June – The Travels of Eric and Eva

Other Scottish Islands

We visited additional places in the Shetland and Orkney Islands north of Scotland. There are a number of sites uncovered recently of great historic significance and they expect to find many more in the coming years. Many of these sites go back 5,000 – 6,000 years and a lot of archaeological work is going on there. These islands are quiet and quaint and of course best seen in good weather which we had most of the time. And yes, there were birds to be photographed.

A large fishing boat in the harbor. These big nets are a serious problem for endangered sea life as they catch everything.

Came across this horse in an unexpected place by the sea on a walk to some gardens on an island called Colonsay.

This stone circle called the Ring of Brodgar pre-dates Stonehenge. 36 of the original 60 stones are still standing. Other stone circles have been found on these islands.

The Jarlshof prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland is one of the most significant sites ever found and dates to over 6000 years ago. On many the islands new sites are being found simply when farmers dig too low on their farms.

An abandoned castle overtaken by nature.

Shiant Islands, Scotland

The small red dot between Ulg and Stornoway are the Shiant Islands. The islands are one of the most important breeding colonies for seabirds in Europe – around 10 per cent of UK puffins and 7 per cent of UK razorbills breed here every year. The islands recently completed the Seabird Recovery Project from 2014-2018 with the hope that new birds will set up colonies here.

Before every zodiac tour, a group of expedition staff go out and ensure that the conditions are good and everything is set up. These folks work 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week.

Some interesting colors in the rocks in one of the caves in the waters here.

There are thousands of birds in the water but it was hard to photograph them clearly due to some fog and the normal bouncing of the zodiac.

A lion’s mane jellyfish, fairly common in the North Atlantic

St Kilda

St Kilda is an isolated archipelago in the North Atlantic. Human habitation here probably goes back at least 2000 years, but has likely never exceeded 200 people. A 1764 census described a daily consumption by the 90 inhabitants of “36 wildfoul eggs and 18 wildfoul” (i.e. seabirds). Fishing was not done due to the unpredictable seas. The island was abandoned in 1930 as being inhabitable and everybody was evacuated. The ruins of the ancient stone structures remain. The island chain is home to tens of thousands of local birds and wild sheep. The island has the highest cliffs in the UK and we hiked up to the top of the hill here to confirm this.

A row of the old homes, one of which is now a small museum.

The names of the inhabitants for one the houses here. Note that 1930 is the last date shown.

These structures are called cleits and were used for storage of meats and other food.

The stone rings were used as sheep pens.

One of the local St Kilda lambs. They are a type of sheep that have lived here since the Stone Age.

All these white dots are birds, thousands of them.

One of hundreds of northern gannets in the waters here.

Isle of Skye

Hello from the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The island is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland and is a major tourist destination during the summer months. Two of the attractions where are Duvegan castle, shown below and Androuie Gardens, a botanic garden fed by the warm Gulfstream like others we visited.

I swear that rock looks just like a seal.

A lone bagpiper greeting us as we came ashore.

The Zodiacs all had to wait to pick us up for the ducks to cross – hysterical.

Ireland

The view of Dublin from our cabin on the ship. Note the Samuel Becket Bridge over the river in the shape of a harp.

Malahide Castle (docked in Dublin)

Malahide Castle, dating from the 12th century, lies 9 miles north of Dublin and is surrounded by 260 acres of parkland. The gardens there are quite nice.

This greenhouse houses a butterfly garden.

One of many butterflies in the greenhouse.

One of many old lighthouses in the area around Ireland

Wicklow County area (docked in Dublin)

The remains of Glendalough Cathedral and Roundtower where parts date back to the 10th century.

This is known as a round tower. Their typical original purpose was to gain refuge from the Viking invaders and were later used as bell towers.

The same round tower from the start of a casual hike we did in the area. The weather was just perfect and the woods we walked through were magical.

Not a bad place to live when the weather is nice.

The hike took us to a place called Upper Lake.

Birds of the area. What else did you expect?

We stopped at a town called Enniskerry and had lunch at a pub there. They served us lamb stew with appetizers and dessert along with a local singer. Nobody wanted to leave.

I wouldn’t do well in Ireland I guess as I just can’t get used to the taste of Guiness.

This guy was so good !!!!! He kept playing until we had to leave. Many of us tipped him.

Powerscourt Estate

Powerscourt Estate, located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landscaped gardens, today occupying 19 hectares. The original owner of the 13th-century castle was an Anglo-Norman nobleman with the surname of La Poer which was eventually anglicised to “Power” and later owned by the Powerscourt family. The house was extensively altered during the 18th century by German architect Richard Cassels, starting in 1731 and finishing in 1741.

This place was very estate-like but given other places we had been, was not that special for us. However, the golf course at the nearby Powerscourt Hotel here looks spectacular. Just a few photos from here.

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Tours from Portrush, Northern Ireland

Dunluce Castle

Dunluce Castle was built on the edge of this headland between the 15th and 17th centuries. During this time, it was one of the finest castles in the region and served to protect a key waterway. The castle is used in the filming of the “Game of Thrones”.

We saw some beautiful country and seaside scenery on the way.

The view as you walk towards the remains of the castle. A lot of history in these waters from the wars over the years.

Giant’s Causeway

The Giant’s Causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs along the sea coast in Northern Ireland. The dramatic sight has inspired legends of giants striding over the sea to Scotland. It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. Geological studies of these formations over the last 300 years show that this striking landscape was caused by volcanic activity some 50–60 million years ago.

Eva spent some time walking the columns out to the edge. I had just returned from a much longer hike to get to the area.
Here is part of where I hiked a couple of miles back and forth on this path along the cliffs.

This was the view from the end of the hiking path.

The Isle of Lunga, Scotland

Puffins! Puffins! Puffins!

The Isle of Lunga is a part of the Tresnish Isles on the western coast of Scotland. The island is quite small, only 80 hectares, and is known for its high population of birds, particularly puffins. Puffins must be the cutest birds in the world and are not shy, which allows you to get quite close to them as they fly in and go in and out of the burrows that they dig. I probably have over 100 puffin photos but have tried to limit it to under 10 here. We were fortunate enough to visit this island twice, both in ideal weather. May – July is the ideal time to see them on land when they mate as they spend the rest of their time at sea. There are an estimated 4,000 puffins during peak season here. As with most of these islands, we got there via a zodiac from the ship and then a tough hike up to the top of cliffs.

When they land it looks totally uncoordinated

Several other bird species share the island.

This seems to be a bird called a razorbill.

The puffins stay in burrows in the ground so you have to be super careful not to walk too close to where they live which is typically near the cliff edge. They so let you get very close to them as they seem totally unbothered by your presence. No touching allowed however due to the danger of Avian Flu and other health concerns.

Isle of Man

We were here on my birthday and it was wonderful on the ship. We have made some good friends here and we all had a really good time including a great dinner together! Even many of the crew joined in making it a really special day.

The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency (yes, confusing) in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. Humans have lived on this island for over 8500 years. The island is best known for the TT Motorcycle Races which are one of the most dangerous racing events in the world as over 250 people have died since its inception. Average speeds now exceed 130 mph. The island is also famous for the Manx cat, a breed with short or no tail. The island has been awarded biosphere reserve status which designates places that have achieved a balanced relationship between people and nature.

A famous rock formation in the Calf of Man, a small island, called the Drinking Dragon (his head is on the right).

One of the views as we hiked to a place called the Chasms.

The island is so beautiful this time of year with the flowers.

This is the main part of The Chasms. You walk along here and suddenly there is no ground below you. This is the main fissure but there are many minor ones where one bad step and you are gone.

Isles of Scilly

Island of Tresco, The Tresco Abbey Gardens

Tresco Abbey Gardens are located on the island of Tresco. Tresco is part of a group of islands called the Isles of Scilly off the southwest coast of Great Britain. The gardens are home to 20,000 plants from more than 80 countries, flourishing just 30 miles off the coast of Cornwall warmed by the Atlantic Gulfstream. Being on an island, they are reachable only by ferry, private boat or helicopter. The helicopter dropped people off several times while we were there. The 17 acre gardens were established by the nineteenth-century proprietor of the islands, Augustus Smith, originally as a private garden within the grounds of the home he designed and built. The plants that thrive here wouldn’t survive outdoors anywhere else in the UK. These were the best gardens we had ever seen.

From the Zodiac to the gardens was about a 20 minute walk.

Some wildflowers on the walk to the gardens. I usually lag behind the group and have to catch up.

These red squirrels were introduced to the island eight years ago.

Iona

Iona is a small island that is part of the Inner Hebrides on the western coast of Scotland. The island is home to just over 100 residents and attracts tourists primarily to visit the centuries old Iona Abbey. Though quite small in comparison to others around Europe, the abbey is known for being one of the most elaborate and best-preserved ecclesiastical buildings surviving from the Middle Ages. The scenery of the island walking to and from the abbey is quite nice.

You can take your sailboat to these remote islands and get lost in the serenity of the region.

This bench captured the spirit of the island and the old church perfectly.

The requisite bird photo. This guy was singing constantly

The historic home of the founder of the recent community and restoration of the abbey on the island.

A small area in the middle of the abbey surrounded by hallways with arches on all 4 sides.

I believe this to be the ruins of an old home next to the abbey.

France

May 29 – June 1

This was a quiet period on the trip as we made our way up the coast of France to the regions of Brittany and Normandy.

Brittany

We encountered some windy weather here that prevented us from visiting the island of Belle Ile on May 29^th. The following two days however, we were able to visit the fishing villages Concarneau and Douarnenez. Here are a few photos.

As with many of these towns, we took a Zodiac into the harbor here and got off at a makeshift landing spot.

The main fortress in Concarneau that guards the town with the old walls still well intact.

From inside the fortress through the gate out into the harbor.

This type of architecture is very common in these towns.

We were blessed to have an artist join us on the cruise for many weeks that opened our eyes to the simple things in places that we may not have previously noticed.

One of many creperies in these villages.

This was the world’s most patient dog. He would choose a table with food and just sit there with a constant stare like this and not move.

Normandy, France

On June 1^st, we visited the area of Normandy where the soldiers from the US, Britain, Canada and other countries invaded France on D-Day (June 6, 1944) in the largest seaborne invasion in history. Over 160,000 men participated, and over 10,000 lost their lives in the first days of the operation. After visiting so many places on the cruise for their beauty and their wildlife, it was sobering to visit a place so rich in American history.

The amount of deception that was carried out in the year before was significant and contributed to the German high command not being prepared for the seriousness of the operation. It is told that Hitler himself had gone to bed late the night before and left instructions not to be woken up for any reason the following morning. Even after he awoke and was briefed, he still thought the real counter-offensive by the Allied forces was going to occur someplace else. General Rommel, after checking the weather forecast for the days ahead had left Normandy to return to Germany to celebrate his wife’s birthday.

Utah beach, along with the better known Omaha beach were assigned to the American troops under General Omar Bradley. (using b&w photos for these)

This was an incident that was apparently kept secret for a time. During a rehearsal 6 weeks before D-Day, communication issues put many landing craft in harms way both from friendly fire and German boats caused nearly 1000 deaths.

One of many WWII German concrete bunkers that have been left standing.

We also visited St Mere Eglise, which was the first town liberated from the Germans after the landing. Since we were there on June 1^st, there was a lot of activity preparing for the yearly commemoration of D-Day that is held there and attended by thousands.

On the night before D-Day, American soldiers of the 82^nd Airborne were parachuting into the area west of the city in successive waves. At one point, two planeloads of paratroopers were dropped in error directly over the village. They were easy targets for the Germans and an American named John Steele had his parachute caught in one of the pinnacles of the church tower in the town, leaving him hanging on the side of the church. He hung there for two hours pretending to be dead until the Germans took him prisoner. He later escaped and rejoined his division. A dummy replica of him hangs on the church as a permanent memorial to the determination of the Allied forces.

One final place I visited was a museum called Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg, France which was quite good. It had 3 parts to it — one was about the Titanic, which made its final stop here before its fateful voyage; one was a nice aquarium and one was about nuclear submarines, including the ability to walk around in the one below.

On to the islands of the United Kingdom.