THE FIRST PART OF THE CRUISE was for transportation—we had to cross the Atlantic in some fashion. The rest of the trip was selfish indulgence, pure and simple. We had never been to the Channel Islands and we were looking forward to seeing an old friend in Ireland. Everything else would be gravy.
European Robin, Guernsey Channel Islands
Fewer passengers boarded in Southampton than got off, or at least it seemed that way. Connie and I continued to “keep ourselves to ourselves” as they say in England as we crossed the Channel towards the Channel Islands, destination St. Peter Port on the island of Guernsey. Guernsey is “quasi-British”—it has its own flag, many signs are in French and it was occupied by Germany during WW II, so were counting it as another country, like we do with Wales and Scotland. First impression, it’s windy and rainy and not a place I’d care to move to but we found some cute gardens and a few interesting birds.
Approaching Cobh, County Cork
The highlight of the cruise, for us, at least, was meeting up with our long-time friend (and South African boss-lady) Vanessa in Cobh, Ireland. We treated her to lunch at the Titanic Bar and Grill—fish and chips all around and a Guinness for moi. (In case you are wondering about the moniker Titanic, Cobh was the fated ship’s last contact with land.) Vanessa drove us on a tour of the area and showed us where she works and lives. We hadn’t seen her in ten years and now she’s one of the few people we’ve met up with on three continents!
Vanessa and Connie, Cobh
Connie, Vanessa and friends
As it happens, there wasn't much gravy. The Emerald Princess didn’t actually GO to Dublin, nor did she dock AT dun Laoghaire, Dublin’s port. When you add in the boarding time—as a group “cruisers” aren’t the spryest folks— would take an hour to “tender” ashore and another 45 minutes to get to Dublin. We didn’t want to kiss the Blarney Stone, I’d had my Guinness ration and we had been to Dublin before so we remained on board. Tenders were required at Holyhead, Wales too. While the overpriced excursions set off for Snowden National Park and Carnarvon Castle (been there, too) we stretched our legs with a stroll around town.
Like Mother's Milk
The port of Greenock isn’t exactly IN Glasgow either so we took the train into the city, mainly to visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It’s a beautiful building, inside and out and they have some interesting paintings by well-known artists like Rembrandt, Cassatt, Van Gogh, young Picasso and Monet, of course.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
Rembrandt's "A Man in Armor" pride and joy of Kelvingrove
The rest of the cruise, back through the Irish and Celtic Seas, around Land’s End and into Southampton was uneventful. We took advantage of the on-board self-service laundry so everything is fresh and clean. We took the train to Heathrow where the rental car guy had us over a barrel with some BS about needing a copy of our auto insurance—should’ve used Hertz!—but we were soon on our way—on the left side of the road!
