Typing this from my new (temporary) home country, Germany. Here is just a review from the pre-made newsletter sent out (though slightly modified near the end). In a moment I will type out a review for my first day back in Hamburg which was already quite eventful!
The newsletter:
Thought you would like a brief update of our journey on the Royal Princess around the British Isle. Jon and I have had a fun and busy itinerary and been on the go every day morning till night. Jon is a history buff and it’s been very fun visiting so many military museums, and castles and fortresses that he researched.
Day 1: Boarded the amazing Royal Princess, the largest cruise ship we’ve been on and very appropriate name for all of the royal British sights in store.
Day 2: First stop was St. Peter Port Guernsey, the only British territory occupied by the Germans for five years during WW2. The famous book about the British resistance on the island is “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”. While there, the Germans engineered and built incredible fortresses and facilities – we visited the German Underground Military Hospital, a vast series of tunnel where wounded German soldiers were shipped: The La Vallette Underground Military Museum, more underground tunnels full of all kinds of WW2 relics, and the German Occupation Museum showcasing civilian life in occupied Guernsey. We also toured the 13th-14th century Castle Cornet built on an overlook on the channel which is amazingly well preserved and massive in size. Lastly, we had time to walk around the charming streets of downtown waterfront St. Peter Port with many shops, outdoor restaurants, and cobblestone streets.
Day 3: Cobh/Cork, Ireland was a wonderful stop where we visited the beautiful cathedral overlooking the seaport city and saw the small Titanic museum, the last stop on the ship’s fateful voyage where many poor Irish boarded. We took a bus trip to the old looking village of Kinsale and walked around the cobblestone roads. Then saw the 17th century Charles Fort on the outskirts of town on a massive cliff overlooking the ocean. Again an amazingly well preserved fortress.
Day 4: Dublin – was great as you can imagine with the most friendly people, lots of history, pubs, and shops. Mostly walked the city around famous old Temple Street, went to Trinity College, and toured Dublin Castle, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral where the church bells rang for over 20 minutes on the Sunday morning!(almost ear shattering!) Of course we had to take the tour of the Guinness Factory which is an amazing building and museum of the 150+ year beer making process. It is the tallest building in Dublin with a glass viewing and drinking room with 360 degree views of the city. Enjoyed a pint included with the tour, (Jon not so much, as a non drinker!) Then saw a show with step dancing in the tasting room. It is great tour to take in Dublin! It was drizzly all day but we still made it everywhere.
Day 5: Liverpool – We had a fantastic day in Liverpool which was the surprise city on the tour in that I wasn’t expecting much, but it had so much to do and see. Liverpool had a complete waterfront makeover with a many modern fantastic museums. It is highlighted with a beautiful artistic statue of the Beatles where everyone stands for a picture with the Fab Four! next we started the day by taking the “Ferry Across the Mersey” River and of course they played the famous Beatles song on the ferry boat. We crossed the Mersey river to see the German U-boat museum, which has 1 of the only 4 still existing WW2 German U-boats, and many military artifacts. It was sunk shortly after the war ended, as the captain refused to surrender. It sat on the ocean floor for decades near Copenhagen before being raised by a Dutch company and taken to Liverpool, where it was sliced into large sections and you can see inside the sub, and a huge collapse in the hull where a sea mine detonated. Jon sure knows how to find the obscure sights, but I have to say it is all very interesting. After taking the ferry boat back we walked the city an toured the Beatles Experience museum, a very detailed museum of the lives and impact of the Beatles who were all from Liverpool and started playing the local pubs in their teens. The main waterfront museum had a special one of a kind Yoko Ono/Lennon personal exhibit of their private mementos and photos. Lastly we visited two beautiful churches, one, a grand Anglican Cathedral, the largest in the UK and one of the largest in the world. And the other, a Catholic church at opposite ends of the Boulevard. Interestingly, we saw that there was a college graduation beginning at the local concert Hall, and of all things, Paul McCartney was to be there to present the awards. He apparently gives large amounts of philanthropy to Liverpool, shows up often at local events, and visits local schools to support children and music programs! It was a long and full day!
Day 6: Belfast, Northern Ireland – It was a very interesting city with the history of the Irish independence movements over 800 years of political and religious struggles and divisions. We did an on/off bus to get around the city and saw the neighborhoods with large peace murals on the buildings throughout the city. We also toured the beautiful Belfast Castle originally built by the Normans in the late 12th century. It is high on the hill overlooking the city and the waterfront below. We also visited the old Crumlin Road Gaol (pronounced just like the world jail) It was an old prison, including for political prisoners from the 1800’s to very current times but is now a museum. Another fascinating part of Belfast history is that it was the shipyard Harland and Wolff that built the Titanic and where it was launched from the dry dock. We went to the amazing museum that depicted the history of how the Titanic was built and the lives of the local foundry and shipbuilding workers who built the ship. Part of the museum was an actual ride (like Disneyland) that took you through a simulated foundry and factory where the Titanic was built. It was incredible, very interesting museum. Finally we worked in a visit and tour of the nearby WWI (1916) battleship HMS Caroline, which is perfectly preserved and fought and survived many battles, including the largest naval battle in history – The Battle of Jutland, in which it was the only ship that survived! Most interesting that the medical Officer on the ship was Dr. Murray, and his name is on the Officer room! Time to do some more genealogy on my maiden name!
Day 7: Finally a day at sea and at rest on the beautiful Royal Princess. In the middle of the ocean there was a medical emergency which required a medical evacuation by helicopter! The ship was slowed to almost a stop, and the Royal air force helicopter hovered over the back of the ship and the patient was hoisted on a gurney aboard for transport to land. Everyone was on upper deck to watch the delicate and dangerous evacuation procedure. This is the 2nd one I’ve seen at sea, and Jon’s first.
Day 8: Greenock/Glasgow – we took a local bus tour sponsored by the local residents of Greenock. The most interesting was the Newark Castle overlooking the sea (like all the other castles) built in the late 1500’s for a “villainous lord”. Learned about the local area and saw the beautiful countryside. This is where Jon made a very special purchase which he wore to the formal night on the ship. Hint: He looked very Scottish!!!
Day 9: Invergordon/Inverness, Scotland. The word ‘inver’ is Gaelic for ‘the mouth of’ or ‘mouth of the river…’ And Ness/Gordon are rivers, so Inverness is the ‘mouth of the Ness river’. We also of course had to visit the famous Loch Ness, (loch meaning ‘lake’) – the home of the legendary Loch Ness Monster. We took the local bus 30 minutes to Inverness and visited Inverness Castle on a hill (of course) and the church. We noted that every shop has stuffed animals of the green Loch Ness monster of every size! Got another bus to River Ness to the Loch Ness museum and research center on the banks of the river where the supposed monster has been seen since 1933. We actually saw it, but the photos were just too grainy and fuzzy to really make it out (haha). It is an absolutely beautiful scenery and so much like you would picture the rolling hills of Scotland dotted with sheep and cows. We also toured the 13th century Urquart Castle high on a hill overlooking the lake! Legend says there is a cave under the castle where the monster lives. We went back to the port town of Invergordon, population, 2,000 people and shopped the local stores. Guess what, I bought a small Loch Ness Monster for someone!
Day 10: Edinburgh, Scotland – This amazing Scottish City was both Jon’s and my favorite city. We fortunately pre-booked tickets to the major sights ahead of time. First stop was to tour Edinburgh Castle (high on the hill above the city, of course) where Mary Queen of Scots reigned until her untimely and unfortunate beheading. We saw the ancient crown jewels, learned the history, and toured the whole castle which is tremendous in size and so well preserved. We then walked the Royal Mile through the center of the city to The Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen’s official home in Scotland today. It is a fantastic, but not overstated palatial home, with personal pictures of the royal family sitting around for view, and so much history.
Back on Royal Mile, we had a fantastic tour of “Mary King’s Close” (close meaning old, closed end street), It is an amazing tour of part of Edinburgh underground which has been preserved since the late 1700’s Edinburgh. A costumed tour guide takes you through the dark underground tunnels to see the old one-room homes along the “close”. It depicts life of actual families/real people who lived in the 1700 and 1800’s – cramped homes, unsanitary conditions, rats and even a one room home enveloped by the plague and what happened to the poor people.
Lastly in Edinburgh we toured the Royal Ship Britannia – the Queen’s personal yacht. What a magnificent yacht a and amazing history of the voyages it took and the famous passengers invited by the Queen. It is now permanently harbored as a museum in a charity trust. Every room is meticulously decorated and again with personal family photograph of royals on display in many rooms.
We also had just enough time to walk to the Elephant Bar Restaurant where J.K. Rowling began writing the Harry Potter Books – I can see where she got her inspiration from as Edinburgh is like a fairy tale, magical looking medieval city in the historic part.
Another day at sea, then on to France. We did stuff in Le Havre, it wasn’t very exciting. From there, back to Southampton soon to visit and continue our adventure in England until Jon goes to Germany for backpacking!! Hi to all, and please forward this to anyone who’s interested I might have missed.
Last thought, I saw this on the ship: “A great voyage is a journey that never ends”.
jonsjourneythroughgermany.com 