Holyhead is a small town in the northwest of Wales. Its main tourist draw is an unfinished castle begun in the 13th century by King Edward “Longshanks”, later abandoned when he turned his attention to Scotland and sent his armies north. The castle and the surrounding area are presently being used to film a Game…
Author: jmschaller
Day 10 – Liverpool
Liverpool could be renamed Beatleville these days. The Fab Four’s presence is sprinkled everywhere throughout the city. All of the buskers have Beatles tunes in a loop. Our cruise offered a lecture on the impact of the Beatles music. The ship’s theatre staged a musical performance pf the “Beatles Songbook”. There are tours of Penny…
Day 9 – Belfast
We spent the day in Belfast on July 28. Belfast was a more cosmopolitan city – at least to me – than I had anticipated. The downtown area had a very modern feeling, and a lot of new construction was evident. A lot has been written about “The Troubles”, which is still evident in some…
Interlude – Sunday Dinner
On Sunday night we dined at the Chef’s Table, a reservation-only restaurant on the ship that serves “curated menus” from various locations. Sunday evening the cuisine was British, a type of food that some would dispute as a “cuisine”. This particular food has undergone quite a transformation in recent years, however, and is now a…
Day 8 – Scottish Highlands / Ullapool
Ullapool is one of the most remote settings in the Unite Kingdom, and is situated on the shores of Loch Broom. The town is the only significant dwelling place for miles in all directions, surrounded mostly by wilderness and dramatic mountain peaks. Ullapool is historically a fishing village, where “crofters” (small farmers in Northern Scotland)…
Day 7 – Orkney Islands
Today we visited the islands of Orkney, another archipelago at the northern tip of Scotland. It is an amalgam of about 70 islands, some 20 of which are inhabited by about 22,000 people. The islands were inhabited by Viking raiders in the 13th Century, who used it as a staging ground for their forays into…
Day 6 – Edinburgh
Today’s trip was to Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city. This trip ws just a bit disppointing, as there was so much to see and not nearly enough time to get to everything. Our tour was mostly by bus, so we got to see many of the iconic sites, but only from afar. We walked the “Royal…
Day 5 – Scottish Highlands / Invergordon
Today’s excursion was to the Glenmorangie distillery, just outside of the town of Invergordon. Due to time constraints we were unable to visit the town. The scotch tastings were an acceptable consolation, however. we were able to learn about the simplicity – and complexity – of producing quality scotch. The basic ingredients are barley and…
Day 4 – Shetland Islands
Today’s trip was to the Shetland islands, an archipelago to the north of the Scottish mainland. It was initially settled by Viking raiders in the 12th century. The island is famous for its Shetland ponies. We visited a farm whereShetland ponies have been raised for about 45 years. The ponies have lived on the Shetland…
Day 2&3 – Bergen, Norway
We arrived at our destination port in Bergen, Norway, after a somewhat grueling – and sleepless – set of flights and a 30 minute bus ride from the airport. Our ship was waiting to receive us, and everything improved at that point. Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, behind Oslo (the capital city)…