Day -1 – Tomorrow is the beginning of this vacation. According to Ancestry DNA, I am 23% Scottish, 50% English and 10% Irish so I’m pretty excited about exploring the Scottish ancestry since two of the three ports are areas where my ancestors were born. I could only focus on one of the three so Scotland won this time.

Robert was not able to accompany me on this trip so my best friend, Diana, will be filling in as we celebrate her upcoming retirement. We have already been upgraded to an XL Sea Terrace on one of my favorite ship, the Scarlet Lady on Virgin Voyages.

Check-in has been accomplished. Thanks to help from Point.me I’m flying First Class and Business class to London (not so lucky on the return)

Follow me for reports from the road. 😉

I boarded the plane in Dallas, unbelievably on time! Though my friend, Diana, was not so lucky. Fortunately with a sprint through O’Hare she made it to her connecting flight to find that it had also been delayed. 😳 Anyway, pretty smooth flight to JFK where I had a little over an hour before boarding my next flight.

While in JFK I thought of going to the Admiral’s Club but didn’t feel like making the hike so I decided to take a short walk in the airport and I found a Minute Suites. I had never noticed these before and I had just received my Priority Pass membership this morning (PP gives me access to the Minute Suites) so I decided to try it out. Cece was great at explaining how it works. Basically you get one hour in a small room with a desk, TV, and a queen sized daybed. I didn’t need (or want) a nap so elected to do a little work on the blog and give Robert a call. It was nice and quiet and relaxing. These will come in handy, if they have them, when we have layovers after a long flight. Would be nice for taking a short nap between flights.

Next to my lovely cubicle on my flight to London.

Now, on this flight I heard something I’ve never heard before. A series of announcements from the Captain went something like this:

“This is your Captain speaking. I want to remind everyone that the flight attendants are an extension of me. If a flight attendant asks you to do something, you can consider it a request from me. Please respect them in the same manner you would treat me.”

Ten minutes later:

“This is your Captain again. If you are in a seat for which you did not pay, please return to your assigned seat. Just a reminder that a request from a flight attendant is a request from me.”

Five minutes later (in a stern voice):

“This is the Captain again. Once again I’m going to tell you to return to your assigned seat. I will land this plane if I have to!! Do not test me!”

I never saw who caused the commotion but since there were no more announcements I can only assume that the response was eventually, “Yes, Daddy, I’ll be good.” Either that or the other passengers put them back in their assigned seat and sat on them.

Day 1 – Arrival, Portsmouth, and Southampton

We arrived in London with no more drama and fifteen minutes early. With a relatively easy walk, though a bit of a trek, through Heathrow, I breezed through immigration (no problems with the new ETA) and moved on to baggage reclaim (as they call it here). Thankfully, my luggage made it as well and with nothing declare I walked through customs and onto my next task which was getting from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 where my bestie, Diana, would be landing in about an hour.

While I was at baggage claim, I saw an ATM and decided I should get a few British pounds just in case I needed to tip someone or found myself needing some cash. I always tell my friends and family to use the ATM at the airport and wherever you are, always do your transactions in the local currency. Your bank at home will give you a better conversion rate most of the time. This again proved to be true. The ATM asked if I wanted to do the transaction in GBP. (103£ with the 3£ transaction fee) or $167.82 USD) I chose £, retrieved my funds and receipt and moved on.

I tried to do a bit of research (I like to be prepared) to figure out how to get between terminals. Apple Maps showed me going downstairs to the Underground and I wondered if I was going to have to take the subway to get to the next terminal. The route also showed the train station. I decided to just start following the signs (yes, there were signs to Terminal 2) and see where it took me. I began another long trek, but also easy, and found myself passing the Underground and the train station, but the signs showed that I should continue on past both of these. As I walked and mused, I realized that travel is not really that difficult, I just have to follow the signs.

I found myself in Terminal 2 with still another 45 minutes to wait for Diana, so I found a coffee shop and ordered a chai latte, found a table, and sat down to wait. While I was waiting I checked my bank, and as expected, found that doing the transaction in the local currency was the right choice. The debit to my bank account was only $140.14 instead of $167.82.

Diana’s flight arrived, we hugged it out, of course, and texted our driver to let them know we were ready to be picked up. The company told me that there was a problem and our driver’s car had broken down. They were sending another car, but we would have to meet them at the ride pickup area in the parking garage. We maneuvered our way to the area, found our driver and were on our way to Portsmouth. We arrived at our hotel and checked in and found that we had no AC. We opened both windows, and turned on a desk fan that we found in the closet.

We were still feeling relatively energetic, so we decided to take the train to Southampton for dinner, about a 45 minute train ride. Diana’s grandfather was born in Southampton and we, at the very least, wanted to walk around the area to say she had been there.

We bought our train tickets and with about an hour before our train, we decided to get a snack since we had both missed lunch. We found this lovely little cafe next to a very busy pub. The cafe was very small, but empty. The reviews Diana had found were excellent, so even though it was empty, we walked in. We met the most lovely old man, obviously the owner, who tried to help us choose something that would be quick enough for us to eat before our train. We decided, with his help, to have a ham and cheese baguette and an order of scones with clotted cream and jam with a pot of English tea. We are in England, so it seemed appropriate. The baguette was fine, but the scones were delicious as was the clotted cream and jam. We enjoyed our snack and headed back to the train station to find our train.

After a bit of a delay at one of the stops (apparently the last two cars on our train had some kind of problem), we arrived in Southampton after about an hour. Usually, I would have had a whole route mapped out, but we had decided to play this trip by ear, so we found a map near a bus station and saw that Old Town was only about a 10 minute walk away, so we decided to check it out. After walking about 10 minutes, we found another map and it said we were still 10 minutes away. We noticed that the Mayflower Memorial was not too far away, so we rerouted and headed in that direction. One bit of research I had done about Southampton was that both the Mayflower and the Titanic had launched for the New World from Southampton. We figured the Memorial would be the best way to prove we had been there.

After leaving the Mayflower Memorial with the photographic proof that we had visited, we strolled through Old Town in the general direction of the train station. We saw some beautiful old buildings and St. Michael’s Church. The first little pub we saw was packed and had no available tables so we strolled on. The next pub we found was called the Titanic Pub which seemed appropriate for the area, so we went inside to have a pint and a burger, both of which were excellent. Then it was time to head back to the train station to return to Portsmouth and our hotel for the night.

Day 2 – Portsmouth and Embarkation

Today we get on the ship!! But first, breakfast…

We brought our luggage down to storage and checked out of the hotel. Our Uber is scheduled to pick us up at 12:45 pm and we have two items on the checklist this morning. First, breakfast and then find a store to buy the wine to take on board. Our first thought was to find our friend from the day before and get a breakfast sandwich. However, on the way to his cafe, we saw the Portsmouth Historic Dockyards. Sounded interesting and we thought perhaps we could find breakfast inside. First we had to go through the bag check and then inside where it looked like we were going to have to buy a ticket. The least expensive ticket was 36£ so we were starting to regret this decision. However, we discovered that if we didn’t want to enter any of the exhibitions, we could wander for free and bonus, there were two places we might find some breakfast.

The Dockyards were an interesting place to wander and we quickly found the cafe which turned out to be pretty much a case of pastries and coffee. Diana was wanting a bit more breakfast than pastry and coffee so we decided to check out the restaurant. The restaurant was in Dockhouse 4 which was hosting an exhibition of women and the sea. We walked upstairs to the restaurant and were escorted to a table by the windows with a gorgeous view of the water. We ordered a Bacon Bap (a breakfast sandwich) with a fried egg and an order of scones. The waiter asked if we wanted the scones afterward, which seemed by his tone of voice to be the obvious choice, so we agreed. We also ordered a couple of flat whites which were very artfully decorated. The baps contained a very generous portion of bacon and a beautifully cooked egg. By the time we finished our baps, we were stuffed and had to pass on the scones. 🥲

After breakfast, we found a coop, loaded up with our wine for the cruise, and headed back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage and meet our Uber. Next step – embarkation! With my status with Virgin, we were in the Priority Group 1 and we were on the ship and in our room by 1:45 pm! We were fortunate to have our upgrade bid accepted and we are in an XL Sea Terrace with a larger bathroom and balcony. I have to say the extra room in the bathroom is awesome! We dropped our bags, did a quick tour of Deck 7 (this is Diana’s first time on the Scarlet Lady and my sixth) and headed for the Dock for tapas. I always have to start my voyage with the Goat Cheese Polenta and a glass of sangria. However, we ordered one of everything since Diana had never tasted any of it. I think her favorite was the octopus. We will have plenty of chances to try it again.

After a little time to unpack and a tour of a little more of the boat it was time to head to Deck 16 for the Sailaway Party. We got there a bit early and were able to get barstools overlooking the festivities. We met a few of our fellow sailors, enjoyed a couple of glasses of champagne and I got reconnect to some of the Happenings Cast we met on our cruise last month. David, the Charmer (magician) stopped by and gave us an appetizer (his words) of his show.

From the sailaway we went to dinner at Extra Virgin where I had to have my favorites, Crispy Artichoke with lemon aioli and an Affogato with whiskey crema gelato topped with meringues and chocolate chips and espresso for dessert. (I forgot to take pictures – I’ll get them the next time we are here.) 🤦🏼‍♀️

Our final activity of the night was the PJ Party. We started out with Painting in our PJs with Ashlynn, the Artist and then to the Manor (the party was moved inside because it was too cold on deck) for the party. We finally put our heads on the pillows around 1:00 am.

Day 3 – Across the Sea to Amsterdam

The day started off a little rough for me. Diana talked me into signing up for the Bungee Workout. I have always thought it looked fun, so decided maybe today was the day to try it out. Now, I’m not pretending I wasn’t terrified about falling on my head. I texted my sister and told her to tell everyone I that I loved them in case I didn’t survive the morning. As it was, I did survive, but decided that I probably wouldn’t do it again. As a beginner, there was no flying around and it turned out it is a LOT of work. However, I was very proud of myself for the attempt and now know what I am missing, which in my case, is not a lot. 🤣

After our workout, it was time to refuel (breakfast), shower, and get ready for the day. Today we are sailing into Amsterdam. I did not realize how far inland we had to go to reach Amsterdam. We started through the lock around 1:30 pm and reached the other end of the lock around 3 pm. People were lined up along the lock waving at us like we were celebrities. It was just a bit exciting! Then it was on to Amsterdam. 

We had reservations for an evening canal cruise in Amsterdam, so we scheduled an early dinner at the Test Kitchen. This is one of my favorite restaurants because I feel like I stepped into one of the cooking shows on TV. Tonight was Menu B (there are three menus in the Test Kitchen and this cruise is long enough to sample all three.) Our first course was a grilled eel with a bbq glaze, over a coconut panna cotta with onion. It was served with a dashi sauce and a tuille of edible charcoal. The second course was smoked scallops with black garlic and pickled cucumbers. The third course was a cheese tart. The tart shell was toasted quinoa and edible charcoal. The cheese mousse was made from blue cheese, goat cheese, and cream cheese. It was prepared to be spread on rosemary rolls. The main course was a study in chicken. The round chicken was chicken breast wrapped in crispy chicken skin. The square piece was three layers of chicken. The top layer was chicken thighs, the middle layer was chicken sausage, and the bottom layer was chicken breast. It was served over mashed potatoes mixed with spinach and asparagus (giving it the green color). It was then served with a chicken gravy. We had two different desserts. The first was a vegan coconut gelato with fresh berries and a spun sugar garnish. The second was two layers of cookies. The first layer had dollops of Italian meringue and the top layer had alternating layers of yuzu and vanilla mousses. It was garnished with citrus and small bits of dill.

Dinner was amazing! We had to eat quickly so I am looking forward to returning and being able to take our time. We left the Test Kitchen right on schedule and headed to our cruise.

It was about a 20 minute walk from the ship to our canal cruise. The passage at the end of the train station to the canal had beautiful tile walls depicting ships on the sea.

Our evening canal cruise included unlimited wine, beer, or sodas, and snacks. We boarded our boat and set off for our first sights of this beautiful city. Our guide told us many great stories and a lot of interesting information about Amsterdam. First, he explained that most of the boats on the edges of the canals do not have engines. They are houses and are never moved. Therefore space is more important than an engine. There are a total of 2500 permits available for houseboats. The permits are not that expensive, but depending upon the location, the boats can be very expensive. They cannot be mortgaged as the banks will not loan money on a houseboat. Many of them are AirBnBs. Maybe an idea for a future trip…. Some of the “houseboats” are not actually boats but built on concrete platforms with air pockets so they will float.

We saw an iconic view of one of Monet’s subjects, and then right around the corner came upon another famous sight, the Drunken Houses. Our guide explained that the houses tend to sink because of all the water. This particular group of houses really shows off how much they can move. If you notice, however, he said, the only house that is not crooked is the one with the Irish pub, because he said, the Irish can hold their liquor. He said sometimes they are call the Gay Houses because none of them are straight. Just down from the Drunken Houses is a house between two others. Our guide asked us what was wrong with it. Turns out it isn’t a house at all but a facade. The person who owned the house across the canal wanted something prettier as a view out of his house, so he bought the lot across the street and built a facade that looks like a house. When you see it from the side, you can see that there is nothing behind the front wall.

By this time, it is getting darker and the canals start to light up. There is one area where you can actually see seven bridges in a row. The lights were not on yet, and so it was a little harder to see them. He told us that if you have one of the special Dutch cigarettes, you can actually see twenty-eight bridges. 🤣 He told us about the narrowest house in Amsterdam, a cobbler wanted to be close to his clients and so he built a very narrow house since he could not afford to pay the taxes for a wider home. In the historical district you cannot change the exterior of the houses, but you can change the interior. So the Waldorf Astoria spans five houses but is all connected inside. You can rent the house on the left end for only 25,000€ per night. 

I asked our guide how many cars end up in the canal and he said quite a few. He asked us to guess which one ends up the canals most often; the answer was Teslas because of their auto parking assist that sends them into the canals on a regular basis. (Not sure of the accuracy of that last story, but…) One last story was in the Gentleman’s Canal. The houses were wider here so people could advertise their wealth (taxes were paid depending on the width of your house.) They also had stairs leading up to the front door. They had small doors underneath the stairs to the front door for the servants. These doors were quite small so that the servants would have to bow whenever they entered the house.

We made it back to our dock, said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to the ship. On our way back to the ship, we were reminded that we were in Amsterdam and that many things are permissible here that are not permissible at home. We returned to our ship – tomorrow the Anne Frank House and wandering around Amsterdam.

Day 4 – Amsterdam

Today our plan was to get going early so we did not miss our time slot at the Anne Frank House. These tickets were very hard to get and we did not want to miss it. We were a little nervous because the ship is staying on UK time which is one hour behind Amsterdam time. Our watches have updated to Amsterdam time so just trying to keep it straight is a little crazy. Anyway, we finished our quick breakfast and hit the road. It is a forty minute walk from the ship to the Anne Frank House and as I mentioned, we did not want to be late.

There was quite a bit of construction along the way and we had a few detours but approached the house at, not 12:00 pm, but 11:00 am! We were so concerned about being on time, we forgot that our watches had updated to Amsterdam time. With an hour before our tickets could be used, we walked down the street and lo and behold, found the Tulip Museum! Sounded like a good way to kill and hour so we paid our 7£ each and learned about the history of tulips. I never realized that tulips are not native to the Netherlands. In fact they come from Central Asia! We purchased some tulip bulbs to take home (they had some that were certified to be taken back to the US.) Now it was time to go back to the Anne Frank House. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but suffice it to say, it was quite moving. I was surprised that the Secret Annex was as large as it was (still not really big enough for eight people for two years!) We saw the original bookcase and a few of the belongings that survived. Finally, we saw her actual diary. All in all, quite inspirational and emotional.

After such a heavy morning it was time to relax a little and get off of our feet for a little while, so we found a cafe to have a snack and a beer. On our cruise last night, we asked the tour guide for recommendations for Dutch foods we should try. One thing he mentioned was bitterballen, a fried meatball. At our cafe, we saw bitterballen on the menu and ordered them with mustard. We ordered a couple of Leffe Blond beers to accompany them and enjoyed our table along one of the canals.

After a little refreshment, it was time to make our way back to the ship while catching a few more sights. First scheduled stop was Dam Square and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Along the way, we may have done a little shopping…a beautiful store full of creations from a local artist inspired a few purchases, and then the Amsterdam Duck Shop was a big hit. We found a place selling Stroopwaffles and may have indulged a little there as well. Finally, we made it to the Dam Square and the Royal Palace. As with other places, we were reminded we were in Amsterdam where many things are permissible.

As we continued to the ship, we stopped to taste a little cheese, take a picture at the Sex Museum (no we did not go in) and we found another picture op with the large wooden shoes. We stopped at a coffee shop on the way back and were disappointed that they were only selling coffee. 🤣 By the way, we were not planning on testing the wares had there been some, we just wanted to see it on the menu.

Tomorrow, Belgium!

Day 5 – Bruges, Brussels, Belgium

Today was a pretty laid back day. We had no real schedule but to go into Bruges and just walk around seeing the sights. First we had to take a shuttle from the ship to the cruise terminal, then our paid shuttle from the cruise terminal to the city. We were dropped off at the Bargeplein and we started our one mile trek to the Grote Markt which, being Wednesday, was happening today. Along the way we stopped by a meringue shop and bought some meringues. Then we did a walk through St. John’s Hospital, a medieval hospital.
Most of the vendors were closing up when we arrived, but we found a French saucissons (sausages) vendor who was selling little brochettes (finger-sized sausages) for 5€ for 10 sausages. We knew we couldn’t take them back on the boat so we negotiated down to only 5 sausages for 2.50€.

From there we went to the Bruges Beer Experience, because when in Belgium…. We were able to order four beers for 10€. We added some Belgian cheese as well and enjoyed a respite from the crowds while we enjoyed some of Belgium’s best. From the Beer Experience we headed to the Burg Square. We made the mistake of thinking the City Hall was the Basilica of the Holy Blood. We found the basilica, which was very interesting, but decided not to stand in line and pay to see the holy relic. We still had a little time to get back to our shuttle so we found a chocolate shop and purchased three small chocolates to try. From the chocolate shop we found a cafe and decided we had to have a Belgian waffle before we left. We found a table on the square and ordered a waffle with ice cream and did some people watching while we ate. Then back to the shuttle – second to last of the day. We arrived at the cruise terminal to a very long line, but were able to get on the last shuttle of the day back to the ship.

Dinner tonight was at Gunbae, a Korean BBQ restaurant. We met some very interesting people as it is a shared experience. We started off playing a drinking game, and in the final round – me vs. Diana, yours truly was the winner. Note: you didn’t drink until you lost, so we were just the most sober!

After dinner we watched a “performing nerd” and after the show went back to our cabin to go to bed.

Day 6 – Sea Day

Today we slept in, it was lovely! We had a very late lunch and then back to the cabin until this afternoon. We went to a “shot glass exchange” meet up with people I had met on Facebook before the cruise. We brought shot glasses from where we lived and packaged them into a brown paper bag. We then exchanged bags with other sailors. I received shot glasses from New York and Florida and Diana from Belgium and Florida.

We went to the Dock and had appetizers and drinks for Opa Hour and then back to our cabin to get ready for dinner. Tonight was Pink Agave, one of my favorites. We might have had a few too many dishes and we might be stuffed, but it was worth every calorie! Getting ready to head out for a show and then back to the cabin for dinner.

Tomorrow we have a private tour of Kirkwall and the Orkney Islands. I am so excited – the first time to see some of my ancestral lands!!

Day 7 – Kirkwall, Scotland

Our day started off with us meeting Anna, our driver and guide, at the port. We loaded up in her Mini Countryman, Diana’s favorite since that is what she drives as well, and headed out of Kirkwall. Anna asked if we would like to start a the Italian Chapel. She proceeded to tell us the story of Italian POW’s who built the chapel out of scraps in the POW camp. As she was talking, I realized that I had read a book recently that told this story! The book I read was “When We Were Enemies” by Emily Bleeker. It was so crazy that I remembered reading this story. I have to admit that while reading the story, I never imagined such a beautiful chapel built out of scrap. The chandeliers were made out of old canned beef tins, the candelabra were made from old stair banisters. The paintings on the wall were amazing and the painting on the wall and floor were amazing in that they made it look like it was tile. On our way out of the Chapel, we saw our first “hairy coos”, the Highland cattle of the region.

From the Italian Chapel we proceeded to the first set of standing stones, the Stones of Sternness. These stones supposedly date to 2500 BC. It is hard to imagine that people from the Neolithic Age transported these stones from miles away (they are not from the immediate area) and didn’t break them – they are so thin! In addition the quarried side of the stones all faced toward the center of the circle and made for very interesting acoustic effects. Looking out from the stones, you can see two lochs. The story is that a giant came to the area and loved the land so much he reached down and took two handfuls of the fertile ground to take back with him. The resulting holes were then filled with water and became the two lochs you see today.

The ring of stones originally had twelve stones surrounding a large stone hearth. Now only a few of them are still standing. I wasn’t able to catch Diana before she reached out and touched the stones, however, it seems she is not a traveler and she is still with us in the current time. (This is a reference to Outlander, just in case you didn’t know to what I was referring.)

Unstan Cairn was our next stop. This is an ancient burial mound. The entrance to the cairn was very narrow and very low. I have to admit, I was a little anxious entering the cairn. Inside were several chambers in which bodies would have been laid. The funniest part was a stone slab inside the cairn that shows that Vikings had visited the tomb in the 1100s and left ancient graffiti. The runes on the slab say interesting things like, “Bjorn was here”, “Ingibiorg the fair widow. Many a woman has gone stooping in here. A great show-off.” and other similar phrases. Not much has changed through the centuries!

Next we visited the Cliffs of Yesnaby. These were beautiful. Anna made us promise not to get too close to the edge. When we got back in the car, Anna told us she had made us a snack of Orkadian cheese and bere (a type of barley) crackers. We were running fast and furious to get everything in so the snack was very welcome as we did not have time to stop for lunch.

We proceeded on to Skara Brae, a Neolithic community that was discovered in 1850 when a storm blew the sand off of the ruins that had been hidden under a sand dune. The community was active around 3100 BC to 2500 BC. There are nine houses that are all very similar in set up. Each house has a “dresser”, a set of shelves, beds built into the walls that would have been warmed by straw, furs, and the fire in the hearth in the middle of the house. The houses were connected by covered pathways between them. There is also a drainage system suggesting that the community was relatively advanced. One other structure seems to be a communal building and tools were found there suggesting a workshop. First we toured a replica of House 7 and then we proceeded back in time to see the ruins themselves.

Next to Skara Brae is Skaill House, the house of the Bishop who owned the land on which Skara Brae is located.

The Ring of Brodgar is another set of standing stones. It is about 1,000 years younger than the stones of Sternness, but much larger consisting of around sixty stones originally.

Our time with Anna was coming to an end, but before she took us back to Kirkwall, she drove to a gorgeous viewpoint where you could see all of the Orkney islands. If you look closely in the first picture, you will also see the Scarlet Lady, our ship and home away from home.

Anna dropped us off near the Orkney Cathedral and we sadly said our goodbyes. We took a self guided tour of the Cathedral and then walked into Kirkwall to check out a few of the stores and have a pint at the Orkney Brewery before returning to our ship.

Day 8 – Stornoway, Scotland

Today we visited Stornoway. We boarded a bus for a short ride to the town. Stornoway is the home of Harris Tweed so it was, of course, on the itinerary. After Harris Tweed and we visited a bookshop and several stores around town before landing at a charity thrift store. Here we found a sale that we couldn’t resist – ladies’ jackets for 5£ each. I found two and Diana found one. Diana also found a scarf and I found a sweater. All of that shopping made us a little peckish and so we stopped in a coffee shop across the street. The sign outside said they would give a 10% discount to anyone who ordered in Gaelic. Fortunately, the servers were willing to assist and I had a delicious chai latte and Diana a cup of tea and a shortbread. We sat at a table with a couple of locals who told us a little about how and when they learned Gaelic and gave us a few lessons in Gaelic as well.

We bid our new friends farewell, and continued our walk around the town finding another sale at a store where everything was 50% off. Naturally, I had to have a pair of earrings from Scotland. We then visited a craft butcher and made our way back to the shuttle stop where we had the obligatory picture as Lews Chessmen – I recommend you Google them, they were quite interesting. We boarded the shuttle and once again returned to our ship.

Day 9 – At Sea

Today we were able to sleep in a little as we were at sea all day. We stopped by to see David Maestro and his magic show. I was even chosen to assist. Diana was so entranced, she forgot to get pictures of me, but I did get to keep my souvenir from the show. David invited us to his secret show (IYKYK). We were not allowed to take pictures, so you’ll just have to take my word, it was awesome!

After dinner we checked out the Y2K party, but since we are no longer in our thirties, we went to bed before midnight. Tomorrow is the day I’ve been waiting for….

Day 10 – Greenock, Scotland

Today we hired a private driver to take us to Castle Lachlan, the seat of Clan MacLachlan. After doing a DNA test, I found I am 23% Scottish. Many of my ancestors were born in Argyll, Scotland – the area around Loch Fyne and the site of Castle Lachlan. Phil, our driver and guide, met us at the cruise terminal. Phil was very excited by today’s tour as he had not approached a tour in the past from a clan perspective. He had done some research and had a package of notes for me about Clan MacLachlan. My great, great grandmother was Susan McGloghlan (a derivative of MacLachlan) and my great, great grandfather was Colin Leitch, a member of Clan MacDonald which inhabited a lot of the same area.

Our first stop was the ruins of Kilmorie Chapel. We walked among the gravestones and saw surnames that I recognized from my family tree. There was even a Leitch. I hope that somehow I can find a firm connection to one of the names we saw there, but for now just seeing the familiar names gave me a feeling of connection to my ancestors. From Kilmorie Chapel, we walked a path through the fields to the ruins of Castle Lachlan. Buildings here were few and far between. The New Castle Lachlan, the home of the current chief of the clan, was in the distance and there was only one other building visible from the pathway. It looked much like I suspect it looked when my ancestors were alive. Following the pathway, we came upon the Old Castle. Inside there was a sign giving explaining that the castle was built in the 1400s and gave a layout of the castle. In addition, there were a couple of stories about the castle.

I was very surprised at how being in this space affected me. I didn’t know any of these people, but walking down the pathway in the middle of nowhere, I felt a connection to the past that made me just a little misty-eyed.

After leaving Castle Lachlan, we stopped for a bit of lunch and a cup of tea at the Cottage House on the way to Inveraray Castle. One of my Leitch ancestors was born in Inveraray so it seemed the next obvious stop. Here the castle was in much better condition since it was built several hundred years later. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll still live in the castle, so only half of it is open to the public.

From Inveraray we had to drive directly to the port since we were still two hours away from Greenock. It was an amazing day walking in the lands where my ancestors lived. I hope someday to come back and visit again.

Day 11 – Belfast, Northern Ireland and Scarlet Night

Today we visited Belfast and Northern Ireland. Our tour was a little larger than what we have had in the past few days. Today we had a bus full. There was some confusion over not enough front row seats for all the people who had paid for front row seats. The last couple to board was sitting in the jump seats at the front of the bus and they were not happy about it. I, on the other hand, jumped at the opportunity to trade places with them. We were sitting on the second row and with my tendency to get nauseous in cars and buses, I was only to happy to take the seats at the very front of the bus. Not only did this help with my nausea, but it also meant we had an amazing view and were the first ones off the bus at every stop. (It also meant we were the last ones on the bus at every stop – but every perk has its price.)

Our first stop was Belfast City Hall. I had read online that you should not miss the chance to go inside, and that turned out to be very true. It was a beautiful building on the inside. I only got pictures of a couple of the stained glass windows, but if I showed you everything we saw, there would be no reason for you to visit (not really true) and this would turn into a book instead of a blog!

After City Hall, we were taken on a tour of the murals around Belfast. Our driver, Lindsay, gave us his personal recollections of the “troubles” in Ireland. Where before the troubles started, all the neighborhoods were integrated between the Catholics and the Protestants, once they started, people moved to one side or the other. He explained that the basic issue was not as much religion as politics. Protestant households were given one vote per individual in the household, while Catholic families received one vote per household. I’m not going to go into a lot of what he told us, if you want to know more about the troubles, check it out on Google.

The murals around Belfast were wide and varied in subject matter as well as style. Lindsay drove us through the Peace Gates which were separated the two sides of Belfast. The Peace Wall, he explained, was built in stages as each time the wall needed to be taller to keep items from being thrown over the top. We stopped at the Peace Wall and we were all given an opportunity to add our names to the wall in the name of peace.

This door had a great story. It was located next to the Catholic Church. The door was covered in brass. The dents in the brass had a different story depending on whether you are Catholic or Protestant. One story was that it was the Protestants throwing things at the door to protest the Catholic Church. The other story was that it was the ladies of the church banging on the door to wake the priest up for mass. As to which story belongs to which side, I leave that up to you to decide.

Our next stop was Dunluce Castle, a medieval castle built on the side of a cliff. The colors of the grass and the ocean were absolutely stunning. Ireland is such a beautiful country.

Quick photo stop at Dunluce Castle and we were on our way to Giants Causeway. I didn’t really know anything about Giants Causeway before researching this trip, but Diana wanted to go, otherwise I might have missed something really incredible. The rocks and rock columns are all natural phenomena but look manmade. Our bus driver told us there was a bus that could take us down to the rocks and return us for 1£ each way. He said it was pretty steep coming back, so we thought we would see once we got there if we needed the bus or not. What Lindsay forgot to tell us was that it was one and a half miles to get from the visitor center where he dropped us off to the rocks. Needless to say, we road the bus back.

(By the way, thanks to AI, you can really see the beauty of the place. In reality, there were people crawling everywhere!)

After all that exercise, it was time for some refreshment at the Bushmills Distillery. We were only given thirty minutes, so we shared a quick flight (remember we get off the bus first, so we also got to the bar first!) and then back on the bus.

Our final stop was The Dark Hedges, also know as The King’s Road for Game of Thrones fans. We had a quick lunch and a coffee. As we headed to the Dark Hedges, it began to rain so we didn’t go as far as we might have had it been nice weather.

After the Dark Hedges, it was back to the boat to get ready for dinner and Scarlet Night. Scarlet Night is exclusive to Virgin Voyages cruises and is a ship wide party. Everyone wears red and it is all about the myth of Scarlet Night, a story about a sailor and the Octopus Queen.

Day 12 – At Sea

For a Sea Day, we were very busy. First, we had a chocolate making class, then a class on champagne (it pairs well with fried chicken, who knew?), then a show in the Manor with the Hostess – I won the dance contest, again, who knew? – ok it was really a tie, but free champagne so I’m in! – and then a comedy supper club. We hit the hay tonight, pretty tired.

Day 13 – Dublin, Ireland

Today, we had no tour. We had to sign up for a slot to tender to the shore from the ship and then we had to take a train about twenty minutes into Dublin. From there, we walked around at our leisure and explored. We found Trinity College, but as it was raining pretty hard, we found a place out of the rain and met a very nice Irish man from Galway. After talking with John for about twenty minutes, the rain let up and we moved on to the Irish Whiskey Museum across the street. Unfortunately, they were not very quick with service and we gave up and went to the Temple Bar District instead. We found a nice little market and had our first fish and chips in Ireland. Disappointingly, Leo Burdock’s Famous Fish and Chips were terrible! The fish was so overcooked that it tasted like straw. Maybe we just got there at a bad time? After Leo’s we went to the Quays bar and I had a Guinness while Diana had a Bailey’s coffee.

After we had been revived with a bit of food and drink, we decided to find the National Leprechaun Museum. There isn’t much to see here, but there is lots to hear and to learn. It is a “museum” dedicated to preserving the art of oral storytelling. We met our guide Katie who led us from room to room regaling us with myths and legends about Irish faeries, leprechauns, and selkies.

A little bit of shopping later we found ourselves once again in the Temple Bar District and this time Diana had a pint of Harp Lager and I had an Irish coffee. Since it was going to take about an hour to get back to our ship, we headed back to the train station to travel to Dun Laoghaire (dun-leery) where we would pick up our tender.

Day 14 – At Sea

Today, thankfully, was very quiet. We had to get up earlier than we would have liked in order to reclaim our passports which we had to surrender before docking in Dublin. A quick breakfast and back to the room to catch up on this blog!

This afternoon we saw David Maestro on stage in the Manor. The Charmer on the cruise doesn’t normally get their own show, but David is amazing and is well-deserving of this honor. I hope someday to see him in Vegas!

Day 15 – Disembarkation and on to London

We said goodbye to the Scarlet Lady this morning. While waiting for our bus to London, we stopped and had a pot of tea and scones to get out of the rain. After about two and a half hours, we made it to the Victoria Coach Station in London. Our hotel was only a quarter mile away so we hoofed it with our luggage to the hotel. Sad note: Diana’s luggage is now on its last legs. On the way to the bus station, it broke a wheel and when the bus driver was loading it onto the bus, the zipper broke, spilling her clothes out onto the pavement. Fortunately she was able to get the zipper closed again and we made it without any further incident to our hotel. However, we did find a luggage strap while we were out and about in London to patch it up long enough to get her home.

We checked into our hotel which is a very quaint, family-owned place. However, part of being quaint means no AC, no elevators, and very small rooms. Fortunately, we are on the ground floor so the lack of elevators is not a problem. The room is so small, there is nowhere to open our suitcases, but we are managing so far. On my side of the bed, there is a picture on the wall with a couple of pretty creepy figures staring at us. I did find a solution and we think we will sleep peacefully tonight.

With nothing specific on the itinerary this afternoon, we decided to get our bearing and walk down to Buckingham Palace. I was here about 47 years ago, and you’ll never guess, things haven’t changed much at all. Since Charles was apparently not in town, we headed back towards our hotel with one task in mind – find some good fish and chips to erase the memory of the fish we had in Dublin. With much relief, we found some traditional fish and chips and a couple of drinks. Retiring back to our hotel at the very “late” hour of 8 pm, we put on our jammies and I am finally caught up with this blog. Tomorrow we are going to see Hadestown at the Lyric Theater so I will call it a very early night and look forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Day 16 – London and the West End

Today we are headed to the West End to see a show. It’s only about a mile and a half, so we decided to stroll and take in the sights. First, breakfast at Pimlico Fresh. The owner/manager was a very friendly Brit who welcomed us in and gave us the scoop. The menu was on the wall – I ordered a slice of quiche Lorraine and Diana got a full English breakfast. The chai latte was one of the best I’ve had over here!

Since we were so close, and it was Sunday, we decided to take in the Solemn Mass at Westminster Cathedral. A gorgeous church and a good message from the priest on humility. After mass we strolled by the palace again. Charles was still out so we continued on through St. James’ Park. It was a beautiful day and many people were enjoying the amazing weather. We made a small detour to see the Diana Fountain, as it just seemed appropriate given my companion’s name.

Our destination was the Lyric Theater which was showing Hadestown. Last year, I had tickets to see this show but came down sick the day before. The show is based on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, one of my favorites. When Orpheus is taken to the underworld by Hades, Orpheus follows her down to bring her back. His song moves Persephone, the wife of Hades, and Hades allows Orpheus to take Eurydice back to the land of the living on one condition: he must not look back at her until he reaches the surface. If he does, he loses her forever. You can look up the story if you want to know the ending. The modern adaptation of this ancient story was very well done. The orchestra was onstage and the trombonist was phenomenal!! I really appreciated the way they handled the story and there were so many things to ponder as we left the theater.

We strolled through Leicester Square on our way back to the hotel (not really on the way back, but we just kept walking down interesting streets…)
We ended up in Trafalgar Square and then decided we needed to find some dinner. We checked Maps and found The Clarence (literally right next to us) and decided to give it a try. We shared a pork belly roast with more trimmings than I think I’ve ever seen outside of Thanksgiving – potatoes, roasted in duck fat, braised red cabbage, Yorkshire pudding (turns out it is really more of a roll than a pudding), roasted carrots and parsnips, and a celeriac puree that was delicious! We finished our meal off with a traditional sticky pudding and headed back toward the hotel. At one point Maps took us on a shortcut which we followed with a bit of trepidation, but it actually turned out to be a very good shortcut. Tomorrow we have an eleven hour tour of Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge, so we hit the hay early to get our beauty sleep.

Day 17 – Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath

Today was our last full day in the United Kingdom, so we hit it hard. Our tour guide with Evan Evans Tours was Richard. He was constantly reminding us that we were just touching on each of our stops so that we would realize we needed to return to visit again.

Our first stop was Windsor Castle and St. George’s Chapel. From the coach (not bus) park, we walked to Windsor Castle, about six minutes. Richard suggested that we start at St. George’s Chapel in order to miss the longer lines. We were not allowed to take photos inside any of the buildings, so enjoy the exteriors. Another ancestral connection – I am also a descendent of William the Conqueror, so apparently Windsor Castle is also an ancestral home.

We didn’t get to see all of Windsor Castle. As we were touring the State Apartments, we were evacuated because of a fire alarm. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to wait for them to clear the alarm, so we headed back to our motorcoach.

From Windsor, we drove to Bath, the site of the only still working Roman Baths. If you have never seen a natural, hot, mineral bath, you might think this looks disgusting, but it is not dirty, it is the minerals in the water that make it green. This bath is still filled from natural hot springs. At the end of the tour, we even got to taste the water. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was potable and apparently good for you, too.

If you are a fan of the show Bridgerton, the last picture I took in Bath was of the house that is used for the exterior of Lady Danbury’s House in the series.

Last but not least, we drove to Stonehenge. I was so happy that I had visited the standing stones in Scotland as it really helped me to appreciate Stonehenge and the differences between them. My favorite of the three was probably the Standing Stones of Stenness since we were allowed to walk among them. We could not get inside the circle at Stonehenge, but they were quite impressive. We walked all around them and were about three-quarters of the way around when it started to sprinkle. No worries, I had my raincoat and umbrella. However, within about ten seconds, it went from sprinkling to a horizontal blowing downpour. There is nothing around Stonehenge, so no shelter to be had. Holding on to my umbrella with my head down, we ran for the shuttle to take us back to the Visitor’s Center. By the time we reach the shuttle, we were drenched! With no dry clothes to change into, we endured the two and a half hour drive back to London in our wet clothes. Good news is that we were all laughing.

So….I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain…I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end (but I was wrong). Tomorrow it is back to reality.

Day 18 – Travel Home

Today our adventure comes to an end. Our Uber delivered us to Terminal 2 at London Heathrow where Diana was scheduled to depart. I made my way to Terminal 3 and received a nice surprise. I was waved into the First Class Lounge at the Cathay Pacific Lounge where I had an amazing breakfast and a comfortable wait for my flight home. I was disappointed that Robert could not come with me on this adventure, but I have to admit it was a tremendous blessing that I was allowed to spend these last two and a half weeks with my best friend. What a gift! I am also so blessed that Robert insisted that I go on this trip even if I had to do it without him as I was humbled, inspired, and moved by visiting the land of my ancestors. Tìoraidh until the next time….