Another Place We Want To Return To

Iceland! What an interesting country --- a one-day visit just isn’t enough. The first glimpse came as we neared the port in Reykjavik. Huge, puffy clouds hung low over the island.

                       

As soon as we got off the ship we found the tour guide who’d be showing us around this land of fire (volcanoes) and ice (glaciers). Reykjavik is the northern-most capital city in Europe.

                     

It didn’t take us long to get outside the city and into the lava-covered landscape that covers most of Iceland.

  

We chose a tour that would show us some of Iceland’s natural wonders. Our first stop was the Strokkur Geyser, which erupts about every 5 minutes and is surrounded by steaming hot springs. This area reminded us of Yellowstone.

   

Next, we stopped at a dormant volcano where we could walk right up to the caldera.

                       

Along the way, we noticed boulders that had been spewed during an eruption. Some of the rocks had little houses painted on them. According to Icelandic legend, these are homes for elves. The people here believe that these rocks shouldn’t be moved because the elf family living within would be displaced. The rock in the foreground below is one of these elf homes.

                    

Next we stopped at Gullfoss, the most famous waterfall in Iceland.

   

The last stop of our tour took us into Thingvellir National Park, which is located where the tectonic plates of North America and Europe meet. The two plates are gradually moving apart, as shown by the deep crevice running throughout the park. Eventually (thousands of years from now) Iceland will be split apart, forming 2 separate land masses.

 

One more photo from today. While passing through a souvenir shop, we got a good laugh when we read the label on these Doritos bags.

                        

Blowing in the Wind

Monday morning we were scheduled to dock in Dublin, Ireland at 7AM but we planned to sleep in.  Our tour didn’t start until 1:30PM and since it was a pub crawl I wanted to make sure I was well rested so I could keep up with the 50 year olds! So at about 6:40AM the ship rolls to the left and I slide over a little in the bed and wait for the ship to roll back to the right but it doesn’t roll back.  Oh, what’s up? I get out of bed and walk downhill to get to the bathroom.  After I finish in the bathroom I walk uphill to our window and look out.  I see no land in sight and the ocean looks pretty angry. If we are going to dock in 20 minutes we’d better find land soon.  At 7:03AM the Captain comes on the PA and tells us that we are at the mouth of the river leading up to Dublin and we are hitting hurricane force winds of up to 75 knots (86 mph) and that is causing the ship to list 3 to 4 degrees.  He further states that the entrance channel to the river is 100 meters wide and our ship is 37 meters wide but he adds for every degree of list you have to add 4 meters in width. So he decides to forgo the port of Dublin just to be safe and I decided to go back to bed.

Tuesday morning we are up at 6:30AM. I look out the window and see land and the ship is not moving.  This must mean we made it to Greenock, Scotland, the port for the city for Glasgow.  We have an 8AM meeting time to catch our bus for the 45 minute ride into Glasgow.  Cindy and I are meeting Mo (Maureen) a friend and resident of Scotland who is meeting us in Glasgow to show us around. We met Mo on our China Southeast Asia cruise last April.  When we told her about this cruise she said she wanted to show us around.  So we have been in touch ever since planning our meet.

 

Mo and Bill at the Peoples Palace museum                                     Cindy and Mo (I think Cindy may be talking).

Mo had tickets for us to ride the hop on hop off tour bus around Glasgow.  Our first stop was at the Glasgow Cathedral of Saint Mungo built in the 1400’s

Glasgow has some interesting shaped buildings

 

The Clyde Arc                                     Glasgow Science Center                    Scottish Exhibition & Conference

Center, which is also called the Armadillo.

After our tour of Glasgow we stopped for afternoon tea before we had to catch our bus and return to the ship.

 

Mo & Cindy with their tea                      mashed potatoes & Haggis                  Scottish meringue & cream dessert

Sunny Southern England

We boarded the Caribbean Princess yesterday in Southampton, in light rain. Today, we awoke to sunshine as we approached the harbor village of Falmouth. The first thing we saw from our window was the hilltop Pendennis Castle, built during King Henry VIII’s reign.

Falmouth is an attractive and busy harbor village with a popular Maritime Museum right along the docks.

   

Bill & I had signed up for a walk along the coastline of the Lizard Peninsula, the southern-most point of Great Britain which is a 45 minute bus ride from Falmouth. Riding through the Cornwall countryside, we passed by patchwork fields outlined with hedgerows, and picturesque homes.

   

We walked at an easy pace over well-used paths leading from Lizard Point Village to the rocky coastal cliffs. At some points, the path was lined by the same type of hedgerows that we had seen from the bus on the drive over.

   

The photo below shows the colorful vegetation scattered among the rocks on the cliff side. Note the path along the top.

Our hike provided us with endless views of the dramatic, rugged coastline.

 

By the time we reached the end of the hike, we were ready for a hearty lunch of fish and chips with beer (for
Bill) and cider (for me) in one of the local pubs. Yum!

Giving the Oyster card a good workout

Today was our last full day in London, so we tried to cover most of our must see attractions here.  One of the best ways to move around London is by public transit.  Hence that is where the Oyster card comes into play.  The Oyster card is like the Bay Area Clipper card but you get a discount by using the Oyster card.  We left our hotel this morning at the crack of 11AM and headed out with our Oyster cards. First stop - the underground.

                    

Grumpy old man on underground train, oh wait that’s me rip roaring and ready to go on another London adventure!

 

View of the long escalators heading to the train platform.  Some of the stations are decorated with murals. (Russia’s subway has better murals)

Our first stop of the day was The British Museum.  By the way, Oakland and Berkeley take note: they also have food trucks here.

 

                                                   These are not your run-of-the-mill roach coaches!

The British Museum is free to the public and has an unbelievable collection of artifacts from all over the world, acquired when England’s empire ruled one quarter of the world.  I’m not saying they sacked and stole these artifacts.  I think they are on long, long, long term loan. They have the best Egyptian exhibit that I have ever seen and probably the best one outside of Egypt.

                                                                                                                       This is the Great Court (entry hall into the museum)                                       The real Rosetta Stone (not the language company)

            

The head of King Ramses                                                    One of statues guarding the tomb of King Ramses

             A stone section of the beard from the Sphinx.

In a good exhibit you always need some mummies!

After the Egypt exhibit we went into the Assyrian exhibit. Their conquests in the Middle East compare to those of the Roman Empire.

                         

These were located at the gates of the Assyrian King’s Palace (as Rick Steves described it, a flying horse with a ZZ Top beard).

                                                

                      This is one of the doors from the King’s Palace! (I think that is the Queen standing in front).

We next ventured into the Greek exhibit BE (before Euros)

These are stone carvings removed from the Parthenon in Greece. (Remember they are just on loan to England for a long, long time)

Leaving the Museum and only seeing some of the highlights, we ventured on and saw this unique bookshop.

                                     

I’m holding out for the bookshop and Ice cream shop.  I know I could spend hours there and may get a chapter or two read.

Back on the underground we headed to St. Pauls cathedral.  Realizing we were running out of time we took a quick trip around the outside and hopped back on the underground.

 

Not much of a photo but I said we were running out of time and wanted to make it to Westminster Abbey before closing.

We made it to the Abbey with only an hour and a half for touring left before it closed. Cindy & I are glad we did get in to see it.

     

Westminster Abbey is located right next to the Palace of Westminster where the House of Parliament is located and the tower of Big Ben and the Thames River. Great place for photos.

       

Cindy exiting Westminster Abby                  Tower of Big Ben with the London Eye in the background.

We hopped back on the underground for our trip back to our hotel.  We made it in time for happy hour and hot hors d’oeuvres.  Life is Good!  Tomorrow we are off to Southampton and the Caribbean Princess and some much need rest!