Shamrock Report 3

Because of the necessity to skip the Isle of Man, we had a long stay in Belfast. Unfortunately, it rained most of the time, often pretty hard. The first day we stayed on the ship. Yesterday--Friday, June 8 in case the chronology is becoming confusing--we went to the Ards Peninsula. We took the coastal road along the southern shore of Belfast Lough heading for Grey Abbey.

We passed Stormont Castle, which was the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly that was responsible for Northern affairs. We arrived at Grey Abbey, site of a Cistercian Abbey from which the village takes its name. We stopped at the abbey, and the misty weather seemed perfectly appropriate for visiting the ruins, which date back to 1193.

From Grey Abbey, we traveled the peninsula to Ballywater, which was formally a finishing village and now is a costal vacation getaway. It reminded us of Montauk, where Gail has a home.

Then we headed north following the coastal route through the town of Millisle to Donaghadee, which has a long seagoing history. It apparently is a very popular place for water enthusiasts, including anglers. There we stopped at a local hostelry for Irish Coffee and some local breads--a nice mid-morning treat with plenty of "kick." We had about 15 minutes after our coffee to explore the town.

From there, we drove along the coast of the Irish sea and it had cleared enough so we had fairly good views of some of the islands out to sea. In addition, we saw many beautiful summer homes along the coast--many in the Georgian style, but also a few beautiful modern buildings.

We returned for a late lunch. After lunch, Gail won at Hearts, I snoozed, and then it was time for Trivia. We came in second place, which was enough to win some chits. One of the most difficult questions was, "What optical device was invented in 1897? First, we thought monocle, then we decided since spectacles were much earlier that couldn't be right, then Gail and Ken thought contact lenses, but we thought that was too early. So we settled on sunglasses. We should have listened to them!

Gail and I didn't have dinner plans, so we jointed a couple of women from CA who were eating alone. We had a nice time chatting about travel, and the food was very good, especially a seared tuna on wasabi appetizer, and a fantastic frozen chocolate creme brûlée with mousse and chocolate icing.

Knock on wood we are about to land in Portree, Scotland, and it looks beautiful, though pretty cool--about 60.

Eugene and Gail


The Titanic Museum in Belfast (winged front)



Samson and Goliath--the two huge cranes in Belfast Harbor




Grey Abbey



Gail and Ken Simpson at our stop in Donaghadee for Irish Coffee



Interesting Church on our way back to the docks in Belfast