Beautiful Scotland Countryside

Today we arrived in Invergordon and got off the ship at 7:30 am for our tour arranged by Virginia, one of our Cruise Critic friends. Our guide was Stephen Craig of Clans and Castles Tours and what a day we had in store!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous -- warm and sunny.  Stephen told us they were expecting frost in the next two days.

First stop was in Beauly which received its name because of a visit from Mary, Queen of Scots who said the town was beautiful.

Stephen explaining history to Al at our second stop -- Urquhart Castle.

Urquhart Castle (pronounced "irk it")

Thistle is a national symbol in Scotland and you find lots of things that include it like jewelry and souvenirs.

Next stop was the Culloden Battlefield where we had a light lunch.  I had tomato basil soup with a cheese scone and Al had a cheese/apple sandwich and some fruit bread -- very good.  Stephen, our tour guide took us out on the battlefield and explained some of the history of the battle between the Hanoverians (Protestants) and the Jacobites (Catholics) that took place there.  While only a few of the English lost their lives, the Jacobite clan members suffered very heavy losses.  Thousands are burried there in a large grave (below).  Clan names are listed on the stones and people bring flowers to leave there in memory of relatives.

Culloden Battlefield

I was excited about visiting Clava Cairns because the stones above are supposed to be the ones Claire slipped through to arrive in Scotland in the 1700's and meet up with Jamie Fraser in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  I think I will have to go back and read that book again since I saw so many of the places she talks about. 

The cairns were piles of rocks that have been there for a couple thousand years and no one knows what their purpose was or who put them there. 

Last stop before returning to the ship was Cawdor Castle.  Angelica, Dowager Duchess of Cawdor lives there and opens the castle to the public who pay to tour it.  The funds help pay for the very expensive upkeep.  Angelica was the 2nd wife of Hugh Cawdor who led a rather wild lifestyle.  He had 3 children by hus first wife before divorcing her and marrying Angelica.  He died fairly young and though the title of Duke of Cawdor passed to his oldest son by his first marriage, he left the house and much land to Angelica.  The courts have ruled that she may pass it to anyone she chooses upon her death so the people of Scotland are curious about who will inherit the castle and lands.

There were beautiful gardens in back of the castle and lots of plants that butterflies love.  This peacock butterfly landed very close to me and just sat there on the wall posing for the picture!

"Clansmen" were demonstrating fighting techniques in historic costumes.

And....of course Al found the plants!

A little more Scotish trivia we learned from Stephen....dignitaries have different titles in England than they do in Scotland.  For example:  Prince Andrew is Duke of York in England and is the Earl of Inverness in Scotland.

There are 2 flags in Scotland.  The official one is blue with a white "X" from corner to corner and it is flown unless the Queen is in residence.  If the Queen is in town, they fly a flag with a gold background and double red border with a red lion rampart in the center-- the royal standard of Scotland.

It was a wonderful day!  Tonight we relaxed in the room and ordered room service which was nice.  Tomorrow we are in port in South Queensferry (Edinburgh) and we have a tour to Stirling Castle, Culross, Callander and Loch Lommond among other sites.

Diamond Jubilee Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

We got off the ship today (Saturday) in Greenock and boarded a 33 passenger mini-bus to Edinburgh for the 60th Military Tattoo held each summer at Edinburgh Castle.  This was a long awaited for event!  Charlie with Great Scot Tours was our driver for the day.

First view of Edinburgh Castle as we drove into the city.

Edinburgh is a huge city and while we were there, not only was the Tattoo taking place but there was also a Literary Festival and a Fringe Festival which made for huge crowds!  Lots of street performers and strange looking people in face paint and weird costumes.

The bus dropped us off near the Castle and we spent most of our day walking a very small part of the "Royal Mile" and looking in shops. I found the one thing I could not go home without....a size 5 red plaid kilt for a special little boy:-)

 

We had a really good lunch at Vittoria's, an Italian Restaurant Joy recommended.  Her family had been to Edinburgh before the cruise and scoped everything out for us!   Tom, Virginia and Holly joined us.  We all tried Irn Bru, recommeded by Shogun from our Cruise Critic board.  I had a salad with grilled goat cheese and balsamic vinegar reduction and Al had a sundried tomato and arugula pizza  -- they were both wonderful! 

Loved the bagpipes!

Inside Edinburgh Castle

View of Edinburgh from the castle

Edinburgh Castle

View of the stands where we would see the Military Tattoo (from the castle).  Our seats were right in the center section 5 rows up.  We had a bird's eye view of everything!

View of castle walking to meet our bus

Inside the "Royal Apartments" in the castle

We donned our rainsuits and joined the queue to get into the Tattoo.  We had fantastic seats in the East section and such a wonderful of all the performances thanks to Don and Sandy Craig who managed to secure the tickets online months ago -- quite a feat!  The Citidel was there and of course all the Americans cheered them on.   I took mostly video of the performances so that will be a nice reminder of this very special evening. 

I am updating this blog around middle of the day on Sunday, a sea day.  The ship is rocking and rolling through the whitecaps so it is an interesting ride.  Would be nice to be in bed and get rocked to sleep.  Tonight is our second formal night and we have dinner reservations with some CC friends for 5:30 pm.  We got back late from Edinburgh last night and slept in this morning.  Skipping lunch so I can squeeze into my dress for tonight :-)

Tomorrow...Invergordon and another fun tour ouf the beautiful Scotish countryside, including Culloden Battlefield and Cawdor Castle.  Wilmington, NC seems very far away right now....

Long day Northern Ireland

We docked in Belfast and left the ship at 11 am.  Our bus/tour company was waiting outside "Belfast City Tours". A lively band was playing as we stepped off the ship.  I guess the people of Belfast were happy to see us!

Robin and Alan of our Cruise Critic roll call arranged this tour for 50 people and it was highly recommended on travel sites.  Nigel was our tour guide and kept us entertained with his knowledge and humor.  The bus driver was amazing -- got us into some tight places I thought we would never get out of but he handled it like a pro! 

Nigel talking to our group in front of Dunluce Castle

The shore next to Dunluce Castle.

The drive to the North Antrium coast took about an hour and we drove through beautiful agricultural countryside.  Never seen so many sheep and cows grazing along the way!  Agriculture is the main industry in Northern Ireland and we lots of evidence of that.  Throughout the day, Nigel continued to give us lessons in history, beginning back in the 1200's.  By the time we were back at the ship, we were up to date on all the issues and events that made the country what it is today.

We went to Giant's Causeway -- amazing!  There is folklore associated with the Causeway (involving giants) which makes it all the more interesting! We walked all the way to the end and back--the walk down was not too bad but the walk back was killer!  Of course Al had to walk all over the rocks and take pictures.  I found some beautiful woven Irish scarves for some special people back home in the National Trust gift shop :-)

We had a late lunch at the Smuggler's Inn.   I had a beef Guinness pie and Al had a burger.  Of course, "chips" were served with everything.  We saw quite a few Irish potato fields during our visit to the North Antrium Coast.  Nice relaxing place to eat before heading out for the rest of our tour.

We did a quick stop at the Bushmill Distillery and a little sampling.  The difference in Irish Whiskey (according to Nigel) is that it is distilled 3 times.  Scotch whisky is distilled 2 times and in the US only once.  I won't even tell you what he referred to our whiskey as....(something akin to swill) but the Bushmills was really smooth.  Mama, don't worry -- I only drank a thimble full :-)

We stopped at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.  If you look closely in the center of the picture between thetwo clifts, you will see a rope bridge.  Al and a few other brave members of our group walked ar=cross it.  Al said the bridge was not so bad but you had to walk almost straight down the side of the clift on steps to get to the bridge.  It was quite cold and windy too!

This picture in for Brant.  It is the home course of the guy who won the US Open fromNorthern Ireland.  You know me....can't remember his name.  Not a very good picture because I had to take it from the bus but wanted you to see it.

 

Nigle continued with the History of the Northern Irish people -- the good, the not so good and the ugly -- as we rode back along the North Antrium Coast to Belfast.  Before boarding the ship we took a quick drive around Belfast city.  Bill Clinton is loved in Ireland because the people feel he really cared about Ireland and he was instrumental in getting the IRA to put down their weapons after the treaty was signed. .  George Bush -- not so much.  We saw the Peace Wall between the Catholic side and the Protestant side. There are still gates that are closed at night between the two areas.  As Nigel said, the people are living in peace but they will never forget the terrible things that happened -- and remembering will help ensure that history is not repeated.

We saw lots of graffitti along the walls in parts of the city.  This is a memorial to Bobby Sands (the IRA's former Officer Commanding) who died on May 5th in the prison hospital on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike, prompting rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland.

Tomorrow...Edinburgh and the Diamond Jubilee Royal Military Tattoo!

Our day in Wales

It is getting late and we've had a very long and tiring day -- in a good way.  I wanted to post a few pictures from our Busy Bus Tour advertures arranged by Cruise Critic member, Virginia Wheat.

Chester, a really beautiful town!

We rode a steam train through some beautiful countryside.  I sure thought about Hunter because there was a whole room of Thomas the Train stuff at the station where we left from.

Mike was our Driver/Guide for the day and he did a great job of entertaining us with local lore!

Betws-y-coed for shopping and Welch Cakes which look like little pancakes with dried fruit in them.  Don't ask how to pronounce any of the names of towns we visited when we get back home --- except for Chester.  The Welch have a language of their own whichis quite mesmerizing!

Castle Conwy

View of waterfront town of Conwy from the castle.

People were lined up to see the smallest house in Great Britian (Conwy).  There is also an "ugliest house" in great Britian which has quite a story behind it but unfortunately we did not get to see that.  Seems it was built by 2 brothers (in a contest many yearws ago) and was completed in 1 day -- with a working chimney. 

Stopped at the beautiful seaside resort of Llandudno for photos.

Tomorrow, Belfast, Ireland....