On Dublin

Dublin – Located on the River Liffey where its mouth meets the Irish Sea. This 9th century Viking settlement has grown into Ireland’s largest city and capital.

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Dublin – The place I initially called “the most walkable” city on the trip, this vibrant city embraces its rich in history. Home to Yeats, Beckett, Shaw, Wilde, Swift, Stoker, and others, Dublin is a UNESCO City of Literature.

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Dublin – Home to Trinity College (founded in 1592), a prestigious university in the likes of Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, and US Ivy League schools.

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Dublin – Home to Dublin Castle, the fortified center of the Norman Empire

Dublin – Home to two distinguished cathedrals of the Church of Ireland (Anglican): Christ Church and St. Patrick’s.

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Dublin – Home to Guinness, the creamy brew that tastes better in Ireland than elsewhere. The Guinness family has also done much for local residents. We regretfully didn’t take the tour.

Dublin – Home to Ireland’s Famine Memorial – a somber collection of bronze statues along the River Liffey’s north bank about the 1845-1849 famine.

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One of the benefits of cruising is being able to see many destinations. On the down side, time is short in the port. From what I observed, Dublin is a city I would be willing to return for multiple days. Here’s a 3-minute video providing a short overview of this wonderful city.

For other posts about our time in the British Isles, click here.

Next stop: Across the Irish Sea to Liverpool

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On Following the Titanic

Image from Wikipedia

Although everyone knows the its story is legendary, we were surprised how much we encountered the RMS Titanic on our recent cruise around the British Isles.

We visited Liverpool, the home of White Star Line and the location of Titanic’s registry.

Liverpool from the departing ship

We traveled on Princess Cruise Lines, which is one division within Carnival Cruise Lines – that includes Cunard Line, the company that White Star merged with following the disaster.

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We visited Belfast where the Titanic was built (the actual site is on this side of the silver building – Titanic Belfast, a museum dedicated to honoring Belfast’s shipbuilding industry that is located on the former Harland and Wolff shipyard that built Titanic)

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Our cruise started in Southampton, the same city that Titanic started.

We stopped in Cobh, Ireland (then called Queenstown) – which was Titanic’s last stop where 125 people boarded. (More about Cobh in a future post.)

Several years ago we had a cruise stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) where 150 passengers are buried in three cemeteries

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… and I imagine many readers remember this in 1997 …

… but for me, the images of this video is what strikes me.

On a Vacation Primer

For those wanting some background music for the post, here’s some music from the land.

On to the post.

The image shows are 12-days of cruising. Keep in mind that we had 4 days in London before cruising, plus 3 days in Reykjavik, Iceland after the cruise. Both of these stops were independent of the cruise and done on our own.

I was struck by the fact that each of the major cities in the British Isles were quite different from one another.

• The most grand: London, England
• The most captivating: Edinburgh, Scotland
• The most walkable: Dublin, Ireland
• The most unexpectedly different: Liverpool, England
• The most gut wrenching: Belfast, Northern Ireland

… and we didn’t just visit cities on the trip:

• The most scenic countryside: Northern Scotland
• The most solemn: American military cemetery at Normandy (Omaha Beach)
• The most quaint: St. Peter Port, Guernsey
• The most geologic diverse: Iceland

We walked a lot – averaging about 13,500 steps per day with over 25,000 being the most. When walking, my eyes are busy. For those who remember, when in Florence, Italy – I say “Look up!” Whether walking or passing by in a touring bus, these business signs on the trip caught my eye. Other than the obvious, any thoughts on what they sell?