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