to see the views from Arthur's Seat. I am still amazed at the greens here in England and Scotland, they are certainly different from Australia. Everything is green. Hills, mountains, pastures, road verges, gardens, buildings…..yes that is right, green statues and buildings! There are lots of white swans to be seen, and tartans of all colours.

After Arthur's Seat we travelled to virtually its base to visit the official residence in Scotland of Her Majesty The Queen, Holyroodhouse. The Palace is across from the new Parliament House of Scotland. We had a lovely 95 minutes touring the historic rooms and magnificent State Apartments. Photos are not permitted inside the Palace, so unfortunately I haven't any to insert. Though the remains of the Abbey are interesting.

The Scottish Museum was supposed to be our next stop; however we all agreed we would prefer to spend the rest of the day at Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile. Great change of plans. Tradespeople were in the process of erecting the seating in the Castle Esplanade for the Tattoo which will be held next month. We had about a 45minute wait in line to get our entry tickets but the wait was worth it. Some of the points of interest were the cannons (batteries), various houses in the walls, St Margret's Chapel, the Scottish Crown Jewels, the Royal Palace, Great Hall, Prisons of War and the Scottish National War Memorial.

We were fortunate the rain held off for all the time we were in Scotland. It didn't rain till the ship was sailing down the Clyde on its way to Ireland. Before the ship left the wharf, a Scottish Pipe band played all the favourite Scottish Tunes.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Day 56 Bergen, Norway

Day 56 Bergen, Norway

Fiords, mountains, forests, reindeer, Trolls, Santa Claus, Vikings, Hagar, fish, caviar, home of the Noble Peace Prize and rain.

Home of the Vikings. Viking Warriors were feared for their ferocity and skills using axe, sword, spear and bow. They attacked the coasts of Europe, North America, England, Scotland and Ireland. In Istanbul (Constantinople), the Vikings were used as bodyguards to the Emperor of the Byzantine. An early English Prayer 'From the fury of the Norsemen, good Lord preserve us', describes how fierce these traditional owners of Norway were.

Bergen is built around the harbour and wharf with a backdrop of pine covered mountains. Many of the office buildings and warehouses have been preserved, giving the town its sense of history. The medieval part of the town called Bryggen, is an area of traditional wooden houses built at right angles to the docks. German Traders who came to Bergen in the 1230's  had been granted permission to spend the winter periods here, inspiring a strong export centre.  Between the buildings are plank coated passages covered by large balconies. We spent a considerable amount of time wandering through these narrow alleyways and into little shops which sold traditional Norwegian handicrafts. We found most things quite expensive.

A ride on the Floibanen Funicular to the summit of the mountain to overlook the city and bay area was the first thing we did when we arrived this morning. By the time we got back to the base station, the line-up to go onto the train ride had more than trebled. They only take Norwegian Kroner but fortunately we were able to pay using our visa debit card. Phew!

We walked over to the old castle and grounds area when the skies opened up to another deluge of rain. Again, our $1 'Cheap as Chips' plastic ponchos came out and kept us dry. Last night when we retired to our cabin, I had the curtains opened as I read the last book in the trilogy, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, (thanks Rob and Loz), Paul watched some movie on TV, then I glanced at my watch and realized the time. At 11.30pm it was still daylight outside!. Wow. We quickly decided to close the curtains and go to bed as we had an early rise this morning.

Yesterday the Captain spoke to the passengers of his disgust at some who had been rude and abusive to the Passenger Services staff after missing the scheduled port of Amsterdam. He threatened to throw off, at the next available port, any passengers identified in future incidences. He announced a zero tolerance to any passenger abusing his staff. Most passengers applauded his announcement. Kudos to him for his decision.

We left Bergen around 5pm and spent 2 hours sailing past the many beautiful pine covered islands before we entered the North Sea. The North Sea was as expected was a little rough but this morning, the sea is reasonably flat as if we are in the Mediterranean. There were quite a few oil rigs visible on the horizon last night. We are heading to Glasgow,  Scotland. I am thinking kind thoughts of Loz's Mum and Dad, John and Christine, who hail from this area.