British Isles Viking Cruise - two weeks

We arrived into London the morning of May 11 and after dealing with a torn luggage bag, totally unusable, we embarked onto the Viking Sun.  The first day we just rested up and got organized since we were going to be in the same room for 29 days.  When we arrived at dinner, we found out our favorite waiter and wine steward were on this ship.  We were so happy to see them and so excited about the service they would provide.  

Day 2:  We took "The Tower of London" shore excursion.  Viewed the Crown of Jewels to include the 530.2 carat Cullinan diamond (no pictures allowed).  We viewed the chamber in the White Tower where prisoners were tortured.  The Tower of London is a 1,000 year old castle, home to the Royal Armouries.  

                                        

The Rack

Tower of London

Day 3 we went to Dover, UK, known for their white chalk cliffs.   We toured Leeds Castle and the city of Canterbury which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In Canterbury we also toured the Canterbury Cathedral.  

Leeds castle  is one of the oldest and the most romantic castles in England built on 500 acres.  The castle was built in 1119 and the most famous owner was Henry VIII.  

We walked around Canterbury, a really quaint town and then had a tour of the Canterbury Cathedral.  The cathedral is being restored both inside and out so we saw lots of scaffolding.  In 597AD Augustine was sent to England and became England’s first Archbishop.  The Martyrdom section of the church was where Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170.   

We drove by the Dover castle, which is the largest English castle, built in the 1180s by King HenryVII.  

That evening the ship brought in entertainer, Lorraine Brown, who was absolutely great.  

Day 4, we were in Dublin.  We first took in the city views of Dublin, to include driving by the river Liffey and through Phoenix park.  We also drove by the Georgian houses.  Trinity College (started by Queen Elizabeth in 1592), famine memorial and St. Patrick's cathedral, founded in 1190.  

Harp Bridge - the harp is
Ireland's symbol

Papal Cross - Pope John Paul II delivered
a sermon here to more than 1.25 million.

St Patrick's cathedral

Trinity College

Guiness Plant

In the afternoon we drove to Abbey Tavern, from the 11th century, and had Irish coffee and then drove out to Malahide Castle and gardens, a 14th century castle.   

That evening we had entertainment on the ship:  Damsha – Song and Dance Company.  

Day 6 were are in Holyhead, UK and we viewed the South stack bird reserve.  We saw the birds and plant life to include the Spathulate Fleawort flower, that only grows here in South Stack, no where else in world, and blooms every other year in June.  

Spathulate Fleawort

Day 7 we were in Liverpool, UK.  We took the excursion called Iconic Liverpool, which was a tour of the city and then we walked along the river back to the ship.  

Liverpool Cathedral is the 5th largest cathedral in the world, designed by a 22 year old architect.  The cathedral was built in 1904-1977 and has the tallest gothic arches in the world.  

Metropolitan Cathedral

3 Graces

A Case History

Horse Monument - Waiting - commemorates 250 years of working horses in Liverpool

Mercy River

Albert's Dock

Day 8 we were in Belfast, Ireland and had our first day of rain.  Our tour took us to Giant's Causeway, a Unesco World Heritage Site, created by volcanic activity over millions of years.  

Dunluce  castle - fell in sea in 1639, built in the 1500s

Bush mills distillery 1608

300 year old rope bridge - spans 80 feet

Day 9 we were in Ullapool, Scotland.  We did a shore excursion which was a walking tour of the town, which is a small fishing village of about 1500 people.  Most popular fish are herring, mackerel, lobster, shrimp and white fish.  At the end of the tour, we stopped at a local pub to have ale, fudge and shortbread enjoying a local musician.  

Home that had rare New Zealand
cabbage trees (looks like a palm)

Pub we visited

Day 10 we spent on Orkney Islands which we had been before.  This time we took the shore excursion called Yesnaby to Skara Brae - a Scenic Coastal Walk.  We walked along the cliffs overlooking the west coast of Orkney and then we took a tour of Skara Brae.  

Before starting our 3+ mile hike, we saw the Primulae Scotiica flower (Scottish primrose),  grown only on the northern coast of the Scottish mainland and nowhere else in the world.  

Skara Brae is a 5000 year old village that was just uncovered from the sand dunes about 150 years ago.  

Day 11 we were in Edinburgh, UK.  We had also been here before so our plans were to visit the Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace.  The Palace, where British royalty lives, was closed the day we were there so we instead visited an old deserted palace, Linlithgow palace built in 1542 and a church right next door, St Michaels which was rebuilt in 1424 after a fire.  

Holyrood Palace

Edinburgh castle is home of the Scottish Crown Jewels, and is on one end of the Royal Mile.  

Linlithgow Palace

Michaels Church

Day 12 we were in the Highlands of Scotland, docking in Invergordon.  We took an Inverness Scenic Drive shore excursion, which is at the mouth of the Ness River.  I was hoping as we drove through the countryside that we would see the Inverness cattle, but I had to settle for a picture of a picture.  

Lots of oil rigs where the ship was docked

Lots of fields of rapeseed in UK - Canola Oil
made from rapeseed

St Andrew's  Cathedral

Highland cattle

Inverness Town House

Inverness Castle, built in the 1830s 

Day 13 we arrived in the Shetland Islands.  We had also been here before, so this trip we did the excursion of the Sheltand Pony Experience.  We had very wet rains, but still enjoyed the time with the Shetlands, despite the weather.  The colts in the pictures below are only 2 weeks old, the first time they were let out around people.  

Day 14 & 15 we were in Bergen, Norway, known as the Wooden City.   Day 15, everyone disembarked the ship, except for the crew and 3 other couples besides us.  It felt good, as everyone was talking about flights and how early they needed to depart, that we did not have to worry about that.  

On the 14th day, we took the Panoramic Bergen tour visiting the main town of Bergen to include the Torget fish market, and Queen Maude viewpoint.  

The royal castles, the first one was built in 1240 and now used as a museum.  The second picture is the current castle used by royalty, called  Gamlehaugen, built in 1899.  

 Views from Queen Maude viewpoint:  

Torget Fish Market

That evening the ship brought on violinist, Jaran Apold for entertainment.  The ship had great entertainment for all 14 days, along with the 2nd segment.  Corinne Bach was a brand new cruise director on Viking and did a musical show.  She had previously toured with Andrea Bocelli,  Sarah Brightman, Kenny Rogers and Josh Groban.  

We also became good friends with the Viking Band, as the first two weeks when we visited them in the Torshavn lounge, we were maybe only 2 of at most 12 guests.  The 2nd two weeks, they were very well attended and we had to leave the other entertainment early to get good seats.  Vince and Jennifer could sing anything and they were accompanied by the Viking Band of Nigel, Philip, JP and Isabella.