Today we thought we’d try something different:  the Dublin Hop On-Hop Off bus.  For a very reasonable price you get a narrated tour of the city and you’re free to hop off at any of their stops and then hop back on later to continue your tour.  We sat outside on the top of the bus for the best view.  However it was rather cold and windy.  You can find these buses in almost all major cities.

At stop 15 we hopped off to visit Trinity College and the Irish National treasures:  the Book Of Kells and the harp of Brian Boru.  Trinity College is the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I.

Located in the Old Library is a permanent exhibition of the Book of Kells.  The Book is an illuminated manuscript in Latin, containing the four gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables.  The exhibit details the creation of the Book and other similar texts.  

In an adjacent small dimly lit room, the book is open to two pages each day for viewing.  We have never seen such finely detailed lettering and artwork.  It really was amazing.  Photos weren’t allowed so the picture below is from a postcard that we bought.

After viewing the Book of Kells we went upstairs to the “Long Room”.  This is the main chamber in the old library at the College.  It is over 200 feet long and holds over 200,000 thousand of rare, and in many cases very early, books.  It was really awesome to see.  You feel really dwarfed by its size.  Wrought iron staircases give you access to the upper levels.

In a case in the “Long Room” is the 2nd National treasure the ‘Brian Boru’ Harp.  While the Brian Boru connection is questionable it does seem likely that it was used in creating the Harp image on the Coat of Arms of Ireland (facing left).

When we left Trinity College it was time for lunch.  We walked along the nearby streets in Temple Bar, Dublin’s Cultural Quarter, until we found the Vat House Bar.

The Vat House Bar is a typical Irish pub with great food as well.  

Ron ordered the Traditional Irish Stew (with lamb, pictured below)  while Paul ordered the Traditional Irish Coddle (sausages, cream, potatoes, carrots, onions, and seasoning).  We both ordered a pint of the local Five Lamps Ale.  For dessert we ordered the Brown Bread ice cream.  All was very tasty.

After lunch we hopped back on the bus to finish our tour.  We stayed on the bus for the rest of the trip passing several points of interest along the way.

First up was the Guinness Brewery.  Outside there were long lines waiting to take the tour and a tasting.  It you look at the Guinness logo you’ll notice the harp (this time facing right).

Next, in Phoenix Park was a memorial in the form of a large obelisk for the Duke of Wellington who was born in Merrion Square here in Dublin.  The four metal plaques with scenes from his life were cast from canons captured at the battle of Waterloo.

A short distance from Phoenix Park is Merrion Square.  The statue of Oscar Wilde, Irish poet and novelist, is located here as he was raised in the Wilde family home at the corner of the park.

Lastly we passed by St. Patrick’s Cathedral where Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels) is buried.

We found the Hop On Hop Off to be a great experience and will definitely do it again.

Today is all about St. Patrick.  Sorry to say but St. Patrick is a Saint in name only as he has never been officially canonized.  However he is highly revered by both Catholics and Protestants alike as an extremely important person in bringing Christianity to Ireland.

Today’s excursion was entitled “A Day In St. Patrick’s Country” visiting two of the major sites in St. Patrick’s life and the ruins of Grey Abbey.

We boarded the bus and drove through the countryside to our first stop at the town of Downpatrick.  

Upon arrival we visited the St. Patrick Centre where we watched a 1/2 hour film about the life of St. Patrick.  When the film was over we had some free time to shop in the Centre’s gift shop.

Located on the top of the hill behind the Centre is the Downpatrick Cathedral where the reputed grave of St. Patrick is located.  After touring the cathedral and visiting the grave, we had an hour for lunch.

Both of us were sorely in need of a haircut, so after we had lunch at Subway, we walked around Downpatrick where we found a barbershop!  After 30 minutes we both had new haircuts.  The lady that cut Ron’s hair was really funny and was getting ready to to go Disneyworld next week.  We compared notes on what she should see.

After we left Downpatrick, we traveled to the town of Saul where we visited the modern day Saul Church. This is the location of St. Patrick’s first church which was a barn given to him by a local chieftain, Dichu, who he converted.  Close by, on the crest of Slieve Patrick hill is a massive statue of Saint Patrick with bronze panels showing scenes from his life and the stations of the cross.  Reportedly, Saint Patrick died here in Saul on 17 March 461. Outside in the graveyard is a monk’s cell where a monk would live in isolation and pursue his religious meditations.

Our next stop was at Grey Abbey which is a ruined Cistercian Priory.  It was founded in 1193 and dissolved in 1541 as part of Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic Church.   The Montgomery family, whose estate is nearby, was granted ownership and they re-roofed the abbey in 1626.  They also refurbished it for use as a parish church. It was used until 1778 after which it began to fall into ruin.  Even in ruins it is still an impressive place to see with its own quiet beauty.

After a long day we headed back to the ship.  Tomorrow’s port of call is Dublin.

Today we made our only stop in Scotland at Portree on the Isle of Skye.  Portree is the largest town in and the capital of Skye.

We boarded our bus and headed out to visit the “Eilean Donan” castle.  Eilean Donan, which means simply “island of Donnán”, is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint martyred in 617.

Along the way we saw some beautiful coastal scenery and hills covered with heather (the brown scrub in the picture below).  Sadly the heather isn’t in bloom until August or the hills would’ve been covered in shades of blue and purple.  

During this time of the year the hills are covered with a yellow flowering plant called “gorse” which is a thorny evergreen shrub.  The flowers are said to smell like coconut.  It’s normally used as a natural fencing for marking fields and animal control.

Shortly we reached the castle.  The castle was previously the fortress of clan Mackenzie and their allies clan Macrae.  Over the years it’s been destroyed and rebuilt several times, the last rebuilding was by Lt. Col. Johan Macrae-Gilstrap.  We visited several of the rooms in the castle including the largest room, “The Great Hall”.  This room was used for dining and entertainment.  In one corner of the room was a small area for the musicians.  Bagpipes were usually played. We also saw the kitchen which was much larger than expected depicting a cooking scene from the Macrae-Gilstrap era.  The castle has appeared in several movies.

After completing our tour of the castle it was back to the ship.  At the village of Kyleakin we saw “Saucy Mary’s Restaurant & Lodge”.  Our guide told us that Saucy Mary got her name because she would stand on the nearby wharf and raise her skirt to show her legs to all sailors who paid their ship’s toll as they passed through the waterway bordering the village.

By the time we got back to Portree we were pretty hungry and decided to eat lunch at “The Isles Inn”.  We both had a lunch of beef and ale pie, mashed potatoes, and peas!  We washed this down with a pint of the local brew, Skye Ale.  Very tasty.  We did a little shopping then it was back to the ship.

At dinner on the ship they served some typical Scottish dishes including “Haggis”.  Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep’s pluck; minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal’s stomach.  Paul ordered it and seemed to like it.

Tomorrow we arrive in our first Irish port, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

After leaving Oslo, we cruised around the southwestern coast of Norway and then turned north to reach the Sognefjord.  We then turned east into the fjord and traveled about 100 miles until we reached our next port, Flåm, Norway.

The trip up the fjord was spectacular but cold.

We reached Flåm around 8:00 am and immediately left the ship to catch 8:30 “Flåm Railway” which was our excursion for the day.

About 45 minutes into our trip the train stopped at “Kjosfossen Falls” for photos.  While we were taking pictures some music began playing and “sirens” danced hoping to enchant us into staying behind to live with them at the falls.  I’m happy to say that no one succumbed.

Shortly after, we reached the Vatnahalsen Hotel where we left the train.  At the hotel we were served waffles with raspberry jam and clotted cream.  Very tasty!  The raspberries were grown and picked at the hotel.  After eating we had some free time until the next train arrived to take us back to Flåm.

The trip was very enjoyable and scenic with many waterfalls along the way.

We arrived back in Flåm around 12:30 pm, bought a couple of souvenirs and then it was time for lunch.

We walked through the town and checked out the restaurants.  Our ship’s guide told us about a place to have a home brewed beer and lunch so we decided to eat there.  We ordered their local amber beer and “Loke’s Lunch” which was a grilled sausage sandwich with onion sauce and coleslaw.  The sausage sandwich was a real winner with lots of flavor and the onion sauce was terrific. We spent the next couple of hours using their WiFi then headed back to the ship around 3:30 pm.

We feel that we have to do this, so here is our only picture of a Norwegian troll.

After another sea day we arrive at Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

It was a short overnight trip from Copenhagen to Oslo, the capital of Norway.

Our excursion to was “Vigeland Sculpture Park and Picturesque Drøbak”

The first part of our excursion was a visit to the small town of Drøbak.  

The main tourist attraction here is the Christmas Shop.  The shop had two floors of Christmas decorations in the Nordic style.  Santa used to live here but he has retired and his replacement setup shop somewhere else in town.  

After the Christmas shop we went on a 1/2 hour walking tour of the town.  One of the stops was to see the old church.  In the graveyard we saw a lot of tombstones with lanterns built in. For many families, the knowledge that their loved one will not be left alone in a mysterious and dark cemetery is a great comfort.  Apparently this is a new trend.

After we finished our walk, we had some free time to explore the town.  We wandered off in different directions and each of us found a different great bakery.  We bought pastries for the other and decided to eat them for breakfast the next day.

We reboarded our bus and left Drøbak for Oslo.

We took a quick tour of the city viewing some of the public art along the way.  The best artwork was the city’s opera house.  This was designed to look like an iceberg.  With a little effort we could actually see that.

However Oslo is mainly famous for one thing:  the Nobel Peace Prize. The winners for all the other Nobel Prizes are announced and presented in Stockholm, Sweden.  But for some reason, Nobel specified that the Peace Prize should be announced and presented in Oslo.  

We drove by the Norwegian Nobel Institute where the Nobel Peace Prize laureate/winner is announced on the Friday of the first full week of October.

We also drove by the Grand Hotel in the center of Oslo, where the Nobel Peace Prize banquet is held.  The Laureate is often greeted by a torchlight procession in his or her honor.

Later we went for a walk to Starbucks and saw the Oslo City Hall where the prize is awarded.

After our drive around the city we visited Frogner Park where the Vigeland Sculpture Park is located.  The entrance is a bridge lined by bronze figures celebrating family.  We loved the statue of the mother and child.

This is a large collection of over 212 life sized granite/bronze statues celebrating the cycle of human life, from birth to death.  The main tower area is entered through a couple of very beautiful metal gates.

Around the base are granite statues both amusing and touching.

We spent about an hour here looking at the statues before we headed back to the ship.