British Isles Cruise July 2013 Guernsey

The first time we took a cruise around the British Isles was because we had never been to Ireland.We enjoyed the cruise so much that this is now the third time we have done it.
 Our first stop was Guernsey and we did what we had done the first time and caught the local bus which goes all the way around the island for £2. Much better value than the $40 or so that the ship tour costs.

 Fort Grey is a 'Martello' tower built in 1806 to defend the bay at Perelle from French attack. It now houses a museum which tells the story of the many terrible shipwrecks that have occurred on Guernsey's treacherous west coast.

 Views around the coast of Guernsey.

The harbour.

Castle Cornet has stood guard over St Peter Port harbour since the thirteenth century. It was progressively extended outwards, especially by Queen Elizabeth. During the English Civil War it was held for the King against an 8-year siege by Parliamentary forces. An explosion destroyed the medieval 'donjon' in 1672 but the castle was then extended under the Georgians. Its final military use came when German forces used it as a strong point in the second world war.

Leaving Guernsey we headed for Cobh (pronounced Cove) which was formerly known as Queenstown and was the last port of call of Titanic.We caught the train into Cork and we were going to get the HoHo bus but when we got to Cork there was a locally operated open top bus at the station, so we decided to take that one instead. It was a good choice. The guide had everyone in fits of laughter from start to finish.

The River Lee which runs through Cork.

The National Monument on the Grand Parade in Cork was unveiled on St Patrick’s Day 1906.  The monument commemorates the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848 and 1867.
The bus took us around some of the sights of Cork and on to Blarney Castle which will be in the next post.

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands.

Orkney Islands, Scotland.

Our first stop on Orkney was Maes Howe which is an ancient chamber tomb dating back to 2700BC. It was very low to get in and unfortunately as I get claustrophobic, after the first two or three feet, I had to reverse back out and let Ivor go in on his own.

He said once you had gone through the low and narrow passage it opened into a large chamber with some natural light.

As no photos were allowed inside I kept the camera and took a photo of some local inhabitants while I waited.

The scenery was lovely too, but it was very cold and windy there.

Next were the four Standing Stones o' Stenness thought to date from 3100BC and the oldest standing stones in Britain. You can read more about them here.

They stand up to 19 feet high.

On the short trip from Stenness we passed this swan sitting on her nest.

Next was the Ring of Brodgar which has many more standing stones but not as big as the previous ones we saw. You can read more about it here.

I took so many photos on Orkney that our next stop at Skara Brae will have to come in the next post.

Dublin and Belfast.

Dublin.

Trinity College Dublin.

Trinity College.
Dublin City Hall.

A typical Dublin pub.

Statue of 2 shoppers taking a rest. Popularly known as The Hags with the Bags."

Statue of Molly Malone.

Belfast.
The new Titanic museum.


Belfast City Hall.

City Hall.

Memorial at City Hall.

The Titanic remembrance garden.

Titanic memorial.

A typical Belfast pub.

The Opera House was the most bombed building in Belfast during The Troubles.

Murals in Belfast.


Stormont, home of the Northern Island Assembly.

North Wales Pt.2

After leaving Snowdonia we headed for the town of Betwsycoed.

The train station had been converted to cafes and shops so we stopped and had a coffee before moving on to Conwy Castle.

As soon as you get to Conwy it is impossible to miss the imposing castle.


Looking out over Conwy from the castle walls.






Conwy also has the smallest house in Great Britain which has not been lived in since 1900 but still belongs to descendants of the original family.

After leaving Conwy, our last stop in Wales has the longest place name in Europe and is third longest in the world after Thailand and New Zealand.

It is commonly known as Llanfair PG.

Our taxi driver tried unsuccessfully to teach us to pronounce it!
After leaving Wales we boarded our ship and headed towards Dublin in Ireland