June 4 Ullapool

Ullapool is a tiny Scottish town not normally visited by cruise ships. The excursions left for other places in Scotland. We didn't choose any of those excursions, and woke up to a cloudy, rainy day. We tendered into town just to walk around and were lucky to avoid any showers while we were there.

Ullapool has no scenic wonders or impressive buildings. It's just a fishing town. Here are some photos from our brief walk through town.

We were piped into town from the tender. There were 6 of us on the tender. 

Shore Street

The highlands above the harbor

Topiary

The museum in an old church

 

 

 

June 2 Edinburgh - Scragster

 On to Scotland, home of the summer mist. And misty it was for both days. Edinburgh is a tender location for our ship (previous visits on R-class ships have allowed us to dock). We were greeted on the dock with pipe and drum.

We tendered to the dock, the shuttle bussed into the city -- took about an hour total to get here (15 minutes of which was spent cramming as many people as possible into the tender). This is New College.

Scott Monument over Princes Street Gardens

Royal Mile

Back at the tender, this is the railway bridge framing Marina

The high point of the visit -- we returned to the ship on this tour boat rather than a lifeboat/tender. We sat on the top deck and had a great view of the harbor as we sailed back to the ship.

June 3  Scrabster

Our excursion was a Panoramic Tour of the Scottish North Coast. Unfortunately, the Scottish mist pretty much killed the panorama. The is the Dunnet Head lighthouse. 

and the famous northern cliffs of Scotland.

It is the northenmost point of mainland Britain -- the Orkney islands are to the north.

Next stop if John O'Groats. We approached on a long narrow road and found lots of tourist shops and eating places and a hotel. I'm told this is the starting/ending point for a hike from Lands End at the southwest corner of Britain. Otherwise it's just a bunch of tourist shops -- half of which were closed.

The Inn at John O'Groats with art

The light at Duncansby Head, the northeasternmost point in Britain.

And the cliffs -- I think those are gulls nesting, but your guess is as good as mine.

Finally, on our return to the Scrabster harbor, the lighthouse visible without the mist.

 

 

 

May 31 Southampton

This is changeover day, our last one before departure. Instead of staying on the ship we're taking an excursion to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Here's a traditional thatched roof, a disappearing architectural feature.

These mounds near Stonehenge are burial mounds. It's assumed that important people were buried in these mounds.

The great Salisbury plain

Stonehenge

The heelstone, with the direction of midsummer sunrise indicated. The henge is oriented so that the solstice sunrise comes directly over the heelstone when viewed from the central trilithon.

On to Salisbury. This is the private chapel for the bishop of Salisbury, right next door to the cathedral.

The Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury North Gate

Royal coat of arms on the High Street Gate

 

 

 

May 28 - Brugge - Dover - Torbay

 May 28 - Brugges

Brugges is a tourist friendy medieval town that we've visited before. It's got canals, cathedrals and lots of bricks.  Definitely worth the trip.

Church of Our Lady

Rose Hat Quay

Shopping street

Belfry Tower

Saint Salvator's Cathedral

Kasteel de la Faille

Minnewater, Lover's Lake

Barge Bridge

May 29 - Dover

The famous cliffs of Dover 

  We walked about town after a short shuttle ride into town.

 

Dover Castle

Street art featuring three locals. Ian Fleming, James Bond author, is on the right

White Horse Inn and the remains of St. James Church

St. Mary's Church

 May 30 - Torbay

A visit to the "English Riviera" is on tap for today. But it looked to me like the town has seen better days. The marina was filled with yachts and Saint John the Apostle looked fine.

Likewise local resident Agatha Christie and her terrier Peter.

Mallock Clock Tower

The shopping street is where the decline shows. Empty store fronts with the remaining stores generally selling discount or closeout specials. There were a number of restaurants, but we didn't find cottage pie.

After we returned to the ship the Red Arrows -- the British aerial demonstration team -- performed over the harbor. Not as good as the Blue Angels, but exciting, and noisy, nonetheless.