Queensferry - October 7, 2008

Today would be the last time QE2 would ply the waters and enter a port in Scotland.  We anchored off the Forth Bridge in mid morning in overcast and drizzly conditions.  I had scheduled a simple shore excursion " Edinburgh On Your Own" today which would have us taking a Cunard chartered motor coach from the pier below the Forth bridge into Edinburgh, dropping us off at Charlotte Square for the good part of the day, letting us explore and shop in Edinburgh, then returning us back to the pier in the afternoon.

It was a good thing that we had already visited the new Parliment Building and the beginining of our epic trip to the UK and gotten excellent photographs in the sun because today turned out to be almost a complete washout. 

Despite the weather, my plan for today was to first visit Edinburgh Castle and then visit the various shops along the main street before heading back to the motor coach and then the ship.  We can prepared with our mini umbrellas that tucked into my travel bag when not in use.  With umbrellas furled and us fighting a breeze that threatened to bend them beyond repair at every gust, we headed for the castle.  It wasn't raining partiularily hard, but it was a definite nuisance to using the camera without getting rain on the lense.

Edinburgh Castle, which would be our second castle of the UK visited so far, is a sprawling assembly of buildings, built throughout the history of Edinburgh, on top of a plateau overlooking the city center.  You could easily spend a complete day here visiting all aspects of the castle.  We only had several hours in less that perfect conditions to view it all.  Compounding this, today Ryan was completely drained and the pace of the entire vacation and lack of sleep finally caught up to him.  Not getting to bed til after 2:00AM probably has alot to do with his lack of energy today as well. 

For lunch, we grabbed a bite to eat at the gift shop, where there was a small cafeteria style restaurant with views overlooking Edinburgh Center. 

Heading back to the bus drop off, we stopped at a few shops that we had previously checked out on the way up to the castle. 

More later.......

Isle of Skye - October 6, 2008

Today, we awoke with the Isle of Skye off to the starboard and out of our porthole.  I was not sure of our position as we dined in Mauritania.  We had pancakes with American bacon and I followed that up with a second course of Scottish Kippers in honor of us passing the ancestrial home of the MacLeods.  I knew they were going to be a treat since I could smell them coming as they came up the dumbwaiter next to our table.  They were VERY strong in both smoked and fish flavor.  Our tablemates commented that I needed to eat them with some slabs of butter, which I added and that alone made the dish taste better.  I finished the plate, but that dish would stick with me the rest of the day.  I just could not get rid of the taste despite repeated brushing. 

Isle of Skye was stunningly beautiful, even at the distance we observed it.  As we passed the area of Skye where Dunvegan would have been seen way off in the distance, the overcast sky opened up a bit and the sun illuminated the island.  Off to the port, the Isle of Lewis loomed out of the fog, another ancestrial home of the MacLeod's.  We would later pass Ullapool, where Murdoch McLeod, my great great grandfather originally hailed from prior to apparently making the trek to the north coast in search of work.

Our course today would take us to the tip of Scotland, past the Orkney Islands and back down the North Sea side of Scotland.  After dinner, we passed by Peterhead.  I was monitoring the ship's position in our cabin and went up to the Boat Deck to see what I could see at the appropriate time.  Off to starboard, you could see the lights of both Peterhead and the oil processing facilities farther north.  Boddam light was clearly visible and helped orient me to where we were.  Today was quite a day for the MacLeods, seeing our all of our Ancestrial homeland via water via the greatest ship in the world built by proud Scots.

Greenock - October 5, 2008

Belfast - October 4, 2008

Liverpool - October 3, 2008

Isle of Man - October 3, 2008

Early this morning, QE2 made a first ever pass by Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man.  Ryan did not make it up for this event, despite my sales pitch that this was THE island that the author of the Thomas the Tank Engine based his stories on.  It was also very cold with the headwind.  QE2 slowed dramatically at the harbor and then followed the coastline for a bit, then swung around and headed for Liverpool.  We were treated to a spectacular sunrise as a reward for getting up so early and braving the cold.

Cobh, Ireland - October 2, 2008

Today, we were scheduled to visit Blarney Castle via motor coach.  After breakfast in Mauretania Restaurant, we met down in the theater for our tour to be called.  I forgot the tickets and had to make a mad dash back down to the room and then back upstairs to find ourselves the last people in line. Great way to burn off some of that nice breakfast.

The bus was parked right on the pier.  Ryan grabbed an outside seat on the bus and there was a snail on the window next to him!  Our tour took us through Cork and then out to the countryside to Blarney Castle.  The weather was perfect and the line to kiss the Blarney Stone was not too long.  I kissed it, but the jury is still out whether it has brought any good luck.  This castle was the first of several we were to visit on this trip

Once we returned to the ship in the afternoon we went to the Lido for a bite to eat.  We saw Anke, our waitress we had in Caronia Restaurant on our January Crossing and I introduced her to Ryan.  She was sad to be leaving the ship in November and did not know where she would be going next.

 Next, we ended up back off the ship for a hike up to the Catholic Cathedral on the hill, which had sounded the bells in the tower as QE2 arrived in the harbor yesterday.  On the pier, a local children's pipe band had assembled and was about to begin.  Before taking the walk up the steep hill to the cathedral, we spent some time in the gift shop, which was the former train station.  This was the stop for so many Irish immigrants, probably including some from our family, and there was geneology services located in the station, which we did not have time to look into.  There is also a bronze statue of the first Irish immigrant to the USA on the pier.  There is a corresponding statue on Ellis Island in New York. We picked up a few souveniers, including a "Kelly" doll for Kelly.  Interestingly, the shop took American dollars so we paid with George Washingtons in Ireland.  This port was previously named Queensferry and was tragically the last port of call of Titanic. There were numerous references to Titanic seen trhroughout the pier area.

This was the first of several cathedrals we would visit on this trip and the only Catholic denomination.

We really did not appreciate just how steep the hills were until we made our way through the narrow streets to the Cathedral, which has a spectacular view of the harbor.

On our way back to the ship, we stopped at the Lusitania Memorial and got several dramatic shots of the ship with the iconic funnel towering over the surrounding buildings.  Another interesting feature of Cobh was the trees along the pier that looked like they belonged in a much warmer climate.

Our five deck cabin location was very close to the starboard side door exit to the pier in this port. Ryan suggested I take a picture of him in our porthole from the pier. What looks like lots of paint is layers of paint applied since the ship was supposed to have been stripped bare during the 1999 refit.

We wanted to get our favorite position at the center of the observation deck below the bridge so we showed up a little early before sailaway. The crest, removed from a previously owned Cunard ship under the command of then Captain Warwick, is right in front of Ryan.  This was going to be a spectacular sailaway, with the sun setting as we departed

The tugs finally arrived.  Ryan had thoughtfully brought our UK flags that Cunard furnished in our cabin before the Southampton sailaway with him for the Cobh sailaway.

Sailaway was exciting since the ship had to make a 180 degree spin in the harbor full of small craft.  At times, it appeared we were going to collide with the small craft at the bow as the tugs swung the ship around.  I figured that bow thrusters must have been used in this maneuver, but have since read that due to a seal failure, their use had been minimized.  This issue would have normally been corrected during the April refit, but her last refit was a "wet dock" and this could not be accomplished.  The drydock was skipped basically to allow Cunard to insert a a few farewell cruises, such as this one, into the schedule.

Once 180 degree spin was accomplished, we approached the pier on the portside and gradually gained speed, with a flotilla of small craft in tow, trying to maintain our speed.  People lined the streets and there were several whistle exchanges, echoing off the hillsides. 

We were in our favorite position , on the observation deck forward, below the bridge.  Heading out to sea, with a headwind, it did get quite cold.  Ryan found a new use for the observation area to warm up a bit.  I think we might have gotten a few frowns from several older, stodgy passengers, but I frankly did not care.  We were having the greatest time on the greatest ship of all time!

This would be the final departure of QE2 from Cobh, Ireland.