Shamrock Report 4

Yesterday, in Portree, Scotland on the Isle of Skye, we went on an excursion to Dunwegan Castle, seat of the Clan MacLeod (pronounced like mac-cloud) since the 13th century. The Castle was one of the most renowned of the Hebridean strongholds and the only one to have been continuously owned and occupied by the she family for eight centuries.

Because of this, the Castle was not only in good shape, but also completely furnished with priceless heirlooms. (Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the Castle.) One of these heirlooms was the Fairy Flag, which now consisted of small pieces of the original flag, framed and hanging on a wall. The Flag was associated with a number of mysterious stories and was said to have special powers when carried in battle.

After spending time in the interior of the Castle and watching a video about some of its associated history, we strolled through the beautiful gardens, which included a waterfall known as Rorie Mor's Cascade. (I don't know the story of the name behind the Cascade.)

From the Castle, we drove through the Scottish landscape to view the Cullin Mountains. Along the way, we saw hundreds and hundreds of sheep; far more sheep than people inhabit the Isle of Skye. Unfortunately, our guide, Michelle, who was very attractive with beautiful long reddish hair, was not very good. As someone in our group commented, she talked to us like we were in kindergarten. It also seemed that the bus driver, who I think was from Eastern Europe, knew more about the Island than she did.

After returning to Portree, we tendered back to the ship, where I raced to the Spa for massage (they were on sale yesterday afternoon). (Our tour ran late, so by the time Gail reached the cabin, all she saw was a path of clothes.)

We had a very enjoyable dinner with a couple in our group who we've met before but never really conversed with at length. The Dover sole I had was outstanding. After dinner, the four of us went to our first show on the cruise--a "UK singing sensation--Karl Morgan. He was a young guy from Wales, who sang some old standards as well as more recent songs (Mack the Knife, Mister Bojangles, an Adele song with which I was not familiar). He was actually a very personable and good entertainer, though I thought his voice which much more suited to popular rock-type music than the oldies.

Today, we will be in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland. The weather is supposed to be fairly nice, but very chilly with a high in the 50s.

Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland


Entrance to Dunvegan Castle


One of the guides


Rear of Castle


Rorie Mor's Cascade


Almost black pansies in the gardens


Thistle in the gardens


Ken Simpson showing off


The Cullin Mountains

View from the Kirkwall hotel

The ship out in the water is Oceania's Marina. We were at the dock.

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Eugene

I figured that, since I saw the "O" on the tender tent

Who do you have for Captain & Cruise Director on the Voyager?

Captain Gianmario Sanguineti, who we have sailed with before and Paul Reynolds, who we are meeting for the first time.

On our way to Reykjavik in fairly rough seas. Been rocking all night. The canceled "La Cirque" last night because of the movement, though it was fairly calm at that time.

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Eugene

As Eugene said we are rocking and rolling a bit.

The Captain told us it would be ROUGH starting about .8.00 pm but it did not start moving much until about 10.00 pm and even now it is not that bad. Certainly had a lot worse. Earlier in the cruise there was a big front of really bad weather south of us and I think it stalled or went further south. So at two different times he has warned us of rough seas that did not happen. So as far as I am concerned we are still having good weather juju.

Today is a sea day and I was looking forward to sleeping in but of course when you do not HAVE to get up you wake up early. Ken is in the land of nod right now. I am sure we will have some card games today and the fierce competition will continue. Mark, Dave and Ralph are very good hearts players. If we had Marc L, Brad and Bo here as well it could get very competitive. I seem to be heading in the wrong direction on expertise at this game --- I do my best when competeting with Brad my original teacher! However, I adore them all so they can beat up on me any time they like.

The food has overall been very good and we all really like Carlos the dining room manager. This is the first time I have met him and he is everywhere. Always down meeting tours that are late back for lunch to tell them La Verandah is still open and by the time you get to La Verandah there he is serving the soup.He is a star and he is going over to the Mariner so will be on Gran Prix I am delighted.

We are all looking forward to the arrival of our new contingent boarding in Reykjavik.

As Ngaire and Eugene have said, we are all having a great cruise. The tours we have taken have been very good, the food is the best I think we have experienced on the Voyager and the complimentary wines too. We are all looking forward to our sea day today which is full with lectures " Iceland : What happens when a country goes broke ".....cooking demos 'Dessert Presentation"......wine tasting ' Journey of Regents' complimentary Wines ". Plus a Seafood Extravaganza. Life is good!

The cruise has been most enjoyable but very busy. The sun is shining today which is always a plus. We thank Eugene for taking the time to post about the trip for everyone. As always, he is doing an excellent job.

Glad you are all enjoying your cruise. The scenery is beautiful. I've not been to most of the stops on this trip, so it's wonderful to get a sneak peek from your photos and commentary.

For all you theater fans, highlights from last night's Tony Awards follows. They actually broadcast a number from "Hairspray" live from RCCL's ship, Oasis of the Seas. That's a first - cruise ship show makes it on to prime time TV. The main floor was mostly full; balcony empty.

-Best Play: Clyborne Park;
-Best Musical: Once. It looks like Once was the big winner with 8 awards. Any play that lets me up on stage to buy a drink and listen to the cast's pre-play concert is OK by me
-Surprise (to me, anyway) was Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: James Corden, “One Man, Two Guvnors.” He beat out James Earl Jones in "The Best Man", Frank Langella (who was great in "Man and a Boy"), Phillip Seymour Hoffman in "Death of a Salesman" and Johnathon Lithgow for "The Columnist".
-Performance by an Actress in Leading Role in a Play: Nina Arianda, “Venus in Fur.”
-Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Audra McDonald, “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.” (her fifth Tony award)
-Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Steve Kazee, “Once.”

The full list is here: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/06/10/the-winners-of-the-2012-american-theatre-wings-tony-awards/

Shamrock Report 5

Yesterday in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, six of us went went to Balfour Castle on the Island of Shampinsay. It was a very good excursion. It was only too bad that we didn't have a sunny and a bit warmer day.

We left the pier for the short bus ride to the ferry terminal in town. When we arrived at the pier, for the second time on this trip, the Olympic flame was being carried by a runner through the port at which we were stopped. (The first time was in Dublin.) After racing off the bus to photograph this, we embarked on a small ferry for the 20-30 minute ride to the Island of Shapinsay. There were only two groups that went on this excursion -- about 70 people -- so it was very nice not having crowds around. As we were leaving the ferry there was a seal in the harbor to greet us.

Our guides escorted us from the harbor to the Castle, where a representative of the Henderson family met us out front and discussed some of the history. The guide described the Castle as a "calendar" house with 365 panes of glass, 12 doors to the outside, 52 rooms, and 7 turrets. We didn't count the panes to verify. It was built in 1848, and still has much of its original furniture and other furnishings. There are no trees in the Orkney islands so while the Balfours were in Italy buying furnishings for the house they made sure the purchases where sent in wooden crates that then were used for the ceilings, staircase and trim. Very resourceful!

Our guide took us on a tour around the Castle, which is still inhabited by the owners at certain times of the year, and rooms are rented out at other times. The cost of renting the castle for a week with its 9 bedrooms for up to 18 people is approximately 16,000 pounds, and even one couple can rent it for the same amount if they want complete privacy. That does not include food or drink. Food by an award-winning French chef is 150 pounds per person per day. Drink is separate.

As part of the tour, we had an Orkney home-baked tea, which was wonderful. Several terrific sweet breads were served with the tea, and each of us was given a delicious scone covered with jam and whipped cream.

After tea, we continued wandering around the house and then, walking around the walled gardens that not only have some beautiful flowers and plants, but also supply Balfour with homegrown produce. All-and-all, a very nice morning.

We returned to the Voyager around 2 PM, but of course they had kept La Veranda open for us to have lunch. After lunch, Gail went back into town to get a few gifts, I worked on the computer, and then it was ready for Trivia. We missed winning by one question. Then, since some of us had so many onboard credits, we stayed to play Bingo, which cost, but also pays out to winners. None of us won.

Dinner was okay. I actually found it difficult to find a main course I wanted, so I picked an entree from one of the other restaurants--this option is offered each day with a couple of choices. I chose rack of lamb, which was good, but for some reason my plate was cold, and it had quickly cooled down my food.

During dinner, the Captain interrupted (which is extremely rare) to tell us that he anticipated that rough seas would begin about 8 PM and therefore we should be prepared. It meant that they also canceled the show that night, which was "La Cirque." It is a bit like Cirque du Soleil and involves aerialists, so that they cannot perform in rough seas. We had planned on going to the show, but since it was canceled, we turned in relatively early. We gained an hour overnight as we headed for Reykjavik. The seas did get progressively rough as the evening and night progressed, and we are still rocking and rolling, though we've been in much worse seas.

Here are some photos:


Kirkwall Harbor


Sheila and Gail dressed like twins. Several of us were clicking away with our cameras, and we are sure bystanders were wondering who the celebrities were!


Olympic flag in Kirkwall


Balfour Castle seen as we walked from the ferry.


Otter Coat of Arms (otters)


One of the most beautiful of the Castle's rooms


Sheila and Ngaire in one of the rooms available for booking


Billiards room. I thought that the light fixture was neat.

A few more photos (I think there were too many in the last post and some wouldn't upload).

This one taken by Ken H in the Gardens


Apple trees growing flat along the wall


Irises in the Castle's Garden


Ken investigating the "Tidal Toilet" built to flush twice a day!

Thank you for the images and interesting reports.

I hope the tides are VERY reliable - do they have "tidal paper"?

Thank you for all the photos and reports Eugene. At least we can still feel like we are there with you!

We all wish you were still with us...... we miss you guys.

We certainly second that wish. We really do miss you two. (It's too quiet next door!)

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Eugene and Gail

I love that top pic of the lct'ers! Thanks, Eugene! And lovin' seeing some of my favorite cruising gal pals!

Ken has promised to post some pictures today. It has been incredibly busy. Good thing we have had Eugene along to keep the sea mail coming.

As you note from the posts above Paul and Susan are not on the ship now. Paul was hit by a car and broke the main bone in his foot. He had to have surgery within a week and was flown home from Belfast. We all miss them terribly we were all having so much fun. He had an incredibly good attitude about the whole thing and of course they were both disappointed it is not easy for Paul to get away. He is home safe and sound and taking care of his foot now.

Today we arrive in Reykjavik and the sun is shining and supposedly will be around for the next five days so that is great. We only had the one night of a little rocking and rolling and it has smoothed out again now.

Yesterday was a SEA DAY - finally. Trivia was packed but our team of five won (tied for first) we played some cards as well and had a very lovely afternoon. I do enjoy sea days.

We arrive in Reykjavik at 1.00 pm and most are going on tour but we are staying onboard so Ken will post some pictures then. Tomorrow we will do the long 7 1/2 hour golden circle have not done it for a while so decided to take the plunge and revisit this area of Iceland with the others.

Okay off downstairs to make some plans for next weeks group. Losing some but gaining more and happy so many are on for both segments.

Ngaire covered events yesterday very well. I will only add that we had a very nice dinner at Signatures with N&K and the Simpsons. I had Magret de Canard and it was delicious. I also had the lobster salad with mango as my salad course and it, too, was wonderful.

After dinner, we went to the show and sat with Mark and Cheron. The Welsh singer, Karl Morgan, was back, and he sang more rock-type songs that were better suited to his voice, so we thought the show was even better than his first one.

We are planning on just going into town with the Simpsons after our Tex-Mex lunch today. Tomorrow, the four of us have a car for the day to take us on a similar tour to what Ngaire will be doing with Regent. We had arranged our private tour before we knew that Regent was doing one, but decided to go ahead with the private car anyway.

By the way, the Internet has been very good so far.

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Eugene and Gail

Some Photos from SHAMROCK:


Children waiting to see the Olymoic Torch in Dublin, Ireland.


Let the festivities begin.


The torch.


Ken sizing up his next shot.


The town of Donaghadee has the oldest PUB in Ireland.


Regent Seven Seas Voyager anchored in Portree.


Portree.


Balfour castle outside of Kirkwall, Isle of Skye.


Canon aimed at the Oceania Marina (foreground) and Regent Voyager in the background.

Thanks Ken! Fun photos.

Ken's pix are always so fun to see. Look at that little girl giving the other sad girl a piece of her mind, how funny!

Did I miss the post with the preliminary cruise winners? Need to know who the competition will be when we cruise in November.

Wonderful pix, Ken! But I don't get why they don't do some landscaping around that beautiful castle

Eugene, enjoying every word of your commentary along the way!

I just got a chance to be entertained by all of your posts and pics! I am so sorry about Paul.i wish him a speedy recovery. Australian Ken, no sunrise sunset pics? You are losing your touch! But. I bet there are some interesting pics of Irish coffee from what i could see from some other pics! Lol

Wish we were with you guys....keep having loads of fun.

Marc, I'm sure that Ngaire will post the preliminary winners soon. I can't remember who were selected because most were not LCT posters. One couple that I do remember is Susan and Paul, which given the turn of events, we were all happy about.

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Eugene

Will write up our first day in Reykjavik later, but since I have a good connection, I'll post some photos:

Arriving in Reykjavik


Took the shuttle to this building and then walked all around for a couple of hours
Harpa--the RYK Concert Hall and Conference Center


Huge Graffiti


More Graffiti with Sheila and Gail


Neat building along the walk


Ken Simpsons guided us to a nice lake in town, birds on the wing


March of the Seagulls

Hallgrimskirkja--largest church in Iceland


Its organ pipes


An organist gave a little recital


Little girl in the audience


Iceland's motto?

Thanks to Eugene and Ken for all your great photos. Keep them and your seamail coming!

great weather

Shamrock Report #8

Yesterday, we did the Golden Circle tour that goes in the wilderness around Reykjavik. We met our private guide, Viddi, at 9:00 AM at the harbor. From there, we headed to the west side of the Pingvellir rift valley, where the tectonic plates of America and Europe meet. We made one camera stop to see the Icelandic horses. The have a shorter stature than our horses and also seem to have bushier manes and tails. Viddi told us that the Vikings brought the horses in 900 AD and they have been isolated and have not changed. They were all over the island. People outside of Iceland purchase them as they are very tame and have five gaits. They seem to come in all colors. (Eugene thought that they looked like unicorns without the horn.) We also stopped to see the lake which Viddi said was very deep as the lake is over the fault line. It was pretty but a little crowded as several buses had just arrived. We decided to make a break and try to get ahead of them.

Crossing the rift, we then headed to Geysir to stroll along the path where a number of geysers are located, but the one that is most regular is Strokkur, which does it thing about every 7 or 8 minutes. I still found it tricky to get a good photo.

From there we went to Gullfoss, which is a spectacular waterfall. There, I kept waiting for the sun to come out from behind some clouds to improve the lighting for photos. I didn't have to wait long as we were having spectacular weather. Viddi told us that of the 200 times he may have done this tour, only about 25 have such great weather. One could see one of the great glaciers that still moves along the landscape and are being affected by global warming--receding just like the ones in Alaska. We stopped for lunch and had a traditional lamb soup. It was tasty and warm.

Then we made a quick stop at Skalholt, Iceland's first bishopric, from 1056 until 1801. Skalholt became an important education center, and at one point, was the country's largest settlement. The memorial outside is dedicated to Iceland's last Catholic bishop. We made a couple of other stops--one at a smaller waterfall, and one at a crater--but I'm not sure what the names were (see photos). Then we headed back to the ship, as one of our party was not feeling well.

We arrived back and had some time before getting ready to meet our friends Mitch and Bert (from Naples, FL) who boarded in RVK. We had an excellent meal in Prime 7, where for the first time, Gail and I split a 32 oz. Porterhouse. Mitch had brought a delicious Cabernet that friends from FL had sent to them in Iceland.

Here are some photos:

Pingvallavatn Lake in the Pingvellir Rift Valley


Icelandic Horses


Strokkur Geyser


Gullfoss Waterfall


Another view of Gullfoss


Small Waterfall with Salmon Ladder

More photos from the Golden Circle tour:

Skalholt Church


Pulpit Inside


Stained Glass inside


Sarcophagus of First Bishop in Basement


Crater of Volcano that Caved in on Itself


Today we are in Isafjordur, Iceland (I think the first time for Regent). It in the northwest part of Iceland and has a population of about 2,600. We went on an excursion to "The Bird Island of Vigur." It was cold and damp. Though we had coffee and cakes at the end. Of course, now it is bright and sunny outside. I'll post more about it tomorrow as we have the morning free before our excursion in Akureyri, Iceland (also a first time for Regent, I think).

Almost time for Tea and Trivia. Keep your fingers crossed.

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Eugene and Gail

stunning. coffee and cakes--very good

Eugene, I love that crater photo! How do you remember all the spellings of the towns and sites????

Love Iceland--thanks for all the great pictures.

Karen, I don't remember. I use the Regent excursion descriptions and our travel guides and look up the spellings, when necessary. And with the Icelandic words, it is often necessary!

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Eugene

Very nice photos Eugene. What camera are you using these days? I'm very happy that you steered me in the direction of the Panasonic cameras. I love my G2 and LX5.

Lauri, I'm using my Panasonic G1.

By the way, since I wasn't sure about the additional stops in Iceland, I asked Ngaire, and she told me that Regent has stopped at Isafjordur and Akureyri before. So I wanted to correct that information.

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Eugene

Shamrock 9

Yesterday, when we arrived in Isafjordur, Iceland, we were really "socked" in with fog and low hanging clouds, despite the forecast of partly sunny skies. Our excursion to "The Bird Island of Vigur" was early, and it did not looks promising for photo opportunities.

The excursion began with a short walk to a touring boat for the 30-minute ride to the island. It was cold and damp--probably in the low to mid-40s. The island is known for its bird life, including puffins, eider ducks, and arctic terns.

There are only about 5 inhabitants of the island and during the winter only 2 we were told. The farmer makes his living by harvesting the down of the eider duck. It is like stepping back in time. Our guide talked around the "town," and their were birds everywhere. We saw eggs along the way and the down that is used for the nests. We also carried sticks with little blue flags on it so we could wave to fight off the terns that were not pleased by our presence, probably thinking we were a threat to their young. There was a very small windmill that could actually rotate on its base.

When we finally viewed the puffins, they were in fairly large numbers, but very far out in the water, and my photos were taken at a great distance (as you can tell from the results). It was a photographic challenge.

At the end of the tour, we were taken to the "factory" to see some machines that dry the eider, and separate it from unwanted material. The result was incredibly light down that keeps one very warm. I heard that a queen size comforter was on the order of $1100!

As the tour progressed, we were getting colder and colder. I sure wish I had packed my hiking shoes and had layered even more. It was great to finally go in for refreshments of tea or coffee and some a nice nut tart, sweet bread, and some type of fried donut-like pastry.

After returning, we had lunch and didn't do much until Trivia. The sun burned off the low-hanging clouds and eventually it was extremely bright, beautiful blue skies, and sunny till well past 9 PM. We did not win Trivia. We had two answers that we changed; if we hadn't we would have won. Who was asked to play Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz" before Judy Garland? We first thought Shirley Temple, then I mentioned possibly it was Liz Taylor because of National Velvet, and we changed it. We thought Shirley Temple was too old by then. However later we realized that Liz didn't make sense because she never sang. The other question was what body part does not change size as one ages? Ngaire postulated eyes, one of a doctor present on our team convinced us that wasn't true (which it was according to answers) and in the last minute, I think Ngaire mentioned belly button, which we thought was a funny answer, but not the correct one. Oh well.

We had a delicious dinner. I had a small portion of lobster tail--a main course--as an appetizer followed by delicious piece of prime rib. Despite going to the gym again, I'm losing the battle of weight gain with all this wonderful food. I also saw the stars of the "La Cirque" who were working out at the gym, and I asked if they were trying to make us all look bad. The guy answered that he was providing "motivation"! He saw me weight myself and said he wished he was that light. I laughed because he's probably six inches taller, 30 years younger than me, incredibly strong and in fantastic shape.

We just arrived in Akureyri, Iceland, where we have an excursion just past noon. It's partly cloudy and 41 degrees. There is some chance of precipitation, but hopefully that won't happen. Gail got to sleep in!

More later.

The boat we took to Vigor Island


The thriving metropolis


The 200-year old boat used to transfer sheep and whatever


The tiniest windmill in Iceland? Note the whole windmill revolves on its base


Some Eider eggs along the path


One of the hundreds of terns; this one came out fairly clear

More photos from Vigor Island, Iceland:

A couple more


March of the people with our sticks to ward off the dive-bombing terns


Puffins from a very long distance


"Mary" and her two little lambs. One of the 10 residents (I think)