May 20 & 21, 2015

May 21, 2015

We were up at 5:30 a.m. The temperature was 5 C, with little wind and a partly sunny sky. We had a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court buffet and met the group at 6:30 in the Wheelhouse Bar. By 7, we were off the ship, had collected our luggage in the warehouse and were on the bus en route to Heathrow Airport.  A patchy fog was visible as we left Southampton on the motorway. We were dropped off at Terminal 2 and had our luggage weighed and boarding passes in hand before 9 a.m.  This was the best group disembarkation of the past three group voyages. By 9:30 we were through security and browsing the stores in building A.  At the Duty Free store an employee had samples of Pimm’s No.1 liqueur, which was nice just by itself.   We relaxed with coffees before walking over to building B through the tunnel under the tarmac. Steps 3,461.  While walking around we spotted Ed and Linda and told them which gate to go to for boarding the plane in 70 minutes. When had logged 5,801 steps by 11:35 (6:35 a.m. in Toronto) when we boarded the plane. The Boeing 777-300ER holds 458 passengers.  The temperature was only 9 C and the sky was cloudy.  As we taxied for takeoff the captain announced that out of the left side windows we could see a retired British Airways Concorde airplane.  About 90 minutes in the air, a hot meal was served, either salmon or pasta with couscous salad, a bun, and a cookie accompanied with juice, wine or a soft drink.  It was about eight hours since we had eaten breakfast on the ship. About 30 minutes before landing in Toronto, Canada Border Services forms were distributed to passengers. It took about an hour to pass through customs and security.  We celebrated with Tim Hortons iced cappuccinos joining Ed, Linda, Karen and Peter.  We had over two hours to wait for the next flight, but logged over 11,000 steps for the day before boarding the plane.  Among the passengers were members of the Brandon Vincent Massey school band returning from Newfoundland. We arrived at home 22 hours after getting up and had a total of 12,327 steps for the day.

May 20, 2015

We awakened at 6:30 to a temperature of 9 C, a little wind and partly cloudy. We are docked in Le Havre, France today. It is the largest container ship port in France and received a World Heritage Site designation in 2005. Le Havre is located at the mouth of the Seine River in the French region of Lower Normandy and became the port city for Rouen in the 16^th century. There is an eight meter difference between low and high tides. After being occupied by the German army in 1940, the port was bombed regularly by the Allied air force during the next four years to prevent an invasion of England being launched from the area.  The city was rebuilt under the supervision of architect Auguste Perret until his death in 1954.

Some of the tours offered from the ship were trips leaving very early in the morning, to Paris or Versailles or the Normandy landing beaches of June 1944, all these trips take more than 3.5 hours of driving to get to their destinations. There was also a tour to Rouen only a 70 minute drive away. We are taking a morning excursion to Honfleur, France, less than a 30 minute drive away.

Our drive took us toward Rouen, but we turned at the town of Harfleur then proceeded over the Seine River on the Tancarville Suspension Bridge completed in 1959. The word fleur is a Viking worf word meaning “creek”. We drove through agricultural countryside and saw Normade cattle in the pastures.  They are reddish brown and white spotted and originate from cattle brought by Viking invaders in the 9^th and 10^th century.  They are both dairy and meat cattle. In the villages some houses were timbered or half-timbered, some had thatched roofs with the peaks growing flowers, other roofs were red tiled or slate covered. There are many apple orchards.  The apples are used for apple cider or for the production of Calvados, an apple brandy which 40% alcohol.

Some of the roads were narrow in the villages.  We arrived in Honfleur for a walking tour. The bus was parked near a canal where several river cruise ships were berthed. We took pictures of the MS River Venture of Hamburg.  Honfleur was a fishing village when in 1608 Samuel de Champlain sailed from Honfleur with settlers for New France and established a settlement at present day Quebec City. The walking tour took us to the old town which was once walled. Place Arthur Boudin is an open space bordered by building from the 17^th and 18^th centuries that surrounded a church that no longer exists. Next we ventured along cobble stone lanes and came to a lane where cattle were slaughtered in the street and the butcher shops were located 200 years ago.  Next stop on the way to the old harbour was another narrow street where the old prison is located, now a museum. Across the street is an ancient church which faces the old harbour. The old harbour today holds a variety of yachts. The buildings, surrounding the old harbour, were built in the 16^th and 17^th centuries.  They are still occupied as residences with restaurants and shops on the lower floor. The Vieux Bassin, old dock, dates to the late 17^th century and the King's Lieutenant’s house, or Lieutenance, stands at the entrance.  On a street on the other side of the old harbour in the wooden St. Catherine’s Church built in the 15^th century after the end of the 100 Years War between France and England.  Ships carpenters built the church from wood, after the stone foundation was laid, since there was not much money.  The floor is stone and the ceiling looks like an overturned wooden boat.  The church has two altars, from building an addition in a later century, but only one is regularly used. The church’s bell tower is located across the small square. Today there is a farmers market in the square. Peter bought a 50 ml bottle of Calvados in the market and we each sampled it. We decided that Calvados is an acquired taste.  On Saturdays, the market has more vendors.  We were able to explore the area for about an hour before meeting at the bus. There are many art shops in the old town area due to the influence of the past movements of Impressionist Artists, such as Claude Monet, and Romantic Art. The route back to the ship included crossing the Normandy Bridge, completed in 1994.  It is a 856 meters long cable-stayed bridge over the Seine River estuary. There is a shorter 1959 constructed cable-stayed Severins Bridge in Cologne, Germany, crossing the Rhine River, which we should see in the fall.  We also took pictures of the chalk cliffs. When we returned to the ship, we had lunch with Karen and Peter in the Horizon Bistro buffet.  After lunch we walked over to the Le Havre cruise terminal to use the free Wi-Fi to catch up on any emails and browse the little gift shop.  Later in the afternoon we used the last two coffee entries on our coffee card for a fancy coffee and fancy iced coffee before going back to the stateroom to check our stateroom account and to pack for the 6 p.m. luggage pickup.  We ventured back to deck 17 to take some photos of Le Havre before going to dinner on deck 5.  We are used to climbing many flights of stairs daily, making a point of not using the ship’s elevators.  We joined Trudy & Eisa and Ed & Linda for dinner, since the others were on the day long tours. Appetizers were lobster, shrimp, squid & avocado salad or a small portion of Fettuccini Alfredo, then Philadelphia pepper pot soup or zucchini, eggplant & sun dried tomatoes on Romaine lettuce. Entrées were New York Strip Steak with roasted potatoes or Turkey with cranberry sauce, dressing and sweet potato. For dessert there was French Vanilla Bean Creme Brulé or Baked Alaska with coffee or tea.  Ken and Evangeline came by to say farewell since there would not be flying back to Canada with the group.

We wandered around decks 5, 6 and 7 and watched some dancing in the Piazza and took a final look at the photo gallery to see if we wanted to buy any of the photos taken of us during the cruise.  There was an announcement to turn our clocks back to British time.  Our ship was scheduled to leave Le Havre port at 8, so we got our coats and went up to deck 17 for the sail away.  It was sunny with a 14 mph wind and 10 C.  Most sail always were around 6 when we were already in the dining room.  It was quite windy and cool, but the ship finally cast off about 8:25 p.m. As we approached the harbour breakwater the ship’s horn played a few bars of the theme song of the TV show, Loveboat, at three different times.  A crew member said that the theme playing occurred at all of the sail-aways. The captain announced that he was expecting Force 4 winds for the English Channel crossing to Southampton, England, during the night. According to Sir Francis Beaufort’s Wind Scale developed in 1805, force 4 winds are a moderate 11 to 16 knots causing meter high waves with white caps. After the 40 minutes on the open deck we went inside to enjoy a hot chocolate.  Then returned to the stateroom to journal the day’s activities, Larry went to the casino, which was open until we reached English waters. Total steps for today 14,724.

May 18 & 19, 2015

May 19, 2015

Today is the second and last day at sea.  We didn’t go to breakfast until almost 9 (but it was really just before 8 with a time zone change done a day early). 

The CCTV channel revealed that the ship was on a course of 131.1, east of Bridlington, England, travelling at 18 knots.  Knot is a 17^th century way of measuring sea distances and is equivalent to 1.852 km per hour.

The outside temperature was 8 C with a North 15 km/hr wind, cloudy with a 30% chance of rain. The North Sea has white caps and 1 .5 meter swells. We had breakfast with Ann and Gail from Florida.  Next we got our coats and walked on decks 17 and 18 in the wind with some periods of sunshine. For most of today we will be seeing different sizes of oil rigs since we are travelling through the North Sea oil fields.  By 11 am, the temperature was 10 C with a 24 mph wind. We took a break to get a copy of the purchases charged to our ship account.  From our Deck 10 to Deck 5 it is 94 stairs. We had accumulated 8,089 steps. When we returned to the stateroom we found our disembarkation forms and baggage tags. After a snack at the Horizon Court buffet we went to a lecture on ship navigation and then to an hour of dancing in the Piazza to Eric and the Royal Princess show band.  We stopped at the International Café for frappés.  At 3 p.m. the ship was in the North Sea west of Amsterdam, going 15 knots on course 192.5. The temperature was only 2 degrees higher at 10 C and the wind was blowing at 35 mph.  There were very dark clouds in the west. We met Karen and Peter for afternoon tea at 3:30.  After tea, we went to the Piazza to watch Brendene in a choir of over 50 passengers singing songs from the Sound of Music movie also celebrating a 50^th anniversary this year.  The group cocktail party was held in the Wheelhouse Pub at 5 pm.  We ordered a Pimm’s Cup cocktail, using Pimm’s Liqueur and gin, which our son had recommended that we try.  At dinner, Brendene and Brian received congratulations on their 42^nd wedding anniversary from the tour company, Carlson Wagonlit.   

The tonight’s dinner started with a tian of crab, scallops, shrimp with caviar (paté) appetizer. The soups were by goat cheese & apple cold soup or hot roasted tomato cream soup.  The entrées we chose were Filet of Beef Wellington with mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and spinach mousse or Lobster Tail & King Prawn with rice and asparagus. Dessert was Chocolate Pistachio Mousse with Almond sauce and coffee or tea.  There was no dancing until 9 in the Vista Lounge with Rick Kilburn Quartet which only drew about 30 people, with 6 or 7 getting up to dance.  Peter and Karen were there and we arranged to meet in the morning since we are taking the same tour to Honfleur, France in the morning.  Total steps 16,839.

May 18, 2015

We are anchored in the Firth (fjord) of Forth at South Queensferry, Scotland (west of Edinburgh) and will be tendered to the pier.  The morning temperature is 8 C, the sky was cloudy with a gentle breeze and there a 100% chance of rain today. After breakfast, we got our tour stickers in the Princess Theatre, then boarded the lifeboat to tender to the South Queensferry’s pier. We passed under the 8,296 feet long steel Forth Railway Bridge. Completed in 1890, the Forth Railway Bridge replaced a specially designed ferry boat used for transporting railway coaches across the Firth. One of the admiralty stipulations for the bridge was that it needed to be high enough that the Firth was still navigable for large ships. It was the first all steel railway bridge in the world. The tide was low as we stepped on to Hawes Pier and walked about 300 meters to get to street. There was pipe and drum quartet, in kilts, playing as the passengers walked up the dock to the awaiting tour buses. When we returned back to Hawes Pier, almost six hours later, the tender was just a small distance from the shoreline due to the high tide and it was a much shorter walk to the lifeboat. We chose a tour of Edinburgh and its medieval castle.  There was a light drizzle as we walked to the bus driven by Ryan and Mike was the guide. The 19^th century Scottish writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, while living in Edinburgh, visited South Queensferry as a child several times.  A legend tells that a ship grounded near present day South Queensferry in the 1060s. Fleeing William the Conqueror, the ship carried English royalty, including Margaret, sister of the young English King Edgar Atheling.  Margaret married King Malcolm III of Scotland in 1070 and later improved the ferry crossing the Firth of Forth with a few more boats and proclaimed that pilgrims and the poor should receive free passage.  Her son, David, one of her eight children, had a chapel built in her memory in Edinburgh Castle. The chapel is the oldest building within the castle walls. Queen Margaret was later canonized in 1250 and is a recognized in both the Catholic and Anglican churches of Scotland.

There are artifacts, from the first century A.D., that prove that the Romans did get to Scotland and called the area Caledonia.  Until the 15^th century, the Scottish capital was wherever the King’s court was located.  Eventually, Edinburgh was declared the capital of Scotland.  It is a merchant, trade and finance city, but besides distilleries, there is no industry in Edinburgh.  The old town of Edinburgh was enclosed within Edinburgh Castle.  In 1766, more room was needed for an expanding population so the British parliament passed an act to approve a new town planned on a grid system, which included Princes Street, Queen Street and Charlotte Square. This New Town is a mix of Georgian and modern architecture.  Our guide, Mike, related that Edinburgh came from the name Dùn Èideann, in Scottish Gaelic, meaning fortified hill of Edwin. The stone for the buildings comes from three quarries in the area. As we drove through Edinburgh we viewed Fettes College, a panorama from Leif Bridge, St. John’s Church with Edinburgh Castle barracks in the background, Edinburgh Castle from a distance, Edinburgh Bank with its green dome, Walter Scott memorial, Waverley Bridge, Waverley train station, the Balmoral Hotel with its clock tower, Robert Burns memorial, a 15^th century Tower House, Holyrood Park and the 21^st century New Scottish Parliament Building not far from Holyrood Palace. Holyrood Palace is an official residence of the British monarch. Our bus was able to overlook Edinburgh from Arthur’s Seat and view the historic Royal Mile stretching from the baroque style, Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle, with its many different architectural styles due to damages from the many battles fought at the castle. Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile are located on an ancient Volcano plug. A light rain that lasted about an hour started to fall as we drove through the Arthur’s Seat Holyrood Park. From Holyrood Park, we drove up the Canongate toward Edinburgh Castle as the cobblestoned street slightly widened near John Knox house and went past Greyfriars pub in the Grassmarket area viewing the lifelike statue of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier. After the dog’s owner died in 1858, the little dog remained at his grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard for more than decade being cared for by local residents. Our coach stopped and we were given directions to a meeting place on the Esplanade, just in front of Edinburgh Castle.  Then we walked through the gatehouse, where on either side of the entrance from Esplanade, facing outward, are two large statues - Robert the Bruce on one side and William Wallace on the other side.  Once inside, we were given another commentary about the castle, in the rain.  Fortunately, we were wearing hooded raincoats and had an umbrella to share. We had about 90 minutes to explore the castle.  We were lead up through Old Town to the 15^th century Crown Square, the principal courtyard, and waited 15 minutes in line to get into the Royal Palace to view the Crown Jewels.  James IV was presented with the silver-gilt scepter by Pope Alexander VI in 1494, then when remodeled in 1536 was topped with a polished rock crystal globe, the silver-gilt handled sword, decorated with oak leaves and acorns, was presented by Pope Julius II in 1507 (Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.), and the crown, made from Scottish gold, was first worn by James V for the coronation of his wife, Queen Mary of Guise, in 1540. The crown was remodeled from a damaged previous crown and contains 22 gemstones, 20 precious stones as well as freshwater pearls from Scotland's rivers.  The three objects are collectively called the Honours of Scotland and have an interesting history of being hidden and found. Also on display was the Stone of Destiny, or Stone of Scone, returned to Scotland in 1996, from centuries in London, where I think we saw it in 1985 under the coronation throne at Westminster Abbey.  On the way out of the Royal Palace, is the tiny ground floor room where the future James VI of Scotland (1567) and later James I of England (1603 when Elizabeth I of England died), son of Mary Queen of Scots, was born in 1566. James I was the king that Guy Fawkes unsuccessfully schemed to kill in 1605. November 5^th is celebrated annually as Guy Fawkes Day to commemorate the failed assassination attempt. 

The Crown Square is surrounded by four buildings: the Royal Palace, dates back to the 1400s; the Great Hall, with its hammer bean ceiling/roof was completed in 1511; the Scottish National War Memorial built in the early 1920s and Queen Anne building from 1708 rebuilt in 1933 as a museum. With the rain stopped for the time being, we walked along the Half Moon Battery with its cannons and took pictures of the city below.  We saw the one o’clock cannon being readied for later in the day. Then, we located the 12th century St. Margaret’s Chapel, built by King David in memory of his mother, Queen Margaret. The chapel is the oldest building within the castle, which in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, was used for gunpowder storage. It is a private chapel for the royal family with a capacity of just 25 people. We stopped and browsed in a couple of castle gift shops in order to warm up from the cool wind and damp weather. We were back to the Esplanade by noon and saw the changing of the guard by the drawbridge just as Peter and Karen’s guided group arrived at the castle.  As we walked back to our bus along part of the Royal Mile, we passed St. Giles Church.  On the site of a former church, St. Giles Church was the second building on this site and had been completed when in 1385 there was a small fire.  A church has been on this site since the 9^th century.  It has a crown steeple that reminded me of the one in Paisley, Scotland several days ago.  Over the centuries, many chapels have been added to the original church. John Knox was the church’s minister from 1559 to 1572. As we retraced the drive along the Royal Mile, it was mentioned that the Grassmarket Area was where public hangings took place until the mid 18^th century and it was the market square which included slaughter houses. Steps  4,037.

On the drive back to South Queensferry, there was another rain shower, but people still visiting Edinburgh Castle reported hail there.  After arriving back at the Hawes Pier, we decided to wander up High Street and look around for a café, since it was after 1 p.m.  We had great views of the firth and took pictures of the railway bridge with the ship in the background. The South Queensferry map showed another shops area, so we wandered through streets and paths to find a strip mall containing a pub, billiard hall, convenience store and a small grocery store.  We bought a used novel and returned to the High Street by a pathway along a ravine back to the High Street, where we selected a cozy café called the Jitter Bean Café and Barista.  We had cappuccinos and dessert. Our step count was 10,648. Then we returned to Hawes Pier to catch a tender back to the ship.  Across from the pier is an interesting collection of five buildings, dating from 1683, called The Hawes Inn. We only waited ten minutes for the next tender and found that Peter and Karen were on the same boat.  We made a quick stop at our stateroom to remove our coats then met Karen and Peter for afternoon tea.  Before dinner, we met them in Vines for pre-dinner wine.  You can order a sampler of three two ounce glasses of wine called a flight.  There are several wine combination choices.

At dinner Trudy, Eisa and Evangeline were missing.  We ordered Wild Mushroom tartlets as appetizers, then mixed greens salad with cherry tomatoes and shredded beets. The entrées chosen were Prime Rib beef or Orange Roughy fish.  Dessert was Orange Grande Marnier Soufflé or Black Forest cake.  Ed was presented with a small retirement cake & card since he recently retired.  The maitre D’ reminded our tables that clocks would be advanced one hour overnight in preparation for Wednesday’s visit to Le Havre, France. After dinner we encountered Peter and Karen as they left the comedian, David Copperfield’s show early. The 8:15 Princess Theatre show was a Celine Dion tribute performed by Tracey Shield.  Later when we were in the Piazza listening to the Soul Classics, Brian and Brendene came by with disembarkation information for Thursday.  Our meeting place would be the Wheelhouse Bar at 6:30 a.m. then take a bus from Southampton cruise terminal to Heathrow Airport.

During the evening there was an announcement from the captain to advance our watches and there was a note on our pillows also to remind us.  Tomorrow we will be travelling along England’s east coast until we reach the English Channel then proceed east and south to Le Havre, France.  Total steps for today 15,532.

May 17, 2015

May 17, 2015

Our excursion is not until this afternoon, so after breakfast we walked down the gangplank to the still wet pier, from the recent shower, to explore the town of Invergordon.  Invergordon is nestled on Cromarty Firth (meaning fjord).  One of its main industries is maintenance and repair of North Sea oil rigs. It is the largest United Kingdom port servicing North Sea oil rigs. The temperature to start was 4 C, with overcast skies, a 25 mph wind and an 80% chance of rain.  Loch Ness in only 45 minutes by car from Invergordon.

Our first stop was the museum where the admission was by donation. Larry asked if the 1985 Bank of Scotland one pound notes, leftover from our last trip decades ago, were still legal money and was told yes. When he put them in the donation box it caused a bit of a discussion among the museum volunteers, wondering if they might be able to get more than one pound from a collector for each bill. We learned about the town’s war effort and its natural deep harbor that the British Navy used until they realized that, during World War II, they could be blockaded by German U-boats due to the narrow opening to the harbor.  We strolled about the town looking at the murals starting with the ones on the exterior walls of the Invergordon Museum. The first town mural was completed in 2004.  There were “Pipes and Drums” as well as “Natural History of the Cromarty Firth” and”The Way We Were”, to name some of the 11 murals. We walked up a small hill to the Invergordon Church of Scotland. As we walked along Cromlet Drive, we had a great view of the harbour, the oilrigs waiting for repair, and distant mountains.  The Ocean Valiant was the name of one of the oilrigs. Steps 8.042. After three hours we returned to the ship for lunch on deck 16’s Horizon Court buffet and prepared for our afternoon excursion in one of three tour buses to Cawdor Castle and Culloden Battlefield.

In Scotland, it seems like there is at least one whisky distillery in every town. As we drove through the picturesque Highlands toward Inverness and Cawdor, we saw many sheep grazing in fields. We passed through an area near Inverness called Black Isle, which is not an island.  It is a territory mentioned in the Ian Rankin’s book, “Standing In Another Man’s Grave”, that Larry is currently reading, where Detective Inspector John Rebus travels on the same highway, the A9 to Black Isle, while investigating a murder. At one bridge over River Nairn, the road narrowed road so much that there was a traffic signal light to direct vehicles from either direction when it was safe to cross the single lane bridge. As we neared Cawdor Castle, we came to the quaint village nearby. The first construction of part of the castle started in 1372 with additions built in the 17^th and 19^th centuries. We were given two hours to wander through the castle and its gardens.  Cawdor Castle, a medieval Tower house or Keep, is still used as a residence, the seat of the Earls of Cawdor. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth this is the castle where Duncan is slain although the castle did not exist in the period in which Macbeth was set. No interior photos of the large wall tapestries, antique furniture and paintings are allowed.  The exterior walls are two meters thick.  There is a pleasant gift shop in the old keep as you exit Cawdor Castle. There was a light rain as we exited the castle but it only lasted a few minutes. Pictures of the castle exterior and lovely garden are allowed. Also on the grounds is a nine hole, par 3, golf course which is open to the public and near the parking lot is a Scottish Wool Mills shop and a snack bar. Our next stop was Drummossie Moor, site of the 1746 Culloden Battlefield where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish Jacobite army was defeated by the English government army of English and Scottish soldiers in battle lasting a little over an hour in April 1746. It was very windy and cool as we observed the flat field.  The English victory ended the Jacobite Uprising with Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart) escaping back to France. This was the last battle fought on British soil.  

When we returned to the ship we had enough time to change for dinner and dance before joining the group in the dining room. We briefly spoke to Karen and Peter who had found and bought a pin and two family clan books of my father’s ancestors for me.  Only one table was occupied by our group tonight with Trudy & Eisa, Brian & Brendene and ourselves. Appetizers were grilled eggplant with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, then Minestrone soup or mixed greens & spinach salad with bacon. Entrées were Veal Scaloppini with beans & mashed potatoes or grilled scallops & shrimp with mashed potatoes. For dessert there was tiramisu or cassato torte. The 8:30 show in the Princess Theater featured  a hypnotist comedian. After the show, at the coffee bar by the Piazza we tried some cold Frappés before going back to the stateroom to read.        Total steps for today 14,791.