Isle of Guernsey

Dear Family and Friends,

Our final stop on our cruise was in St Peter Port, Guernsey.  Guernsey is part of the Channel Islands, located just north of Normandy, France.  The Channel Islands are a part of Britain.

It was a heavily overcast, rainy day when we were there.  According to our experience this type of weather is common at this time of year all over the U.K.
On the bright side, it was never HOT.

There were tons of boats at the dock.  It looked like everyone in the town owned one. 

The city of St Peters Port is not large.  We walked around the city center in about an hour. 

Here is a statue of Prince Albert. 

We went into the local library where we saw this very creative bench.  It looks like an open soft bound book.

We decided to take a local bus and get off if the stop looked interesting.  We rode awhile and I saw a thrift store.  That hooked me, we hopped off the bus and started exploring.  It turned out to be an area having several thrift stores.

In the U.K. these stores are called Charity Shops.  It helps to know the local lingo. When we were in New Zealand, they were called Op Shops.

I love exploring these stores when we are in other countries because it gives me a look inside the lives of the locals.

I remember when I was small that some little boys in the U.S. had these toy soldiers.  I haven't seen them in 50 or 60 years in the U.S.  I saw bins of these soldiers in more than one charity shop.

World Wars I & II were tragic for Britain.  Seeing these toys just now being tossed away tells me that the British children were playing "army," a generation or two after the U.S. children.

Do you remember these?

While looking around in the charity shops, we asked if they could recommend a near by place for lunch.  They recommended a restaurant in the next block.

It was a terrific place for lunch.  It was a "Mom and Pop" restaurant with good local food.

Here is a picture inside.

Chuck waiting patiently for his lunch.

Here is Chuck's lunch of roast lamb.

My lunch of a meat pie.

After lunch, we looked around the area a bit then went to the bus stop to get back to the port.

We had a nice relaxing day.

We boarded the ship for the last time.

After the ship returned to Southampton, we took a bus to Cardiff, Wales.

I will share about our adventures in Wales in future posts.

Love,
Nancy

Edinburgh - Friends and Sightseeing

Dear Family and Friends,

The most exciting thing on our Edinburgh stop was meeting up with our friends. Many of you Cuenca folks know Karen and Larry Schunk.  They moved back to Iowa from Cuenca a couple of years ago.  We have kept in touch with them through Facebook. When we learned they were going to be in Scotland at the same time we were, we figured out a way to meet up.

The Schunks were on their last day in Scotland before returning back to the U.S., but they made time to meet us for lunch just outside the Edinburgh castle.

I am happy to report they are doing fantastic. Believe it or not, they travel more than we do and they are still doing it all on their own (no tours or cruises). We love following the pictures they post to Facebook of their travels.

We spent lunch catching up with each other over the past two years and before we departed we made tentative plans to have a reunion two years from now somewhere in the world, maybe New Zealand.

Thank you Karen and Larry, being with you made our day.

After lunch, Chuck and I made out way to Edinburgh castle.  On the way we were amused at how clever street artists are to make money from the tourists.

This is the main gate that leads into the castle.

Edinburgh castle is an historic fortress and dominates the skyline of the city.

Here is a picture that I made when we were in Edinburgh a couple of months ago. It is not a good picture because it was made through the glass window of a tour bus, but you can get an idea of the size.

We did not have time to tour it last time, so we made sure we did it on this trip.

The complex was huge and the day was beautiful.  We enjoyed our self guided tour very much but unfortunately, I did not get many pictures.

An example of the historic homes of Edinburgh, just outside the castle.

There is a very touristic road that runs from the hilltop castle down to the Holyrood Palace that is called the Royal Mile.  Here are some tourists enjoying that street.

We connected up with our tour bus and went back to the ship.

Between the Royal Yacht, lunch with Karen and Larry, and the Edinburgh Castle it was a wonderful day.

Our next stop was the Isle of Guernsey, I will share about our visit there on the next post.

Love,
Nancy

The Royal Yacht Britannia

Dear Family and Friends,

We took a tour when we arrived in
 Edinburgh, Scotland. When we were there a couple of months ago, we just self guided ourselves in the city.

This tour took us first to the Royal Yacht Britannia.  It was decommissioned in 1997.

There were about 150 to 200 people touring the boat at the same time we were.  This is always a problem with big bus ship tours.  At least half the people were trying to take pictures.  I did the best I could...

This is the office of the ship's captain.

The dining room where the ship's officers ate.

 This room is the sun lounge, used by the royals.  It is said to be the favorite room of the Queen.

 A display of the silver used on board.

A place setting at the table in the State Dining Room.

It is set up for a large number of guests.  Many notable guests were served here, including Sir Winston Churchill, President and Mrs. Reagan, Frank Sinatra, Nelson Mandela and President and Mrs. Clinton.

This is the Queens Sitting Room which also served as her office.

view from another angle.

The Grand Staircase, where the Queen would usually welcome visitors aboard the Britannia.

The State Drawing Room, the official reception room.

It was a large room and it even contained a grand piano.

This is the Duke of Edinburgh's Sitting Room and Office.  

Sitting alongside the Britannia is the royal barge.  It was used when the Royal Family wanted to go to shore when the Britannia was anchored.

What about the staff?  The seamen slept in bunks below.

There was even an operating room below. To justify the cost, the Britannia was designed to convert to a hospital ship in time of conflict.  This never happened.

The laundry facility downstairs.

It was a fun and fascinating tour.

In the afternoon we went to Edinburgh Castle after joining our traveling friends for a fun reunion lunch.

I will share about that in the next post.

Inveraray Castle, home of the Duke of Argyll

Dear Family and Friends,

Our next stop was Inverness, Scotland, but instead of visiting the city, we went on another tour.

My favorite castle to visit was this one, Inveraray Castle, located near the town of Argyll.  Three things made it extra special.  (1) It is still partially occupied by the Duke of Argyll and his family. (2) It was used as the setting for the Downton Abbey Christmas Special in 2012, and (3) We got to tour inside and take pictures.

It has been occupied by the Dukes of Argyll since the seventeen hundreds. The current and 13th Duke of Argyll is quite young, he was born in 1968.  

This is a view of the front of the castle from the outside.

Chuck approaching the front door.  YES, they let us in the front door!

This is the State Dining Room.  Although I have not seen the Downtown Abbey special that was filmed here, I was told this room was used.

The Tapestry Drawing Room was beautiful.  Such delicate furniture.

The ceiling was spectacular.

Off from the Drawing Room was the China Turrett.  We were told that even though it is on display, it is still being used today.

This picture in the Entrance Hall is most likely the current Duke's father or Grandfather.

Here is a portrait of an earlier Duke.

The big room in the middle of the castle is called the Armory Hall.  Guns, spears and swords were artfully displayed.

Behind the Armory Hall was the Salon.  Actually pretty modern looking for its time.

In the corner was a grand piano with family pictures displayed.  We were told that Lerner and Loewe composed some of the songs for their musical, My Fair Lady, while they were guests there.

The North West Hall is located between the ground floor and the second floor at the landing of the stair case.

It contains a collection of costumes worn by the family through the ages up until the present day.

The Victorian Room on the second floor is a tribute to the marriage of Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, and the 9th Duke of Argyll.

The desk on display was a gift from Queen Victoria to her daughter when she married the Duke.

The bedroom on display is said to be haunted.  The hairs did not raise on my body so maybe it is true or just a legend. 

Off from the bedroom was the Picture Turrett.  It was filled with all sorts of pictures and other memorabilia.

This is a collection of photographs made when the Downtown Abbey special was filmed there.

This photograph is a picture of the current Duke when he was christened.

This is a picture of the Duke's daughter, Lady Charlotte Mary Campbell.  

A peek out the window to the gardens below.

Last, we were able to go downstairs to the scullery.  

This kitchen was last used as a working kitchen in the 1950's by the current Duke's grandmother.  There was quite a copper cookware collection on display.

I am so glad the family permits picture taking and that I can share the inside of the castle with you.

Of course, the rooms we saw are not used by the family but on very special occasions.  They have the other half of the castle as their living quarters.  

Our next stop was Edinburgh, Scotland.  We saw the Royal Yacht Britannia and I will share pictures in the next post.

Love,
Nancy