Reykjavik, Iceland

Sunday, September 7 and 8, 2014  Reykjavik, Iceland     Happy  SIX- OH  Birthday Kay!

We arrived at the world’s most northern capital, Reykjavik or “smokey bay”  around noon.  It must have been a stunning sight for the Nordic settlers to see…all that steam rising from the geothermal springs.

 

Rain, rain go away! It didn’t the whole time we were in Iceland. The first day Larry and I decided to lay low, just visiting the shop on the pier.  We thought that it would be not much fun to walk around in the rain so we had a wonderful quiet day on the ship.
        Lindsey and Debi took a bus tour going to the geo thermo plant and some geysers and lava plains. Icelanders take heated  waters from  the thermal hot spots  that are frequently found in Iceland and transport it to all the households.  Can you imagine having all your hot water coming from the thermal areas in the center of the earth? Amazing!  What an eco-friendly country using  hot water power!

Our second day in Reykjavik, we all took a bus trip through volcanic lava fields to the Blue Lagoon for a wonderful soak in the world famous natural warm mineral rich waters. So luxurious!

                                                      On the way to the Blue Lagoon

Yes, it rained the whole time we were there, but every minute was fabulous! The warm waters made this older ‘bod’ of mine feel pretty fabulous! It was an unforgettable experience.

 

We walked down a path through a deep, deep lava  field to the Blue Lagoon.

Quite an extraordinary sight!

 

                                                               Ahhhhhhhhhh!               

Debi, are you trying to start a new fashion trend?

What a unique place!

                                          My man took me to the Blue Lagoon for my birthday!

We had a blast, even though it was drizzling!

 

Afterwards the bus took us through the town of Reykjavik… all very modern looking buildings with very sleek looking architecture.

 

 We passed the impressive Hallgrimskirkja Church which resembled volcanic rock formations. We also enjoyed seeing the statue of Leif Ericson, Viking explorer who is now credited with finding the new world.

We returned to the ship at 4:30, just in time to watch the anchor being pulled out of the sea. We sailed passed Yoko Lennon's home where she had a lighted monument built in honor of her husband, John Lennon, called the Imagine Peace Light. She comes to  her Reykjavik home every year on John’s birthday in October to  light the monument flame in celebration of his life.  

Yoko Lennon's home

                                                                           What a beautiful setting!

During the evening Larry made arrangements for dinner in the Minstrel Dining Room to celebrate my birthday. Lindsey and Debi and another Florida couple, David and Nancy, that we had met on board joined us. I had a fantastic birthday! 

Cobh to Cork, Ireland

Wednesday, September 3, 2014    Cobh to Cork, Ireland

The ship came into port at 10:00am receiving clearance for us to leave at 10:30am. After breakfast we met the Sugg’s and caught the local train to Cork…a half an hour ride.

                                                              Train Station in Cobh

The train was a quick ride because we were busy using the free internet to call home and catch up on emails.

                                                                
Train Terminal in Cork


Our intention was to take the Hop On Hop Off Bus around Ireland’s second largest city, Cork. We waited at the bus stop and unfortunately…the bus had only five empty seats which we did not get. So we walked 15 minutes deeper into the town and waited for the next bus to come around. The wait gave us an opportunity to talk with other cruisers who were waiting along with us. Unfortunately that Hop On Hop Off Bus was completely full… so we crossed over the bridge and walked down to the water and went into an Irish Pub.
                                                                                                     Cork was kind of a blue collar town.

 This restaurant had the most relaxing little waterfall right in the middle of all the city traffic.

                                                           Outside the pub   
 We enjoyed some ice tea and conversations with the locals and the waitress…and honorable Irish tradition. Never met a Irish stranger! We took a hike up a huge hill to the church that sat looking over the town and caught the last train back to the ship just in time to beat the 4:00pm boarding time. Did this day go by fast? WAY TOO FAST!

Cobh, Ireland

All of us went on the top deck to watch the sail away getting a gorgeous view of Cohb. It was a lovely little village. The Titantic picked up its last passengers here in Cobh in 1912. In honor of the Titantic the dock had dozens of beautiful Victorian ladies dressed in pink waving to the ship to send us off!
                                                                        

Before dinner,  we all met in the Centrum to listen to the classical guitar sounds of Pedro Espedido….OH MY!!! He could make that guitar talk! What a talent! Larry and I took  an early evening retreat while Debi and Lindsey went to the Irish joke teller show!  I fell asleep before it was even 9:00pm…all that fresh air, walking and talking just knocked me out early!

Portland, England, United Kingdom

Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Portland and Weymouth, England, UK Happy Anniversary Brian & Kristy!

The ship docked at Portland at 7:00am.The remains of an old British Navy Station from WWII had been renovated into  housing for the 2012 Summer Olympics Sailing Events.

 

 Larry and I boarded a bus right off the ship to journey off the island to Weymouth, a 17^th century harbor, vacation resort town.  Weymouth is also linked to the America’s Cup since 1903. We enjoyed the 15 minute ride over a manmade causeway passing the beautiful harbor of sailboats to the right and a stone beach to the left. The town was built of the typical Brit stone and red brick structures. At 11:00 we walked into Hope Square, home of the Brewer Quay, a former brewery. 

 

 

We continued on passing all kinds of shops, pubs, restaurants, and B&B’s as well as yachts, fishing boats, chartered vessels parked along the Marina Harbor. Oh it was so scenic!

 

                                   This restaurant reminded us of a favorite one in Williamsburg!

 

We passed over the town bridge going down a series of small side pedestrian alleyways.   What fabulous shopping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We came to King George III’s statue. The jolly king popularized the seaside with his bathing machine.

                                                              The King's bathing machine

Beginning in 1778 he used it to get into the water privately to help heal a  medical condition.

 

 

 We walked to St. John’s Church coming to Queen Victoria’s statue.  

Here we crossed the street to walk by the Pier Band Stand, an Amusement Center.  On we continued down the beach front passing numerous hotels with paddle boats and chalet rentals.  We passed WWII War Memorials.

                                         We met the nicest WWII Vet, "Child" . What a wonderful gentleman!

 

                                       We enjoyed Queen Victoria’s Jubilee’s Clock dating 1887.

 

 

Paddle boat rentals...looks like fun!

Hotels lined the beach avenue.

 

 

An amusement park with lots of rides was insight on the northern part of the beach.

 From the beach we also spotted the Nothe Fort, built between 1860 and 1872 as a part of a series of south coast fortifications against perceived French aggression. It was used in both World Wars.  The area has also become well known for England’s only natural World Heritage site, Jurassic Coast. We left Weymouth with big smiles on our faces…it was a charming little town, well worth a visit!

 

Lindsey and Debi enjoyed their excursion to Stonehenge for the day.

We enjoyed watching the ship pull anchor. A nice band played some fine music and four British soldiers fired a canon, a Portland shipyard tradition.  That evening after another fantastic dinner in the Windjammer, we enjoyed seeing the Brilliance of the Sea Singers and Dancers perform a tribute to many broadways shows. We especially enjoyed the music from Mama Mia that ABBA had written.  WOW! What a fabulous day of sightseeing and cruising!

LeHarve to HonFleur, France

Monday, September 1, 2014 Le Harve, France     HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBI!!!

We pulled into Le Harve, France at 7:00am. The city appeared to be a very industrial port.

We had decided  after talking with Dick and Anne to visit HonFleur, a quaint seaside village about 14 miles outside of Le Harve.  Up at 6:30, we had a quick breakfast in our room and met Debi and Lindsey for a taxi ride to the local bus terminal. From there we were able to manage to purchase tickets to catch a bus to HonFleur.
          It was interesting to see several other ship passengers going the same way we were going. Debi having five years of French, helped us to get on the right bus. A 25 minute ride got us to the city center, finding Seine River Boats lining the docks beside the bus terminal.

 

What a big anchor!

                                                              WWII Memorial...with fresh flowers!

 

 

We walked on to the remains of an old fortress.  Ferris wheel and an old Merry-Go-Round greeted us!

 

           The scenery of restaurants and old French buildings lining the dock was awesome. 

 

 

We went to the only wooden church in France, enjoying the separate steeple and the stained glass windows.  We walked up several streets enjoying the old stone roads and the fabulous architecture.

Old Fortress

 

 

Only wooden church  in France.





It was  awesome.  Many shops were closed on Mondays but it was fun to window shop. On we walked to the beautiful city park that actually had a walkway around the edge of the inlet.

Debi and Lindsey remembered their little MG...Sunshine!

 

Relaxing in the local park!

The flowers inside the park were at their peak!

 

 

Final pose before finding the bus back.

We had a wonderful lunch toasting Debi on her special birthday. We wandered back to the bus depot and caught #38 back to Le Harve enjoying the warmth of the sunny back seats. We  were able to find a cab right away at the bus station that wisked us back to the ship at the tune of 8 Euro. Today we spent a total of 24 Euro for a very memorable day. The ship took a tour to Hon Fleur for $69.00 each….What a great savings for us conducting our own tour!

Larry made a 6:00 reservation in the Minstrel Dining Room for a Birthday Celebration Dinner for Debi. We had a wonderful salmon dinner with escargot, shrimp salad, fresh homemade rolls, and a fabulous pecan-butterscotch pie….with Birthday chocolate mousse pie …candles and all for Debi. It turned out to be a two dessert night for her.

We watched the ship pull out of LeHavre at 8:30 and went to a wonderful show, two brothers, Andy and Carl Pemberton formed the group called Journey South after winning third place in the 2005 X Factor in the UK.  With all the walking and fresh air today, our final spin on the deck helped us enjoy fabulous night of sleep!

Somerset to Harwich, England

Sunday, August 31, 2014 Somerset to Harwich, England

At 7:00am Mike and Heather picked us up at the lodge to take us to Harwich Port, a five hour drive. We had a speedy trip stopping one time for coffee.  Mike pointed out the grand Windsor Castle as we passed by. It was tremendous…the largest castle I have ever seen…and of course the Queen Betty summers here. We were so lucky to be traveling on Sunday…the traffic was minimal. Heather said that it would be a gridlock the following day, Monday, due to commuters returning to work from the weekend and school starting as well.

Arriving at noon, we gave bear hugs to Mike and Heather promising to see them in September, 2015.

 

 

                                                                      Heather and Mike

We gathered our bags and went right to the check in with no wait…the Royal Carribbean stewart took our luggage from the car and a RC greeter gave us a priority boarding pass so that we were able to go right up to the Windjammer Dining Room for lunch.  We have a delightful time while eating and talking with new friends, Dick and Anne, who had just finished a four month tour of Europe. It is always fun to talk with others who have the same travel interest as we do. 

We went to our room about 1:30, unpacked, and then headed for Lifeboat 9 to the 4:00 ship drill. Here we met Debi and Lindsey and enjoyed the next couple of hours watching the ship pull out of the Harwich harbor.

                                                        So long to Harwich, England!

 At 6:00pm we all went to the Windjammer for a fine meal of prime rib, salmon, potatoes, broccoli, and an unbelievable arrangement of desserts. We had to remind ourselves that we needed to  pace ourselves for the next 14 days of wonderful menus.

 

                                                    Enjoying the ship pull out of the harbor!           

 

 

We went to the 7:00 show called Johnny Balance who did a combination of magic, juggling, and balancing acts. He was very entertaining. After checking out the ships sports bar and jabbering away for another hour , we all headed for bed. What a day of excitement…and who knows what lies  ahead!