Numerous Ports in the Northern Europe - Time Out #283

Once the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic winds down, again allowing more international travel, please consider a wonderful, 12-day cruise, beginning with a easy hop "across the pond" to London, England. My bride, Lady Deborah, and I, took such a cruise a few years back, traveling, once again, with one of our favorite ocean cruise vendors, Princess Cruises. Princess Cruises is one of several brands owned under the huge Carnival Corporation umbrella. We have traveled with Princess many times during our almost 40 years of ocean cruising.

Our ship adventure started in a familiar port city, Southampton. England. after flying internationally from Our Country to Heathrow Airport. Our first cruise stop was merely across the narrow English Channel to La Havre, France, and our third opportunity to visit the historic World War II beaches of Normandy, France. Every occasion my bride and I have had to tour this iconic place on Planet Earth, we have been mentally moved, thinking about "the greatest generation" of allied troops during that fateful D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944. To walk along the historic beaches, travel the peaceful country roads in the area, and to view the thousands of white tombstones marking the graves of allied soldiers in the various cemeteries, has always been such a totally humbling experience for us. I sincerely hope we are able to experience it once again in the near future?

Next, we cruised north along the English coast, our vessel stopping in magical Edinburgh, Scotland, another location we had previously enjoyed. There is so much history in this beautiful city, and it has such overall charm. Because of past visits, we elected to take a land excursion, traveling west from Edinburgh, to visit the legendary sites of Stirling Castle and Bannockburn. The spectacular royal castle stands high on a volcanic crag, denominating the expansive plains below. It was a favorite home to several Scottish kings and queens, beginning in the 12th century. Two of the most famous battles in Scottish history were fought nearby, Stirling Bridge (1297) and Bannockburn (1314). In the latter battle, Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, destroyed the army of King Edward II of England. There is a great bronze equestrian statue of Robert the Bruce on site at the battlefield.

Continuing cruising north, our next port visit in Scotland was another re-visit for us, Inverness. From this largest city in the northern Scottish highlands, we took a tour bus on a 50-mile narrated excursion to lovely Dunrobin Castle, and its formal gardens. This huge, 189-room, castle was constructed in 1845, and displays many architectural features of a French chateau. We had an informative inside tour, and then walked the vast formal gardens at our own pace, taking time to reflect on the surrounding beauty of its botanical displays!

All aboard our Princess ship and across the water, we arrived at Belfast, Northern Ireland; another member of the United Kingdom. Belfast has frequently been a war-torn city in the not that distant past, and we were shown destructive examples resulting from the various conflicts, during our excellent guided city bus tour. We drove by the local shipyard (Harland & Wolf)

that constructed the famous Titanic ocean liner, then headed to the far northern coast, seeing an absolute marvel of .nature, The Giant's Causeway. This unique feature is a naturally-occurring pavement of huge basalt rocks, formed by a volcanic eruption about 60 million years ago. Folk legend says a giant, Finn MacCool, built it, in order to link Ireland with Scotland. It certainly is a spectacular site we will always remember, as we spent some time walking/climbing around on the large natural structure. Our last port stop in Scotland was the western coastal city of Glasgow. Because of specific calendar performance dates, we were bussed from Glasgow all the way across the country, returning to their capital city, Edinburgh. The reason was we were extremely fortunate to attend the world famous "Military Tattoo", held each August on the parade grounds (esplanade), inside iconic Edinburgh Castle. It was a totally enjoyable, several-hour musical experience, involving military marching bands, and authentic performance teams. It truly is an incredible event to experience! Our next two port stops were in the Republic of Ireland, Dublin and Cobh (for the city of Cork). Dublin is the country's capital city, and has the largest population; the surrounding urban area approaches 2 million people. The highlight of our visit there was the old library in historical Trinity College, where we viewed the Book of Kells, illustrated manuscripts created by monks circa 800 AD. In the Cork area, we chose to travel to Blarney Castle and grounds, so we could kiss the famous Blarney Stone (during a misty afternoon). Hopefully, I have experienced good luck since that meaningful smooch I gave the famous rock, while lying flat on my back with my head tilted downward! Yes, readers in Our Town and far beyond, it was fun to smack the famous stone! Our final two stops before returning to Southampton and flying several big jets back home, were Liverpool, England, and the Channel Island of Guernsey. Well, Liverpool is and always will be associated with the Fab Four, i.e., The Beatles. Since this flop-haired quartet were the rage of the 1960's when my bride and I were in our memorable teenage years, we spent this city visit taking an excellent, narrated tour, of everything Beatles! We saw Strawberry Field (a former Salvation Army children's home), Penny Lane (a location of a main bus terminal), and, of course, The Cavern Club, where the Beatles played 292 times, 1961-63. The Rolling Stones also played in this famous underground venue, along with many other iconic musical groups. Lastly, we visited St. Peter Port, Isle of Guernsey, an UK island in the English Channel, 70 miles from England and only 20 miles from France. This was a leisurely day spent on a relatively quiet island. We walked around on their uncrowded streets, and did some shopping in their quaint island stores. What a volume of sights my bride and I were fortunate to see on this great cruise during our 12-day adventure. We would highly recommend this unique experience, once the pandemic is in our rear view mirror!!