What a fun time we went on. When we arrived on London from an all-night flight I decided to travel cheap and use the train between Heathrow up to London. I should have realized it was a terrible idea when I had 2 50 pounds bags and four bags. When we arrived in London but were confronted with extremely long steps between the underground and the road, where we needed to walk to the hotel just two blocks away. The thought was that I’d been well-prepared as I knew which subway station we’d be going to and had a map to show the way to get there from there. Then, I discovered that the subway station has multiple exits leading to various streets. You can imagine I’m not the most experienced rider on the underground, but I’ve been working on it a lot while in London! After asking around to help us, we discovered the best route for Hilly Places. It’s good that we’re both adventurous!
The first day we took a walk around Buckingham Palace and St James’s Park. We also visited Big Ben and Westminster Abbey before returning towards the hotel. The legs were exhausted! We quickly discovered that lemonade and mayonnaise are very distinct in England! The next day, we took an Uber to the Victoria Station bus terminal, from there we boarded the 2.5 hour bus ride to Southampton. Beautiful countryside!
We visited the Crown Princess, where we had a 12 night stay in a room that had an ensuite bathroom. We’ve booked our children into cabins for boarding on other cruises, but not yet stayed in one (my husband is in love with the balcony he has). Though it was not an option during my stay, I was happy. It was lovely to sit on the balcony and we stayed there until it was time for bed. I would have loved at least some lighting from the view of the ocean from the cabin, however, we were comfortable. We were booked to eat at the open-set dinner which I was not a fan of at first, but I’ve tried it before previously (because I enjoy the wonderful service when you are familiar with your waiter). This time it worked , because we requested to sit with the same waiter each evening. We also heard of guests who had done similar.
Now, let’s talk about the ports of the call:
South Queensferry (Edinburgh) South Queensferry (Edinburgh) has a wharf that is narrow where you can travel in an inflatable lifeboat to the wharf using a vessel. This is the port for Edinburgh, Scotland. We continued with my daughter to travel with other passengers on the boat that was towed up the hill down a road that is wooded towards the nearby station for trains, from where we took the train for approximately thirty minutes before arriving in Edinburgh.
We walked into Edinburgh and immediately felt as if we were stepping right into Harry Potter with all the historic stone structures. It was gorgeous and, even though it was a little windy, we walked walking! We walked along the Royal Mile about halfway and we walked by Edinburgh Castle to one end of it. We continued on to the opposite end of the Royal Mile to see Holyrood Castle. We then walked further back on our way back to the train station, and then towards South Queensferry. Itching feet required to be washed before an enjoyable dinner!
Invergordon: Port of Inverness and Lashness. As we left the ship there was no specific plans but hoped to get some kind of tourist deal on the dock. We did! Taxis could be taken whenever you wanted the same as romantic destinations within Thailand. We decided to go to Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness, but were hoping to travel with two other passengers on the same boat who were who were interested in the same trip. The trip becomes interesting when you realize there are two 70-year elderly ladies who are keen on the same subject and are looking to take a taxi together. It turns out that they’re Russian and one has no English as the other only a tiny.
The taxi driver thought that I were their translator, until just a few minutes into the ride when I admitted that I don’t speak Russian and I had never had a conversation with him. It was hilarious when the woman was seen flirting with the taxi driver who was chubby. Since she isn’t fluent in English the only way of communication was expressions of her face and words such as “yum Yum” when we went to a food outlet or eateries. I’m hoping she wasn’t starving. We stopped at an unidentified gin manufacturing facility as well. The Russian ladies purchased some samples. The biggest challenge was getting them back in time for each stop so that we wouldn’t exceed the time limit (and the budget). We’ll have time to visit Cawdor Castle, one of the few castles that are permanently inhabited in Scotland. It was lovely, however, we’d like to have longer time than just 30 minutes visit the castle.
