Britain - Grand excursion

Welcome to my blog to allow you to follow along as we begin our 2023 trip to The British Isles. May16 to June 7. May-17-2023  /  May-31-2023 Southampton, United Kingdom / Southampton, United Kingdom    17 Southampton, United Kingdom  7:00 PM 18 Plymouth, United Kingdom  8:00 AM   11:59 PM 19 Day at sea  20 Cobh, Ireland  8:00 AM   6:00 PM 21 Isle of Man (Douglas), United Kingdom  9:00 AM   11:00 PM 22 Dublin (Dun Loaghaire), Ireland  8:00 AM   10:00 PM 23 Belfast, United Kingdom  8:00 AM   6:00 PM 24 Greenock (Glasgow), United Kingdom  8:00 AM   11:00 PM 25 Day at sea  26 Ullapool, United Kingdom  8:00 AM   6:00 PM 27 Kirkwall, United Kingdom  8:00 AM   5:00 PM 28 Newhaven (Edinburgh),Scotland, United Kingdom  8:00 AM   10:00 PM 29 Newcastle, United Kingdom  8:00 AM   6:00 PM 30 Day at sea  31 Southampton, United Kingdom  7:00 AM Foll...

 The bags are packed we’re ready to go.   Blacklane Limo picks us up at 3pm so we are leaving in style. Flying British Airways, seats are in Business class so should be able to get some sleep, Josh can attest that I am not a happy camper if I can not sleep. Thanks again to Mike B at Expedia travel for doing all of the leg work for us. Made it to Business lounge and getting a few nibbles and hydration. yes that is me at the bar. You will have to wait until tomorrow to see the plane pics.

 We survived the flight.   We were greeted on board the plane with a glass of bubbly, followed by a before dinner cocktail.  Then we had dinner. Bob and I both had the soup, short ribs and a very nice glass of red wine. Real glasses and cutlery, it reminded us both of the old days of Ward Air. The meal was actually very good, but they forgot to bring my meal so Bob had to gently remind them to feed me. The pods were kind of fun with all the bells and whistles, Bob had to show me how to push the right buttons. We were able to get a bit of sleep. We were happy to see all of our bags on the carousel and got to our SilverSeas rep with no problem. Boarded the bus which took us to a hotel about 20 minutes from port of Southampton, they say it is a nicer place to hang out for a few hours as we wait to board the ship.  Made it on board and to our room.unpacked and got all ship shape.  Then as instructed by Janice H headed to book the extras we wanted.  2 cooking le...

    May 18 th    Plymouth,  United Kingdom Slept very well so far no rocking on the boat.  Fingers crossed. After a wonderful breakfast in our room served by our butler, Bob and I headed off for our first excursion.  This was tendered so we took a small boat to shore and then headed off by bus to Buckland Abbey. All I can say is congrats to our bus driver for managing all those tight hedgerow roads.  We found out that she was named bus driver of the year last year. The Abbey ( Sir Francis Drake’s home) was amazing, not really the building though interesting it was the gardens both formal and informal that I loved.  They had opened early to accommodate our tour so meant times Bob and I and the bees were the only ones there.  Bob says my pics are just like my father’s. i am seeing that as a compliment, sorry if you don’t like them. Then we headed back on the bus to see the Dartmoor area.  I did not know what to expect but it was wonde...

 Out to sea today. Had breakfast in main dining room and saw some people we meet yesterday, a polite wave but still getting to see some familiar faces. We got a new tour set for the Isle of Man with a train trip included so that should be fun, I will try to get info updated on the blog.  There is a lecture this morning about Cobh and Isle of Man so we can learn about where we are headed.   UPDATE: lecture was okay but was a bit dry. Hopefully will have time for a nap too.  UPDATE: both of us had a nap. Here are a few pics of the suite and yes that is a full size tub. We went to bingo and trivia today.  I was one away for bingo and sorry Janice we did not do well at trivia, tried to play just as a couple, bad choice, scored only 8/15.  But had fun, now I understand cutthroat cruise trivia.  Might try again on next sea day.  Doing a quick laundry and a glass of bubbly. Formal night for dinner so going to the dinner club called Silver Note to hear so...

  May 20 th   Cobh, Ireland Tour   This was our view this morning as we arrived in Cobh. Grey, and cool, just what we planned for, but many from US only brought shorts and tshirts, they might find it nippy.  Having breakfast in the room then off to explore the town before we head off on our tour for the day.  Might try to fit in a quick 1/2 pint before the tour begins. BULTER UPDATE:  yes does wear a tails tux all the time. Yes chocolates on bed every night so far different each time.  I have not had bath drawn yet but it is coming. Got off the ship before our tour and did a walk around.  What a cute town you can see where the coloured houses on our east coast got the idea. We climbed a steep street to visit the church but it was first communion day so the church was a buzz with young families, I was sad not to see the church but I know Bob was relieved, one less church.  The streets reminded me of the big hill in Cobalt. Then off to Spike Is...

We did a change of tour today so Castles and a train ride are planned now. Breakfast in the room again which has become a regular thing for us, although eating breakfast still is a strange thing for me. Going to go into town a bit early to wander before our tour starts around noon.  Weather man Bob says it is to clear up today so fingers crossed.  UPDATE: it got so nice I took off my fleece jacket.  Downright hot for here.  Even saw blue sky.  Sorry no pics of that. There is a statue here of the Bee Gees, as they were born here so obvs pic then.  Sent Boo a card and stamp was Barry Gibb so you can see a theme.  If you did not know Bee Gees are my jam🤪🥰💕 Arrived at Castletown which traces its origins back to 1090 and holds true as one of the oldest towns in the British Isles. Its narrow streets and small fishing cottages prove this ancient past at every corner. Bob got his beer in the shadow of the castle, funny enough we learned this pub is on the b...

  May 22 nd   Dublin, Ireland  Breakie in room again this morning, seems to now be a habit on tour days. This was our view for most of the day.  By the afternoon it was sunny and bright. We left the boat by tender today at 8:30 so an early start, Dublin City Sites and St Patrick Cathedral, this is a 4 hour tour, but about an hour of that was travel time as we were outside of the city.  Travelled ashore by tenders, which are the lifeboats, it was so rough getting on them from the boat, this was an experience. The bus tour guide was good with all of the corny banter and Irish charm.  Boy is this city full of tourists and tourist buses. Lots of history all over the place. After the bus tour we ditched the group and went wandering, alleys and side alleys as we were taught by Josh. Bob was able to get a Beer and I was able to walk in 2 parks. In one we ran into the Dublin Literary Festival so that was nice. Back on the boat to attend a 3pm cooking lesson at the ...

  May 23 rd   Belfast, United Kingdom New trip booked and on waiting list for something even better.  Fingers crossed someone backs out…. no one backed out so we are off to see a castle today. We are docked today so no trying to time the waves to get on and off the tenders. Hillsborough Castle and Gardens  Hillsborough Castle, residence of the British Royal Family.  We had a guided visit to the late-18th century castle.  The house was wonderful and we got to meet the Governor General for Northern Ireland who was walking through at the time, it is his house so seemed normal to him.  We also got to see the replica of the crown that was used in the show the Crown, no we could not put it on.  The house was opened just for our group so it was peaceful to walk the gardens.  We said we could have spent much longer there but so goes a tour. Back on the bus we drove around Belfast and got some history, I was very glad they took us along part of the Pe...

So a fun day, thankfully I downloaded a self guided walking tour onto my phone as the tour guide had no maps to hand out.  So Bob chose what he wanted to see and we wandered. 45 minute bus ride from dock to city so no shuttles today so you had to be back in time or else you have a very expensive taxi ride in your future.  So had to make some choices, so no art gallery or history museum for us.       We walked over to St. Mungo’s church and spent about an hour there, the organist was practising and Bob was checking out the AV system.  I was looking at arches and stain-glass, I love it 🥰 After that we toured the Necropolis and it was amazingly weird wonderful and creepy.   There is street art all over the city, Bob liked this one. Then walked back into the heart of the city to tour the city hall, the amount of marble was insane.    Then off to the shopping district for a bottle opener and our first fish and chips of the tour.  We went int...

 A sea day for us means sleep in, get breakfast ( got in just before it closed) do laundry and maybe play bingo.  And yes Janice might try trivia again.   We have missed it most days as we extend our shore time for as long as possible. View from our balcony  I have my ginger ready if waves get bigger and rocking gets worse.  Wave update, they got less after lunch but they did reach 10 ft so big enough. The pub lunch they put on was good, but eat too much so that was not good.  Did not win at bingo and did not do well at trivia, boy it is very competitive and hard questions. Got all or laundry done and had a nap.   Then had dinner at Kaiseki, asian food, we choose the chefs meal and it was wonderful, Bob only let me take one pic.  The service was exceptional, let me make changes without a blink.

This was our view this morning when we opened our drapes, grey and foreboding, as we prepared for our 4:5 km hike up to the Highlands – Bone Caves      Piped off the ship again, this is very fun. Only 15 people from the boat signed up for this tour, including on staff whose job it was to stay with those who could not do the hike.  We had a 30 minute drive to get to the starting point and it was lovely to see the low clouds over the hills.  This was a 4.5 km hike and it went up in elevation so some parts were very steep, on a path alongside the Allt nan Uamh, or 'Burn of the Caves', a beautiful limestone valley featuring stunning views of the Scottish landscape.  We seemed to be at the back of the group but I kept taking pictures of flowers and rocks but we were joined by the bus driver so we happily went along.         At the base of the second last ascent I realized that this was too much for me, I would do the ascent to the next rest p...