Going Rogue in Galway

Brain cancer is...

 

Zoomed way in.  When we borrowed Nigel's binoculars, we could see that the scale is deceiving.  The cliffs are 500 feet tall.

...going rogue today.

Precap posting:  Early.
Recap update:  5:03 pm. 

This morning we were on deck by 6:15 to see the Cliffs of Moher, arguably Ireland's number one tourist destination.  Stunning!  The captain took us by them twice. (Recap update:  See above. We have better pics, but they won't upload right now.)

(Fun update from a fellow traveler:  The Cliffs of Moher are in the movie, Princess Bride.  Recognize the Cliffs Insanity, anyone?) 

Two passes from sea level, we decided, was enough of the Cliffs for us.  So we cancelled our six-hour bus tour to see the cliffs from the top and instead we are going rogue in Galway.

The Zodiac ride is a bit shorter today, and the water looks smoother.  Phew.  (Recap Update:  It was smoother, going and coming, as you see here.  Phew.)

And that concludes today's precap.  (Thanks for pointing out our new strategy, Curt: Precap/recap.)  See you at this evening's recap, Team D.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Galway Recap Update:  Here's our day in Galway.  We are back in our suite, resting (in other words:  battling the Internet).  We will hear an Irish quartet on board tonight and then decide if dinner is necessary. Love you tons.

Galway is the the City of 14 Tribes (ie.,  14 families that dominated life for 600 years here). 

Darrell hung out with Padraic O Conaire, a great Irish writer and Gaelic language advocate. Sorry...can't recognize Darrell?

Here he is.  By the way, Padraic and Darrell are overlooking Kennedy Park.  Yes...

...that Kennedy.  JFK became freeman of Galway Borough about 5 months before his assassination.

The River Corrib, which runs through Galway.  It's short but has a high flow rate, second only to the River Shannon.

Before re-embarking, we "did drop in."  It was a great day for a Guinness, as noted above.  Hurling was on the telly.  People were very serious about the sport.

Darrell's family traces back to the Guinness line.  (It's true.  Get the details from Nancy.)  Darrell limits his beer consumption to special days like this, a day in Ireland, wandering the city.  By the way, we were hungry by the time we decided on the Guinness.  A Guinness almost makes up for lunch.  Almost but not quite.  Calzone at La Terrazza upon return "home."

Our First Glimpses of Ireland

Brain cancer is...

 ...off the Irish coast.

(Updated 5:30 pm.) 

This morning the view at breakfast was of the Skellig Islands.  "Skellig" means "rock" in Gaelic, which makes sense because the Skelligs are uninhabited rocky isles known for their bird life. We circled them a few times to get some great views.  We saw thousands of gannets, who were working hard to build their nests of seaweed.  You can see them, above.  We also saw some puffins (phew!).
 

The largest Skellig has a 12-century, abandoned monastery on it.

We made port at Valentia Island after lunch and wandered Knightstown on our own.  So this is Ireland!

A few  Knightstown fun facts:

1. Knightstown is the origination point of the first transatlantic cable.  It connected Europe with North America (Newfoundland) for the first time ever.  (Darrell is sitting just a short distance from the actual point, above.)
2. Knightstown is the home of an (the?) Altazamuth Stone. People have long been able to determine latitude for navigation purposes, but calculating longitude was much more difficult.  (And not estimating it well led to many tragedies, including a massive wreck in the Scilly Islands, which we mention in our Scilly Isles post.)  It wasn't until the mid 1800s that an experiment --using an instrument called an altazamuth confirmed lines of longitude.  The altazamuth was in Greenwich; one of the points in the experiment was here in Knightstown.
3. Also near Knightstown, but not quite walkable for us today, is a set of tetrapod tracks, laid down about 385 million years ago when a tetrapod (four-footed creature) walked out of the ocean onto land.  It's taken as some of the earliest evidence that life began in the seas and then walked ashore.

The world is an amazing place!

A Note on Our Expedition Cruise

Our Alaska cruise on Sillversea was a traditional cruise.  It was very elegant, and life onboard was the centerpiece of the experience in many ways.  This cruise is also a Silversea voyage, so it has the same delicious offerings and great service.  But life onboard is definitely a backdrop for the real focus:  Seeing, learning about, and appreciating the world's amazing places.

I would say that Darrell and I are slightly younger than the median age on this ship, and yet everyone aboard is out for the adventure, doing these walks, soaking it all in.   It's very much a shared adventure.

There are several naturalists on board.  When we passed the Skelligs Nigel (of course a birder's name should be Nigel) was there to identify birds and explain their behaviors.

Whenever take an expedition, one of the naturalists accompanies us and adds (when appropriate) to what the local guide has to say. 

We are loving the microphone technology they use.  The local guide wears a mic that transmits to the receivers we wear around our necks.  We use earpieces to hear the guide's narration.  It's great because it enables the guide to speak at regular volume, and we can wander a bit, looking at things of interest, and still hear the guide.  Darrell estimates the range to be 100 yards.

One more thing about our receivers:  Because lots of groups go out at the same time, we need to set our frequency to match our guide and not someone else's.  We do that by scanning a color code with our receivers.  We aren't sure what information is being scanned, which makes it even cooler. 

Another difference is that every day there is a recap/precap where members of the Expedition Staff answer questions about what we've seen that day and give us briefings of what's next. 

"Expedition" also means "zodiac cruising."  Zodiacs are motorized rubber rafts that hold about 8 passengers.  They go out and cruise for up close sightings...like puffin hunting.

Darrell is once again a super hero in pushing the "comfort zone" envelope by climbing aboard the Zodiacs to get to shore.  (Keeping Optune dry is an important consideration for us, as you know.) I think the remainder of the landings have us taking Zodiacs ashore.  Here he is on the way to shore today.

(Update:  The Zodiac ride back to our ship was a little hairy today.  Darrell gets special props for agreeing to go back out on one with me tomorrow to go ashore at Galway.)  

Rock on, super hero Explorer Darrell.  

Happy Saturday, Team D.  We wish you awesome adventures!

Storming the Castle

Brain cancer is...

...having fun storming the castle.

If it's Friday, it must be Wales.  As a refresher, Wales is part of the UK.  It's the country west of England, right up against the coast.  We went to two places in Wales today:  First, we saw Tenby, a walled medieval seaside town.  Second, we stormed Pembroke Castle (as you see above: The king of the castle).

Tenby...and the Road There

We learned so much about Wales and related topics from our guide Sarah en route to Tenby.  Our coach took "The Old Road," which is the road that takes you to London...eventually.  I think Sarah said it's a Roman road, very straight.

Here's a highlight:  Farming fields are separated by "hedgerows" here (as you know).  In this county, the traditional hedgerow is very old.  Its base is an earthen hump planted with trees, shrubs, or the like.  For a period of each year, it's illegal to trim the hedgerows.  Hedgerows are a wildlife corridor that allow for animal migration even in farm land.  In fact, the Welsh measure environmental health by checking the species diversity (plants and animals) in the hedgerows.  Here's a hedgerow just for you:

Everything here is very old (as you know).  Every talk begins with, "Starting in the Neolithic era..."  There is evidence of Neolithic humans in Tenby, but humans built a wall around the city somewhere around 1100 c.e.  Here's the "five arches" section of the wall:

It's an impressively lovely town, Tenby.  (That's how we phrase things here.)  Given our slower speed internet, here's just one pic, for now.  We have so much more to say on the topic.

Love the colors?  You can paint your house any hue, as long as it's in the "heritage palette."

Pembroke Castle

We headed next for Pembroke Castle.  It's a Norman castle, not a Celtic one, as you can tell because it's on a river.  It's more of a fortified home than a defensive establishment. 

Two fun Pembroke Castle facts:

1. Henry VII was born here.  (And more fun:  Henry escaped risk of death as a child by escaping with his uncle by sea...via Tenby!...to return to Pembroke as an adult and fight for the throne.)
2. The Castle was never broached, given its thick walls.  Oliver Cromwell's men did overtake it during the Civil War (we hear a lot about that, and it's not the same Civil War), but only by starving out the Royalist troops hunkered down in the castle.

We'll stop here.  It was a great morning.  Wales amazes.  More to say later.  We're back on our ship, now docked near Skomer Island.  The bravest, most waterproofed among us are taking the Zodiac rafts out to find puffins.  Darrell and I are not among the bravest, most waterproof.  We cheer the others on.

Tonight we may or may not cancel one or both of our engagements:  A cocktail party for repeat cruisers and dinner at The Grill.  The Grill involves sitting outside on deck, cooking steak on hot rocks.  You see (above) that it's cool, rainy, and windy today, which is perfect for perhaps everything but eating dinner by the pool.

(Team Alaska, you know whereof we speak.  We wanted to take one for the team and enjoy a redux, but without you our resolve is weakened.)

(Update 5/18:  We love our butler, Chokhoni.  She is very, very sweet, articulate, and considerate.  She also pushes us.  She insisted we attend the cocktail party and dinner both.  She was right.  They were both very pleasant affairs.)

Tomorrow we arrive at Valencia Island, Ireland.

Happy Weekend, Team D!

The Isles of Scilly

Brain cancer is...

...in the Isles of Scilly.

The Isles of Scilly are an archipelago off the coast of Cornwall, in southern England.  This morning we tromped around St. Mary's, a defensively important island with a garrison to repel the pesky French.  You can see the garrison wall near the sea, above, and here:

This afternoon we head to Tresco to visit their well known Tresco Abbey Garden.

Updated:

The Garden was intriguing, and our feet are tired.  Fun Tresco Abbey Garden facts:

• The Island of Tresco is held--and thus the Garden is maintained--by a single family, who can continue to hold the island as long as they live there.  The trust is passed down to the first son in the family, and the fifth generation currently holds it.  Everyone who works on the island is employed by the family.
• The garden was started in the 1800s by a fervent plant collector.  This island has a mild climate, and the gardener changed the weather conditions for plants by planting screens of pines and hedges.  Talk about humans modifying the environment!  
• It's an exotic garden with plants from places like South Africa, Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand. We found that interesting given the emphasis on native plants back at home.  You can see the surprising variety of plants in the pic, below.  Our ship is in the distance.
• The Isles of Scilly have hundreds of shipwrecks.  The gardener started a (morbid?) collection of the figureheads from many of the wrecks.  
• Even the birds are exotic.  Check out the plumage on the pheasant below.  (See?  We told you think of you daily, Friends!  You've gone too long without a bird pic.)

A few from dozens of figureheads of ships wrecked in the Isles.

A view from the top of the garden to our ship

Chinese or Golden Pheasant

Protea

Come to think of it, it's more than our feet that are tired.  We'll have dinner at 7:00 (the earliest seating) and make it an early night.  On to Wales in the morning.

We are sending many happy thoughts your way.  Hugs!

Greetings from Guernsey (Updated with pics 5.15.19)

Brain cancer is...

...through the English Channel.

(Updated 19:24 Wednesday.  That's how we talk here in Europe.  19:24. Inserted images that I emailed to myself whence on land, using international data plan.)

Yesterday (Tuesday) we sailed through the English Channel.  The view from our breakfast table was of the famed white cliffs of Dover.  We went to a lecture and learned lots about the channel.  One fun fact: There's a wide no-traffic swath running down the center of it (like a highway median) because the traffic is so heavy. It sounds obvious, but it was neat to see England on one side and France on the other:  Two countries for the price of one!

We had dinner at the table of the Hotel Director (second in command) and heard great stories about life at sea.  (Okay:  Caviar for the appetizer, lobster for the main course, Bananas Foster for dessert.) 

(Update:  See pic above, which is good of no one except Darrell,  but the evening was great.)

Today we are coming into port at Guernsey.  We'll tender ashore for a cliff walk, which ends with tea.  The famous painter Renoir spent a month on Guernsey and did a series of paintings of the views we'll see today.

(Update:  This was amazing.  Views and history were remarkable.  Renoir's views were our views.  Victor Hugo finished Les Miserables here.  The WW2 history was heartbreaking, as per usual.  The "tea" was a "cream tea." FYI:  The tea is NOT creamy.  The pastry that comes with it is quite creamy.  Clotted in fact.  Guernsey cows are cute.  We also went rogue and visited the Castle Cornet.  Must have castles; here was our first of three...we think.)

We've been invited by the Head Sommelier to a wine pairings event this afternoon in La Dame.  Fun fact:  The Head Sommelier--you know, Ishmael--approached Darrell after dinner last night and told Darrell that he liked his style.  There's Darrell, winning fans everywhere he goes.

(Update: Didn't get a pic, but we and the other guests almost worked out a scheme to steal the Reidel tasting glasses. Almost, but not quite.)

Dinner is at La Terrazza tonight.  Work, work, work.

(Update 5.15.19 at 21:29:  Pretty dang difficult to leave La Terrazza with all of Darrell's friends.  There is much discussion about tomorrow:  When should we have dinner, when does the garden walk start, and (not) whether we should pray for Optune to continue working (coming from China). We have the choice on this cruise to sit by ourselves at a table for two or "share," or sit with others at a larger table, whoever happens to be there also open to conversation with new people.  We keep choosing a table for two because we do lots of socializing at other times of the day.  But we just keep ending up with new friends, regardless of that "table for two" choice.  Dinner was no exception.  Our friends Clare and Jack are from Scottsdale, and our friend Anne lives in Geneva Switzerland, for example.  Darrell is a friend magnet, which is pretty amusing because he doesn't count himself as social.)

We think of each of you for different reasons throughout the day.  Thanks for coming!

Setting Sail

Brain cancer is...

...settled into Suite 618.  In total understanding of the words, “wish you were here.”

A full night of sleep, a superb shower, and a great morning in Amsterdam were the perfect lead up to boarding our ship.

Here we are this morning, soaking up the city.  

We walked to Ann Frank’s house and appreciated how many people appreciated it.  

We successfully ate a pizza at La Terraza, mustered, and are listening to the anchors being raised.

Setting sail soon.  Tomorrow is our only full day at sea.  

Our international phone and data plan only works on land, and shipboard wifi is low powered.  We’ll save up photos, memories, and love for you Team D.  Hope your day in the past (ha ha) is excellent.

Shout Out to the Mamas by Alex Guillaume

Brain cancer is...

...celebrating Mother’s Day In Amsterdam...and all over the world.

Our trip into the Netherlands was smooth and delicious in KLM business class.  We saw great things like about a thousand works by Rembrandt.  We embark tomorrow (Monday).

Today’s post is by Alex Guillaume, guest blogger. Love you Alex!

Today, I wanted to thank all the moms in our lives. Although we might not say so at the time, we really do appreciate you chasing us throughout the house, reminding us that "crayons are not for eating."  We appreciate you trusting us with your cars as we first learn to drive. We appreciate the assurance that we look, "so handsome" or, "so beautiful" in our prom attire. We appreciate you for finding the balance between supporting our dreams, and not letting us do anything too crazy. Being a mother looks like a whirlwind of responsibilities and emotions.  Thank you all for making it look easy.

Mom, thank you for reading to me. Thank you for constantly supporting my interests and passions; when I became hooked on Dragon Ball Z, you studied its characters so you could discuss it deeply with your 12-year-old son. Thank you for movie marathons and carrot fests. Thank you for teaching me that happiness should be based on building strong relationships and surrounding oneself with wonderful people. You're my hero, mama.

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!