Southampton/Italy

We had one day at sea before we disembarked in Southampton, England. It was cold and rainy most of the day which was OK since we had to pack and get ready to head to Italy. 

Once we were off the ship, Tim had arranged for a car service to pick us up and take us to the airport with a stop in Winchester on the way. 

   

 The driver was waiting for us with this sign. 😄

Winchester was a very quaint town. There is a famous cathedral there. 

  

Outside 

Inside 

  

  

  

  
Jane Austen lived in this area and was buried in this church.

 

There was also a copy of the Gospels written on vellum (calf skins). 

After walking around the cathedral, we walked around some of the town.  

  
  
  
  
We found the Main Street and saw these cookies in the widow of a bakery.  Just had to smile.

  
There was a street fair going on, so we walked around looking at the booths. 

  
  
 
 

Coffee anyone? 

  
We ran into this character and of course had to taKe a picture with him. I think he was collecting money from the local animal shelter.
Got some lunch from one of the vendors and went back to the car to head to the airport 
After a short flight we were in Bologna, Italy. We have stayed in Bologna the last 3 years. We really like it. It is a great hub city, easy to catch a train and do a day trip to a lot of places. 
  
These cars were in the airport in Bologna as we were walking out 
After checking in we had dinner and called it a night. 
Next, our week in Bologna ………
Linda  

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Glasgow, Scotland

We docked in Greenock, Scotland. Greenock is a sleepy port town. There didn’t seem to be much going on even though it was 10 am. We headed toward the train to go into Glasgow. 

  

  
  
(Greenock)

  

We saw some beautiful flowers in a park we walked through. 

On the way to the train, we ran into the guy and of course Tim had to take a picture. 😄
  

Once we made it to the train station we had only 2-3 minutes to catch the train. Tim found a woman with a handheld ticket machine. She walked to the train, printing the ticket as we went, so we would make the train. 

On the train a lady sitting behind us asked us how long we were in Glasgow for and we told her just for the day. She handed us a piece of paper and said she had written out some places she thought we should visit. That was so nice of her. We found most everyone was really nice.

  
  

The train station in Glasgow was very beautiful.

  

I thought this sign in the train station  was funny. Notice the sizes. 

We took the lady’s advice and headed toward the shopping district. 

  

  
We found a Starbucks and an Apple Store.  

  

  

We found this police box that was green instead of blue, not sure why, maybe because we were in Scotland not England

  

We also saw this cool building that a coffee shop was in. 

  

We then walked to modern art museum that was ok, but had a cool statue in front

  

Then we found a nice square with benches to have lunch in. 

  

It was very cold, but we found a bench out of the wind.

  

We saw a Jamie Oliver restaurant 

  

From there we walked to a giant park 

  

and then Kevingrove museum and art center They had some cool stuff inside.

  
  
(This was a trophy from a boat race)
  
(Suits of armor and spears)

  

(A dog made of boots in the children’s section)

From the museum we headed back to the ship. 

Once we were back in Greenock we saw this sign…….

  

Unfortunately it was closed. I would of loved to gone inside. (My maiden name was McLean)

Next stop Southampton, England, then on to Italy 

Linda 

Cork, Ireland

We finally made it to Cork, Ireland after a few mishaps. The first night out to sea from the Azores we had a medical emergency on board and had to turn the ship around and have a woman med- evacuated, her appendix burst. They made an announcement throughout the ship saying that there was an emergency and a plane would be flying over the ship. Then they cleared the decks and a helicopter hovered over the ship above our room and they got the lady and her husband off. We later heard she was going to be ok. So of course we were behind and going as fast as we could to make up time, but the weather was bad (very windy and rainy) so that put us behind too. But we made it without any further mishaps, just a little late. 

We had hired a van for the day for 12 people. The first place they took us was into Cobn (pronounced Cove). This is the place we should of docked, but because of the change of plans there was another ship there that had this berth. Cobn is a very nice port town. We saw some of the town and the church there. 

 

   

Then we stopped at the cemetery when a lot of the passengers from the Lusitania were buried. The Lusitania was a passenger ship that was sunk during WWI. 

 
   

  

From there it was on to Blarney Castle. The gardens there were beautiful. It was very rainy and cold. 

  

    

     

       

 

We stood in line for about an hour, climbing to the top of the tower where the Blarney Stone was. 

  

  

    

  (Some views from the tower) 

Just as we made it to the top the sun came out.

   

Tim, Ron and Patty “kissed” the stone,  (I didn’t, you had to lay down and hang over the side of the tower to kiss it, NO thanks lol)

  

 

Found this tree stump with a vine growing up it and mushrooms at the top. 

    

 

The driver then dropped us off in Cork for a few hours. We walked around a bit, then found a pub to get something to eat and check internet. We talked to the owner and learned that 4 generations of his family has owned and worked there. 

  

He also told us some of the history of the area and how it had flooded really bad about 50 years ago. He even let us go behind the bar and took a picture for us.  

  

Then it was time to head back to the ship.

Next stop, Dublin, Ireland 

 Linda