Cinda Says …

Edinburgh is hip and vibrant. I would have loved to have stayed a few days in this city.  Not only is Edinburgh the capital of Scotland, it is also the leading festival city in the world, home to phenomenal summer festivals, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

When docking, the ship is actually at Queensferry which is approximately 45 minutes from Edinburgh.  Because of the popularity of cruises to the city, there is a bus dedicated to bring cruisers from port to the city and back again from May until September.  At the time we went, it was L6 per adult return and L3 per child.  Here is the link to the service:  https://www.lothianbuses.com/timetables/cruiselink-x99/   The buses run every 20 minutes throughout the day.  

The buses drop off at St Andrew Square - right in the heart of tourist attractions and shopping district. Everything is very accessible. 

There are so many sites to see in Edinburgh.  In addition, there is shopping, and live entertainment.  We saw posters for many recognizable acts that we would have gladly gone to. At the time we visited, the Fringe Festival was on.

We started at the end of the Royal Mile and made our way up to Edinburgh Castle.  Along the way there are shops,pubs, restaurants, small museums, tiny passageways, and in the middle of the roadway entertainers every few feet. 

A word of warning - Edinburgh Castle is a mecca for tourists and it becomes overwhelmed. More than 10,000 visitors were recorded on 20 separate occasions in August 2017.  It attracted nearly 1.8 million visitors that same year. 

As a result, Historic Environment Scotland actually closed the Castle to any visitors without a ticket on the day we were there.  That meant, if you arrived at Port that day, and did not have an advance timed ticket, you were not able to get into the castle. 

Because we had purchased the Explorer Pass, we were able to enter.  Again, as noted in previous posts, I highly recommend getting the Explore Pass! What is fabulous about the pass is that it works at any time, where as if you had booked a timed ticket, you had to show up at that exact time.

Inverness is the largest city in the Highlands of Scotland.  It lies at the mouth of the River Ness, which flows from Loch Ness, stomping grounds of the famous Loch Ness Monster.  We arranged a private car service through InvergordonTours.  https://www.invergordontours.com/ We were very pleased with the service! 

After being picked up at the dock we headed through Inverness to Loch Ness where we boarded the Jacobite Cruise of Loch Ness.  https://www.jacobite.co.uk/.  Our two hour cruise took us through the man-made part of the Caledonian Canal onto the world-famous waters of Loch Ness. The live guide provided interesting commentary and a bit of fiction while we absorbed the waters and scenery.  We arrived by boat to Urquhart Castle which sits a top of Loch Ness. Here we explore the ruins.  The tourist building attached as a great short film of Urquhart - don't miss it.  Gianna is sure she saw Nessie by the way.

It is quite charming how there are Nessies all over Inverness.

A bit peckish from all that exploring our Guide brought us to Dobbies Garden Centre for lunch.  I was thinking the same thing, why would one go to a garden centre for lunch? Well it turns out that inside, beyond the plants and garden equipment, the gift shop items and knick knacks, is a very delicious cafeteria.  We had scones and tasty soup.  It was absolutely wonderful - and - not a tourist in sight.  After picking up a few items we hit the road again.

More hairy cows:

We headed to Cawdor Castle next.  Cawdor Castle is a private castle so the Explorer pass does not work here. The castle was originally owned by the Calder family.  It was passed down to the Campbells in the 16th century and it continues to be owned by the Campbell family.  The castle is the home to the Dowager Countess Cawdor, stepmother of Colin Campbell, the 7th Earl Cawdor.  Interestingly, the castle is known for its literary connection to William Shakespeare's Macbeth.  Macbeth is made Thane of Cawdor. The connection seems tenuous given that the castle was never directly referred to in Macbeth and was built many years after the life King Macbeth.  

It was very interesting to explore - and to think that someone actually lived there.

The kids were tired so they rested in the car while Tim and I explored the Inverness Cathedral which was very beautiful. 

Going back to port, there is one last chance for picking up souvenirs at the terminal.

We chose to see the sites around Glasgow for this excursion and did not go into the city.

Duncan McNabof Edinburgh Day Tours was our guide.  

Our first stop was Stirling Castle.  Now, I am not a castle aficionado but I really loved Stirling Castle.  The amount of information that the castle provides is incredible and in a manner which is very accessible.  The kids equally loved it. We spent a few hours here soaking up as much history as we could.

TRAVEL TIP: If you will be touring different ports in Scotland, as we did, consider getting a Scotland Explorer Pass.  We purchased a Family Pass which covered 2 adults and up to 6 kids ages 5-15.  It was an excellent purchase because the pass gives you PRIORITY access to the sites which made all the difference at Edinburgh Castle - see my post on Edinburgh, it was actually cheaper than purchasing individual admissions, and a 20% discount on audio tours.  Not many people know about it so it was a life saver at Edinburgh Castle because the day we were there - they actually did not allow tourists to enter unless you had advance tickets or the Explorer Pass. Arm pump!

Here is the link:  https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/explorer-passes/

We stopped at Hamish to visit some Scottish cattle - they are very unique and seem to be Scotland's unofficial mascot.  They are harry cows with long horns.  They are really quite charming.  What we didn't know was Duncan had some tasty carrots for the cows and my kids had a ball feeding them.  It always amazes me that sometimes the very simplest of things end up being the most fun.

We traveled farther into the country making our way to Queen Elizabeth Forest Park. It is 50,000 acres of shear natural beauty. 

Our eventual stop was to the Scottish Wool Center.  I had read that there was a great show with farm animals and sheep dogs.  I was over sold.  It was quaint to be sure, but not at all what I had expected. 

This summer my family and I went on our second European cruise.  Last year, we took the Disney Magic on a ten night Mediterranean cruise sailing from Barcelona.  It was glorious.  This year, we took the Royal Princess on a twelve day British Isles cruise from July 23 to August 4, 2018.  This cruise was somewhat unusual in that some passengers boarded and commenced their cruise from Le Havre, France and others from the next port, Southampton, England.  In total we had the pleasure of visiting 4 countries, 9 ports of call and travelled over 4000 kilometers.  Interestingly, we had sailed the Royal Princess' sister ship, the Regal Princess a few years back when we did our first ever cruise - that being the Eastern Caribbean.   

We picked up the boat in Le Havre.  We had spent a few days in Paris (see my post below).  

We flew in on Air France as opposed to our usual use of Air Canada.  I have to tell you that we were a bit nervous with our decision as Air France had begun to experience strikes starting in February.  Indeed, Air France pilot unions and ground crews went on strike in March twice and another six times in April.  By May we were really concerned.  The union had given new strike dates by the end of April (May 3, 4, 7, and 8) and it was clear that neither side was backing down.  On May 5th, Air France CEO resigned.  We still hung on to our AF tickets and did not find alternatives.  Then the news breaks in June.  Air France workers will strike starting June 23 to the 27th.  Meetings are scheduled, we watch the news closely.  Will there be a deal?   By June 19th, news reports state that the strikes will be cancelled in preparation of meeting the new CEO at the beginning of July.  There is no further news.  We are hopeful we will get on a plane that has a pilot when we need to get to Paris.  And, we do. 

Despite the drama, I liked Air France.  Boarding was relatively hassle free.  Once on board we noticed the pitch of the seats in economy were more generous than that of Air Canada - and certainly Air Rouge which we had flown the summer before.  They had a very cheeky safety video which was charming and I actually wanted to watch.   They too had 'back of the seat' individualized entertainment systems - and the earphones were free (unlike AC).  The selection was okay - there were certainly Hollywood films and programming for kids, and coming from France of course there was lots of European films. We had ordered in advance a kids menu for our youngest.  The kids were served first (thank you!) and the selection was geared to their tastes.  Our food was passable - as far as airline food goes - but what I loved is the bar service.  Included was a pre-dinner glass of sparkling wine, as much wine as you wanted for dinner, and a lovely digestive - I had a great pear liquor.  We also did not need to purchase a pillow or blanket (again unlike the AC service) - it was right there waiting for us.  I would definitely fly Air France again - if they ever settle with the pilots.  Even today, there is no settlement.  The latest reports stated that Air France unions would meet August 27 to go over strike plans.  I  don't know what came of those plans.  I am just happy that we got to Paris and came back home without delay.

An important tip for travelling on this cruise it to fully understand how far Normandy is from Paris.  Le Havre and Paris are approximately 200 km apart and a travel time of approximately 2.5 hours.  With that kind of distance between us, we wanted to be sure we made it to the boat on time. We decided to take the Princess offering of transportation via a motor coach leaving from the city's center.  Unfortunately,  that meant that we had to leave early on the morning of the 23rd and not later as we had hoped.  On the bright side the trip was comfortable and hassle free.

I have to tell you, I am a big fan of Princess Cruise Lines.  I find the ships are always well maintained, the staff very accommodating and the food top notch.  I was not a fan of Royal Caribbean.  I find the food on Disney not as good as Princess but they do entertainment very well.  On the Disney ships, the live shows are about as good as Broadway.

The 12 day British Isles cruise could either start (and finish) in Le Havre or South Hampton.  We chose Le Havre because we wanted to spend a few days in Paris rather than London.  With 9 ports of call, I found this cruise exhausting. We had 7 ports before a sea day and boy was I looking forward to a relaxing day at sea after going non-stop for 7 days - not including our whirlwind time in Paris.  The final sea day was the day before disembarking in Le Havre.

If someone were to ask, what was your favorite port of call on this cruise, without a doubt my answer is Belfast. 

We used Paddy Campbell's Black Cab Tours - his email is here:belfasttours@hotmail.com.  Our driver, Peter was superb!  We still talk about what a great guy he was and how much fun this day was.  I cannot believe how much territory we covered. 

Peter picked us up at the pier and we headed straight to Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge - hoping to beat the tourists! That we did.

The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge was first erected by salmon fishermen in 1755 to connect the mainland to carrick-a-rede island.  The rope bridge is suspended almost 100ft (30m) across the Atlantic Ocean.

Having a driver for this excursion was really well worth the money.  Not only did he take us to the sites we wanted to see, he had places we didn't even know about all lined up.  Like this pub:

One stop you must make is the Giant's Causeway.  On the shores of the North Atlantic Ocean, this natural landscape is something to behold.  It is little wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of volcanic fissure eruptions.  The columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea.  To think that nature created these hexagonal - and in some cases, seven or eight sided, formations, is mind boggling. 

The legend is very charming:  the columns are the remains of a causeway built by the Irish giant, Fionn MacCool. He was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. There are apparently two versions to this story: in one version, Fionn defeats Benandonner.  In the other, Fionn hides from the Scottish giant when he realizes, the Scot is much bigger than he.  Fionn's wife disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the 'baby', he believes that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants and he flees back to Scotland,destroying the causeway behind him to keep Fionn from chasing him.  D

Peter takes us to Bushmills country where before tackling the distillery, we have a lunch of fish and chips! Yummy.

We make lots of little stops for pictures and history lessons, including Dunluce Castle.

I mention that I heard about this road of trees.  Peter knows what I am talking about. It is apparently in an opening scene of Game of Thrones. 

 We make our way back to Belfast to see the political murals and this portion of the tour turns into an incredible history lesson.  One that I did not quite understand.  I believed that troubles of Belfast had been over.  Not quite.  Communities are separated by a wall up to six metres high and gates along its length that are still locked at night.  This was such a revelation to me. 

On either side of the wall is artwork that is filled with historical and political references.  Peter is at the ready for us to add to the graffiti wall with pens in hand.

We did want to do the Titanic Museum but we simply ran out of time.  Another reason to return. 

Twelve hours in Dublin, so much to do, so little time.  My tip, be organized!

Princess actually has a shuttle that will take you from the boat to Merrion Square (and back again) for $16 per person.  The shuttle runs on a continuous basis making the 30 minute trip to and from the ship very easy.   Once at Merrion Square you are able to purchase a ticket for a hop on hop off bus.  There are a number of hop off - hop on bus companies to choose from.  We went with the green Do Dublin.  As with many hop on / hop off buses, the real entertainment comes with the chatty drivers.  A few times we got real gems, but on the last leg it was all pre-recorded information which is not quite as entertaining. 

The first thing to do while in Merrion Square is to get a picture with the statue of Oscar Wilde.

There were a couple of bucket list items on our list for Dublin: the Book of Kells, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Guinness Brewery.

The Book of Kells is located in Trinity College's library.  I HIGHLY recommend purchasing an advanced timed ticket for entry.  As it was, there was a very long line for entry.  Here is link https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/tickets-information/?panel=tickets   The tickets are timed but I have read that if you come a bit late they are pretty flexible.  We arrived on time - so I can not vouch for the flexibility!

If you are not familiar with the Book of Kells, it is a Gospel book that is bound in 4 separate sections with brilliantly ornamented pages and text.  There is a magical movie that I highly recommend watching before coming to see the Book of Kells - called The Secret of the Kells which is just a beautiful animated film. 

The exhibit for the Book of Kells ends at the Long Room Library the main chamber of the Old Library.  The Long Room is 65 metres in length and filled with 200,000 of the library’s oldest books making it one of the most impressive libraries in the world.

  After spending some time in the library and of course the gift shop, we explored the campus a bit and headed out to Grafton Street for a bit of lunch and some window shopping.

We pick up the Hop On bus to head over to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  The Cathedral was restored with the help of funding from the Guinness family who clearly own Dublin.An interesting fact about the Guinness family is that in 1876, Guinness trademarked the harp symbol.  As a consequence, the Irish Free State Government of 1922, had to turn the official government harp the other way to differentiate between the trademarked Guinness harp and the official State emblem. 

The Cathedral is beautiful inside and is rich in history.  Handel practiced on the cathedral's organ before his first public performance of his Messiah.  Jonathan Swift - author of Gulliver's Travels - was the cathedral's Dean and he is buried inside.  One enchanting exhibit is the Door of Reconciliation.

The story goes, in 1492, two Irish families, the Butlers and the FitzGeralds , were involved in a bitter feud. In 1492, the tension broke into outright warfare and a small skirmish occurred between the two families just outside the city walls.

The Butlers took refuge in the Chapter House of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. The FitzGeralds followed them into the Cathedral and asked them to come out and make peace. The Butlers refused afraid that they would be killed.  But, as a gesture of good faith Gerald FitzGerald ordered that a hole be cut in the door. He then thrust his arm through the door and offered his hand in peace to those on the other side - FitzGerald was willing to risk his arm by putting it through the door.  The Butlers - taking the gesture that he was serious in his intention shook hands through the door.  The Butlers emerged from the house and the two families made peace.
This story also lives on in a famous expression in Ireland "To chance your arm".

We head to the Guinness Storehouse for our 4:30 tour.  You have to admit, when you think of Dublin, you think of Guinness.  Guinness has been a driver of the city's economy for over 250 years.  The Storehouse is beautiful - the steel and glass structure  holds the journey through the production of a pint of Guinness.  There are touch and feel exhibits to keep my youngest entertained while the older crew look forward to the tasting room.  I purchased advanced timed tickets but to be honest - this is one time I am not certain they were needed.

Our third port of call on the Princess Cruise of England, Ireland, and Scotland took us to Cork and I had arranged for a very full day of sightseeing.  As usual, I had booked a private tour to take us around the countryside.  Here we used the tour company, Munsterbus Tours  https://munsterbus.ie/ and we could not have been happier.

We knew we had done the right thing when, as we entered the car our driver said - Let's head to Blarney Castle in advance of the tour buses.  And, that we did.  To our chagrin, we beat the buses and had a very short wait in line to make our way up the town and kiss the Blarney Stone.  m

We toured the gardens and headed to the very large shopping mecca known as the Blarney Woolen Mill Shop, were we purchased all things woolen and Irish. 

Having done our bit to help the Irish economy, we headed towards Kinsale, a very pretty port.  The Lusitania was torpedoed by a U boat here during WWI.  We stopped off at Charles Fort - a star shaped fortress and took some pretty amazing pictures.  Kinsale is also know as a gourmet capital.  So, lunch it was.

Our first taste of Ireland was a resounding success. Now off to Dublin...

You cannot go to Liverpool without thinking of the Beatles.  You cannot go to Liverpool without doing everything Beatles!

This is a fabulous city - and not just because it is the birthplace of Paul, John, George and Ringo - although that does not hurt.  It has water, art, museums and a great, great vibe.  Come with us as we explore Liverpool.

We land at Albert Dock - a World Heritage site.  You could easily spend an afternoon here and wander no further. 

Our first stop is the Museum of Liverpool.  Located at Albert Dock, the museum is wonderful for all ages.  There is space devoted to the small fry - with hands on fun for anyone under 7.  Moving on upstairs, exhibits await revealing Liverpool's connection to the world.  When we arrived, we were treated to an incredible visiting exhibit entitled Double Fantasy, John & Yoko.  It is the first world exhibition exploring their story.  It was very moving and included personal items.  We loved it!

We spent the afternoon with the Beatles, taking a Fab Four Taxi tour.  It was an in-depth journey learning all about the Fab 4.  Seeing their childhood homes, their school, the reconstructed Cavern Club, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, were were immersed in all things Beatles, the while listening to their songs.  Our driver/guide was incredibly well versed and I personally learned a heck of a lot of Beatles trivia.

Charming can't begin to describe Guernsey, the second largest of the Channel Islands and the home to St. Peter Port.  A tender is required to get to and from the ship and this generally leads to delays - as was our case on our return.

We chose to have a quiet day on the island.  Here are a couple tips to consider.

First, a warm welcome awaits as you disembark the tender at Albert Pier.  Ladies are waiting to help tourists navigate the island - they hand out maps and information.  TIP:  Be sure to grab a card which will give you free wi-fi access during your stay. 

Don't be worried, it is probably the easiest port to navigate - the island is only 24 square miles - making any point of interest only a few minutes drive.   A travel pass for their bus system is super convenient and easy.  Just walk directly across the street from the port where you can purchase tickets  to almost anywhere on the island.  When we went, it was L4.50 for an all day pass the buses follow a colour coded route.  I even downloaded the Guernsey bus app. 

Here is the link:

http://www.buses.gg/routes_and_times

Guernsey is the setting for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,  a 2008 novel written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. In 2018, it was made into a film.  The story is set in 1946, following a  London-based writer who begins exchanging letters with a resident on the island of Guernsey which was under German occupation during WWII.  There are excursions available which allow you to head to the various points of interest from the movie.

The island is rich in WWII history as the Germans occupied this tiny island for 5 years.  We headed to the German Occupation Museum (easily accessible by Bus 91 & 93).  It is a small museum, but if you have a historian in your group - it is definitely not to be missed. It chronicles the  island's day to day life.   

Other WWII sites include La Vallette Underground Military Museum, the German Military Underground Hospital, Fort Hommet, the fortification used by the Germans and the Naval Signals HQ. 

Other sites include the Little Chapel set in a quiet countryside built with simple materials made to resemble the grotto at Lourdes.  It is decorated with pebbles, shells and broken china.  Castle Cornet is visible when you land at port.

Our first port of call on our British Isles cruise was Southampton. 

While a trip to London was enticing, the 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive was not.  Our time in port was limited and it was an 'all aboard' by 5/30pm.  Having never been to Stonehenge, we decided to make like a druid and head to the large stones!  Tim booked the Princess excursion.  My thoughts on the excursion were that it was too short and did not allow for enough time exploring the beautiful town of Salisbury.  Happily, this was the only excursion we booked via Princess.

Our first stop was Stonehenge.  The Brits have done a wonderful job of creating a very accessible and educational site to visit.  Once you get to Stonehenge, you take a very short bus ride to the actual stones themselves.  Sadly, one cannot get super close any more - this to preserve the site - which is understandable.  To be frank, I did not appreciate how incredible the feat of creating Stonehenge was until our visit. Radiocarbon dating of the site has determined that the building of the monument began around 3100 BC and ended around 1600 BC. That means it was a 1500 year project.  More nerdy facts are as follows.  There are 2 types of stones - the larger verticals and arches made of sarsens, and the smaller bluestones. There are 83 stones in total. The bluestones are believed to have come from the Preseli Mountains in Wales - that is approximately 150 miles away from Stonehenge and these stones weigh up to four tons.  So, how did they get there?  Big mystery!   It is believed that in the period before the first large stones appeared, the monument housed cremated remains. While speculation runs wild as to the purpose of Stonehenge, it is generally accepted that Stonehenge was a prehistoric temple aligned with the movements of the sun