Viking Cruise to the British Isles Day 13

August 28, 2024

Arrived in Greenwich this morning and had a delightful walking tour around the town.  This is a maritime town and has a wonderful maritime museum, free entry.  There are a lot of other museums and the obligatory church.  It is also the site of the Observatory where 0 degrees longitude is located.  The view from the Observatory is amazing and worth the climb.  It was a warm and sunny day so I worked up a good sweat.  We went to a pub for lunch. I ordered fish and chips and got an entire fish fillet.  It was good, but you can keep the mushy peas.  There is a wonderful market with all sorts of stalls selling food, clothing, souvenirs, etc.  

A low key night on board tonight with disembarkation at 0800 tomorrow.  Looking forward to coming home. 

Viking Cruise to the British Isles Day 12

August 27, 2024

Headed out this morning to Dover, past the iconic white cliffs. They are beautiful.  Helps that now we are actually having decent weather - sunny in the high 60s and no wind.  We took the excursion to Canterbury, which is a wonderful town, impressive cathedral and kind shop keepers.  The views from the bus were remarkable.  In the afternoon, I took the shuttle into city centre Dover. It wasn't that great, but I did go to a pub and ordered a cider.  There are 2 types - still at room temperature or fizzy and cold.  The bartender told me the former is how cider should be enjoyed, so I had a lemon cider and it was quite good  I still prefer the fizzy and cold. 

Seems odd that tomorrow is our last day.   All in all it has been a good trip but with the cancelled ports of call and the general unfriendliness of our fellow travelers, I have had better times. I think I prefer the river cruises where you get to know people better because there are much less of them.  

Once again I have no idea how or why some of my photos made it and some not.  Will work on that when we get home. 

Canterbury Cathedral

Side street in Canterbury

The gate to Canterbury Cathedral

Sunrise

Georgian Apartments with colorful doors

Funny figure on the side of the building

 Viking Cruise to the British Isles Day 11

August 26, 2024

Greetings from Portsmouth.  This little add on turned out to be a winner.  First off, the sun was shining and it was in the low 60s.  It made everything better.  We took a motor coach to the wharf area where they have many old ships.  We chose the Mary Rose, a Tudor vessel that sank in 1545  They found and raised it up in 1982.  There were over 400 seamen that drowned, along with their possessions.  Gives one a great look into the Tudor times.  I found the requirement for surgeons very interesting.  The on board doc was a barber surgeon but not allowed to practice his barbering.  I'm sure he had plenty of other things to do.  

We then took a shuttle to city centre which were some nice shops and fast food outlets _ McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys.  We went to a coffee shop (there are as many coffee shops in the UK as there are in the States) This one had some snacks, so I chose a toastie from a list of about 10 different kinds.  It is a toasted cheese sandwich.  Mine had Brie cheese and cranberry sauce.  Total Yum.  

A Clay water bottle

The outside of the restored Mary Rose

I have more photos which haven't caught up yet, but these are a start.

The White Cliffs of Dover

Viking Cruise to the British Isles Day 10

August 25, 2024

Well, we got skunked again.  The wind was too strong and the seas too rough to safely take the tenders into the port at Dublin.  That's 3 shore excursions canceled.  Really sucks as I wanted to see Ireland.  Oh well.  Tomorrow was supposed to be a day at sea, but they have arranged for us to dock in Portsmouth.   I guess that's something.  Can't say I would recommend this trip.  Maybe it's just bad weather karma, but it isn't at all what I thought it would be. 

I was going to tough it out with the scopalamine patch, but the sea is so rough, it was not a good idea.  Can't imagine living in this part of the world.  

Viking Cruise to the British Isles  Day 9

Made it to Holyhead, Wales today which is at the northern most tip of Wales.  Finally had some decent weather with sun, although a bit of wind. Temp around 60.  This part of Wales is beautiful - rolling green hills, mostly pastureland for cows and sheep.  The language is inscrutable, but fortunately everyone speaks English and the signs are in Welch and English.  We took a motorcoach trip around Anglesey so got a pretty good look at the place.  There are several towns on the coast where people have retired.  Lots of ancient rock walls, old castles, and the occasional standing stone.  We stopped at a general store and I tried some of their famous cakes (like scones with raisins).  They were dry as dust.  

Last night we made it to the fish and chips dinner.  It was good but our local golf club does them better.  They had to have been pretty tasty as Dean ate 4 pieces - the man who hates fish!  

Tomorrow - Dublin.  That should be interesting.  

Beatles Statue

Catholic Cathedral

Inside Anglican Cathedral 

Outside Anglican Cathedral 

Viking  Cruise to the British Isles Day 8

OR Worse Weather Than Port Angeles

Pretty much going to re-title this blog.  We docked in Liverpool this morning and it was incredibly windy.  Some light sprinkles in the morning but the sun did come out this afternoon.  Really should have brought a hat that ties under the chin.  Not terribly warm, 64 which is an improvement since the sun came out.

Liverpool banks heavily on being the birthplace of the Beatles and the inevitable Titanic connection (this is where it was commissioned, the White Star Line has offices here).  Much as I love the Beatles, this is a bit much - the hospital where John Lennon was born, the primary and secondary schools John, Paul and George attended, etc.  The city itself is young as European cities go.  The two main cathedrals (Anglican and Catholic) were built in the 20th century.  Still, the architecture is heavy sandstone with some embellishment.  Lots of statues everywhere.  

We are docked on the Mersey, a short walk to town.  The Anglican Cathedral is the largest in the world and second only to St Peters in  Rome for all churches.  It's crazy big, and designed without pews so other events can be held there. The Catholic Cathedral is very modern.  We couldn't go inside since the cruise line would not pay our entry fee. All in all, a cleaner, nicer town than Belfast or Edinburgh.  Tomorrow it's off to Wales.  

Trying to slack off on the food a bit.  Tonight they are doing a special fish and chips dinner which has attracted my attention.  

Still can't get the damn photos loaded.  Will try a work around with my phone.

Castle garden

Random old building 

Another random old building 

Viking Cruise to the British Isles Day 7

Made it to Belfast today.  I have to say it really doesn't have much going for it.  If it wasn't for the "Troubles" and the Titanic having been built there, there's not much going on.  I should have been suspicious when the Rick Steve's guidebook didn't have much to offer.  We went on a bus trip and saw some old buildings and a graffiti wall.  It is considerably dirtier than Norway or Scotland.  

The storm last night was a doozie!  So glad to have had the scopalamine patches.  We had dinner in the Italian restaurant on board and there was hardly anyone there as not too many people wanted to eat.  Walking around the boat was a challenge, grabbing on to hand rails at every step.  Our table at the restaurant was at a window on the first floor so we had ringside seats to the storm and gigantic waves.  

Tomorrow is Liverpool. 

My Chromebook won't talk to my phone so no photos until I can get that figured out.