September 9th

September 9^th

Right now the sea is rough and the ship is bouncing us  around pretty good. But it is not the kind of roughness that you feel in your stomach. It is a noisy roughness. It is as if the bow of the ship lifts out of the water and then drops down with a bang. I don’t think that is what is happening but after the bang sound sea spray rushes past our window, But we are in the North Sea l so I gather this is to be expected.

We are making our way around platforms of all kinds. Some for crude oil , and some for natural gas.

I am glad the Commodore is driving in this wind and not me.:-)

Tonight is the Commodore’s welcome aboard party and the champagne waterfall. It will be interesting to see just how much champagne they pour.

Anyway this is a sea day and we have been relaxing. I went up to the Lotus Spa and had my hair washed and set this morning. It needed doing and formal night is as good an excuse as you get. Ken’s ankles are swollen up quite badly and he had a rash on that part of his legs. It almost looks as if they washed his socks in a harsh detergent that his skin was sensitive to. Anyway I put some anti biotic ointment on them and insisted that he lie down with his feet up and that he drink a lot. Dr. Reid was correct in her diagnosis and the swelling has gone down. The skin is not as red but he was never sore, the tissue was just red and smooth.

So we basically took it easy both yesterday and today. But it is no wonder that we needed to rest. This has been such an unbelievably busy 12 days.

The move from P217 to P206 went smoothly without a hitch. This room is further forward and as a result it is narrower. The bow of the ship tapers in and as a result so does the room. It is not bad but if we had had a choice we would not have picked this one. The staff arrived, they put all of our clothes hangers on a rack and put our packed bags on a trolley and across the hall we went. Of course I went along carrying my carnations. The night table is on Ken’s side of the bed this time so he is happy.

Because this is a different cruise we got all of our gifts again. We have another enlargement, 2 more bottles of wine and another coffee card. Between Kim and the travel agency and Princess we have done very well. We received our new fruit bowl and our bar set up also. We changed it out for what we prefer. I also sent out laundry. I have even been too busy to do much of that and we were getting low on tee shirts.

I put the decorations on the door, I created a new bulletin board and I posted our new picture. So it feels like home to be sure. Strangely enough the art work in this stateroom is the same as was in the previous room.

This was a wonderful  day weather wise. The sun was shining and it was quite warm. Several people were in the pools and hot tubs and some were even in deck chairs getting some sun. We walked around the deck and we saw a beautiful sail away. There were three other cruise ships in port today and this harbour is not particularly large so the commodore had to do some fancy maneuvering.

Last night we met the new people who will share our table at dinner for the rest of this cruise. They are from Switzerland, English is not their first language and this is their very first cruise. That was a long slow dinner. In fact we were the last ones to leave the dining room. I could not believe the line up as we left.  These will be interesting meal times to say the least. Perhaps we should have stayed with a table for 4.

After dinner we were treated to a beautiful sunset, the first of this holiday. We didn’t go to the show , we just called it a night.

Today was the Meet and Greet for cruise critic but I guess we got the times mixed up because we were not there when we should have been. We did meet Doug and Nickie and Wayne and Linda and Barb and Roy for lunch. It is always fun but I am certain the wait staff hate to see us come because we visit so much that it takes us forever to complete our meal.

Ken bumped into Michael and Jan from Seattle this morning so we will have to arrange to get together with them for breakfast or lunch or at least for coffee. I think they are going on the Quebec so we should get to see them several times.

The movie Philomena is showing in the Princess Theatre right now but even though I want to see that one I didn’t feel like going today. I hope they show it on our stateroom T.V. before the voyage is finished. I guess they are going to do a flash mob and the rehearsal for the dance part is happening right now also. There are just so many things to do but we just need to catch up on our rest. I guess we are not as young as we used to be.



We did connect with the COOKIE lady and we got a warm chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk 

mid afternoon. 

Tomorrow we will be in Bergen Norway but we do not dock until eleven so we don’t have to set the alarm. 

Paris

Visit to Paris!!

Our bus was a 22 seater and there were only 16 of us so it was not crowded and people could move around to take lots of pictures. I took 183, but the young lady across from me passed 500 photos. The driver was named Jean Phillip and the guide was named Justin. Both were French speakers but the guide had a fairly good command of the English language and he was very helpful.

We began the day in a deep fog. The fog was like pea soup and so we did not get to view the Normandy countryside.

Fortunately it was sunny and very nice out by the time we arrived in the city. Our first stop was at a view point where we could see a lot of the city including the Eiffel tower. The marble base and the amazing view was a perfect way to begin this grand day. This was a 15 minute photo op.

Next stop was the actual Eiffel tower. I had never imagined that I would stand at the base . It is so much taller than I imagined it to be. We took photos from every angle. I even bought myself a red and black scarf to mark the visit. We spent a half hour  here and then we piled back on the bus.

We were given a jaw dropping drive around this most beautiful  city. Our heads needed to be on a swivel because everywhere you looked there was another famous building or street. We saw the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Champ de Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, the petit Palais, the Grand Palais, the presidential palace, the Obelisque, the hotel de ville, the Place de la Concorde, the opera house and the list goes on and on. We even saw the bridge with all of the locks. All during this time our guide was telling us about the history of the buildings we were passing.

The driver did a wonderful job of travelling the city to allow all of us to take many pictures.

The architecture was truly amazing and so grand. For some reason I was surprised at how clean the city was. We did see some litter but I was expecting it to be much worse.

I think every store that ever there was has a branch on this boulevard, even McDonalds and Starbucks. There were sidewalk cafes and souvenir kiosks on every block as well

Then we were stopped at the Place de la Concorde and allowed to have 3 hours to do our own  thing. I had always wanted to stroll the Champs Elysees on a sunny afternoon and so that is what we did. We bought ice cream and sat on a park bench and watched the people go by. We strolled from the Obelisque almost all of the way to the Arc de Triomphe, taking in all of the sights and taking photos as we went.

Soon it was time to return to the bus. Our dream day was almost over.

On the return trip the driver continued to point out sites we had missed because of the fog in the morning. The country side was beautiful with many small farms and some large grain and hay fields as well. Cattle and sheep grazing made it hard to believe that just 2 short hours ago we were in the middle of a metropolis .

To illustrate the day I am going to insert a variety of photos but not all of the 183 that I took or the over 100 that Ken took.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Today was the day to head into Edinburgh. We planned to go with Barb and Roy and not on a professional tour.

We began the day by meeting Barb and Roy in the Piazza after breakfast. This was a tender port and so we proceeded to the Michaelangelo  dining room to await our turn to head for shore.

The ride was short and very smooth unlike the last time. There was no chance of getting motion sick this time. When we arrived we were greeting by a Scot in native dress.

 At the end of the dock we met our transportation into the city of Edinburgh. The ride from Queensferry to Edinburgh was about 20 minutes long and cost 10 pounds return. We bought  return tickets and we shared the cost of the taxi ride to the Castle. Because we were quite early and ahead of the Princess buses we avoided the worst crowds. The taxi ride was short but we were driven right to the castle drawbridge.

Because we had bought the Explorer pass on line we did not have to get into line to buy a ticket and we could go directly into the castle.

The castle is built on top of an extinct volcano and man has lived in this location since 800 BC. This castle has been built and rebuilt and renovated and repurposed over the centuries. We loved it all.

At one point in our tour we took in a presentation by an actor taking the role of Queen Margaret.

 She was a lot of fun and she taught us all how to bow and curtsy as well as how to do a special dance.

After too short a visit to the castle we met at noon to leave. We were just amazed at how many people were not on the castle grounds. There were thousands there and the line up to get tickets was unbelievable.

We walked down the hill and headed along the Royal Mile. Holyrood castle is on the other end but we did not get that far. We did get to pay a visit to St.Giles Cathedra. This is where the Presbyterian Church was born. John Know preached here. It is beautiful and so ornate and so grand. It is very unlike the current Presbyterian Church.

We had lunch at Garfunkel’s which is on the Royal Mile. It was not very tasty but it filled the spot.

After a bit more walking and gawking we headed back to the spot where the shuttle bus left us.

 Along the way I came across a wonderful little flower stand and Ken got me 18 rful red carnations.

Our visit to Edinburgh had come to an end.

Invergordon

Invergordon

Well  I know I am beginning to sound or I should say read like a broken record but this was an amazing day and we could have spent 3 days taking in these sights and not the few hours that we had.

We were book with WOW Scotland tours. There were 16 of us and we were expecting the usual sardine scenario where they put 16 people in a 15 passenger van. Much to our surprise and pleasure we were given a 25 seater,  small bus. There was plenty of room for everyone. Ken and I sat on opposite sides of the bus so we could get lots of pictures.

Zane was our guide and she was very good. She knew her history and she could tell us the significance of all of the places we visited.

Our first stop was the battle field of Culloden. Here she told us of the numbers and the strategies and the failures of the army of Bonnie Prince Charlie. It was so strange to be here when I had heard so much about this battle and about the prince. The site was very well restored and honored the men who died here.

One interesting fact that she mentioned was that in the days long ago when men went into a battle they picked up a stone and put it into a pile. When the battle was over, those who were able removed a stone from the pile. That was their way of counting the lost. This is not the case here all of these centuries later but it was an interesting fact.

Next we went to the Clava Cairns. Zane referred to Stone Henge as the new kid on the block. Apparently these cairns are much older but had basically the same purpose. There was the main cairn and the 16 stones that marked the phases of the moon. These stone structures are not as famous but they are very interesting to say the least.

Inverness area has an amazing viaduct system. It is hundreds of years old and still as good as new. It is hard to believe it was build so long ago with the tools they had back then.

Our main stop was at Cawdor Castle. This castle is a private home during the winter so it has a very different feel to it. Among the wonderful tapestries and art work are family portraits and homey touches. All of this makes it loose its museum feeling. Zane split us into 2 groups. Half of us had lunch while the other half received a guided tour of the castle. Ken and I had lunch first and then we toured. The gardens were beautiful but there again there was not enough time to do this wonderful place justice.

The next stop was Loch Ness. Basically it was a photo stop but we did get to hunt for sea glass and we found quite a bit. In fact I found enough that I was able to offer a piece to all of the bus passengers who wanted one. We also had ice cream here. There was no sign of Nessie.

Our final stop of the day was at the city of Inverness. This is very different from the Inverness in Cape Breton. Again we could tour with Zane or go off on our own. We had an hour and a half so we began with Zane. She did a walking tour when she highlighted many of the historical sights in the area, many of which were connected with Culloden. The Victorian architecture was wonderful.

We passed a thrift shop, here they are called charity shops and we decided to go in after we left Zane. Jim and his wife went with us. We told them we wanted to find a toast rack and  she was the first to spot one. It was wonderful and cost only 5.5 pounds so we were thrilled by our purchase.

We have been very good about buying and about the only things we have bought are gifts for the three grandchildren.

We made certain to leave time to tour the Cathedral here. Again it is beautiful, hundreds of years old and steeped in so much history.

Zane has Daniel drive us past the gable end murals in town

 and as usual we could have spent much more time viewing these. There are many around the city but our day has been spent and we have to get back to the ship.


We had a wonderful pipe band welcome us back to the ship. What a grand send off.

Inverness bid us a wonderful good bye with a performance by their pipe band.