September 13, 2019 Dublin

We were on tour, from 11:45 until 10:00pm, what a day! It was fun but arduous. Any way on to the details.

We were to meet in wheel House bar at 1145.  Please have Adam and I after we checked in waite along the side so they could take us down in the elevator as he is using his shillelagh to walk around as it makes him feel more balanced, out on the cobblestones. And walking down 6 floors of steps is not a good thing. When we finally got called and was a zoo down there as there were many people exiting the ship to go home.  We finally found our bus and found a seat for the two of us as we knew the day was going to be long.  

First stop was Saint Patty’s cathedral. I for one was not that impressed it was small in comparison to many other cathedrals that we’ve seen but it was nice. Then we went to see Orson Welles statue in my opinion that was a waste of time but maybe that’s because I’m not at Not an Orson Wells fan ha ha.

Traffic in Dublin is worse than traffic in Washington DC there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to how the cars go or when they stop whole lot so it took us a long time to get out of Dublin and onto the highway to go out to Glendalough. 

Our tour guid was named Annie and would you believe our bus driver was Declan?  They were both great, but Declan was fabulous. We didn’t realize until later that did yesterday was Friday the 13th but it proved to be that kind of a day for Declan as he had to get us out of some of the tightest places you would believe. And it seemed like just when we thought things were going to go easily they went more difficult than ever they missed the turn to Glendalough and we went over the countryside over and the mountains which we didn’t even realize they had in this part of Ireland, but they do, it almost look like we were traveling over the hills in Italy where we’ve gone to some of the nice wine vineyards.  The views on this wrong turn were spectacular. Many of us thought the same, but there are always a few who were complaining, as we were going to be late to go to Glendalough. And dinner, god forbid!

Now let me tell you about Glendalough;  Glendalough monastic site, one of Ireland's most famous tourist attractions. Positioned in a glaciated valley with two lakes, the Glendalough monastic site is a fascinating early Christian settlement in a spectacular natural location, founded by Saint Kevin in the 6th century.

The extensive ruins of Glendalough include several early churches, and an impressive 30-metre high round tower. The valley stretches for approximately 3km and contains several areas of great historical interest and beauty. The Upper Lake area was the original site of the monastic settlement and features Reefert Church, Temple-na-Skellig, Saint Kevin's Cell, Saint Kevin's Bed, the Caher and various high crosses. 

Ed and I didn’t see a lot of it as time was of the essence, and by the time we got there they were ready to close, but they stayed open so we could see some, and those people younger and fitter then we, could run and see more. On a goo day, it would have been a two hour drive out here, today it was over three!  It was a beautiful setting that is for sure. 

We left to go to the Avoca, weavers in a small town, with very, very, narrow roads, you wouldn’t believe what Declan our driver had to do, as people in there cars didn’t want to give way. I wish I had tacken a picture of this one car........ oh my, I wasn’t sure we were going to get out of that one. Like Annie said later, everything that could go wrong did, so the Mill was closed by the time we got there, but the shop wasn’t!! I bought a beautiful Irish wool sweater and scarf. 

Then it was on to dinner, and that was in the Wodenbridge Hotel and Lodge. It was a wonderful dinner, but again we were rushed, oh well it is what it is as they say. We arrived back at the ship at 9:30, pm sailing was nine pm. Came to the room exhausted, but happy. 

St Patrick’s Cathedral floor and Sanctuary 

                                                                                                         The hills of Dublin. 

One of the pillars of Glendalough with Ed. 

Our bus driver Declan 

 

September 12,2019, Cobb (cork) Ireland

The morning came very fast this morning,,,,, we had to sleep fast, and needless to say Cindy did not want to get up, but up I got, and sweet Ed got coffee, and rolls for us. So I had time to dress and I am really glad we went. We had great guides and even though it rained in the begging, would you believe it was leftover from Dorian, it cleared by afternoon, and we saw pretty much everything we had on the schedule. 

Cork was founded in the 7th century St Fin Barre. Cork is your gateway to romantic Ireland. This is where you would come to go to Blarney and kiss the Blarney Stone, but that was not on our list, we figured we weren’t ready to fall in there, and probably would, after walking up all the steps to get to it. 

And we decided, not to go to Waterford eaither, as we didn’t need more crystal.  So we went to Killarney and it was a reail gem of a tour. We took a bus across Ireland up through mountains to the Killarney national park. We stopped for tea and scones in the morning and then in the afternoon we had lunch in a pub. The lunch was a bit of a disappointment as it was chicke, potatoes and over cooked carrots, but the beer was great. Then we went shopping and guess what they had?

Our guides were wonderful, and I wish I cooled quote some of the stories we were told. And the scenerywas indeed spectacular. Ireland looks exactly how it does in pictures. My first time and I loved it. 

I tried to take a photo of this sign, but it didn’t come out, it said “TRAFIC CALMING” 

Ps I have been informand that the blog is NOT accepting comments, so we have great WiFi you can leave a comet on emai or iMessage, if you want. 

St. Peter Port, Guernsey

Guernsey was a real serprise to me. We arrived on time and arose slowly, as we were both tired, Ed more so then I. Mad a fast dash to the horizon Kurt as we missed breakfast in the dinning room. And breakfast was quit good, another serprise, we then went down to the Wheelhouse bar to meet for the tour.  Guernsey, insisted on using their boats, that were bigger, which was fine, but later there was a problem with that. 

 On to the island: Founded St Peter Port, likethe rest of Guernsey, became the propriety of England after the Battle of Hasting in 1066.  Population 96,513 est. 2014. Climate: it has a milder climate, islanders make the most of the outdoors. July and August are the warmest months at around 72 F and the lows are in the mid 40s during the coldest month of February. It rains 2-3 inches on a average each month. English is the language.  Currency is the guernsey pound (GGP) but there money is totally independent from England so you can’t interchange it. This place will never have a problem with homeless, because you can’t stay here without money, and if you fond yourself without money they ship you out. It is so difficult to live or buy property here, you have to be very rich. But if your family has property they are allowed to sell it to a family member for ONE Pound, with no inheritance tax. 

We took a mini bus around the island with a wonderful guide. The highlight was the little Chaple. Set in the countryside along a treelined path sits this small chapel. Made of simple materials, the chaple is beautifully decorated with pebbles, shells and pieces of colorful broken china. It was wonderful, we enjoyed it very much, even with the damp weather. 

When we returned to the dock, there was a line like you wouldn’t believe, seems the Guernsey boats couldn’t handle the waves that had churned up. So the tenders were called in and cleaned it all up. 

Today when we got back to the ship we grabbed a quick lunch, and went to the CC meet & great. Then we had to get ready for Formal night, we didn’t make it to the captains waterfall, but that’s ok, we’ve seen it before. 

And the busy day helped us not to dwel on 9/11

Goodnight all

The chaple

See the steps they were like that all the way up. We didn’t go all the way, as it was raining, and there were no hand rails. 

We are on the ship

Well I  wrote this all out and somehow lost it all. So I will try to do it again. We made it to the ship about 1:30 pm and we were in our room at 2:15. The medallions worked great, boarding and have all over the ship. It is cool that your coat reads green as you walk up, and in you go.

This will be a bet condensed as I am getting really tired, it is 11:54  as I type this. The room is nice, not as nice as the Grosvenor house but I rated that 5*s and I don’t think I have ever given that rating to anything. It was fabulous and if I EVER go back to London I would stay there. 

We are in Club Class dinning and it was great, walked in and had a table right away. Tomorrow is Formal igbt so it will be interesting to see how well it works. 

Also tomorrow is our first excursion we ANCHOR PORT at St Peters Port, better known asa tender port. Luckily the tour doesn’t leave until 11am and we’re back in about 3hours. It is just highlights of Guernsey. 

Our room and Ed 

Wear Iam writing

The living area. 

Good night