検索条件をリセット
2019 Europe Trip
  • Undertone
7月 – 8月 2019

2019 Europe Trip

August - September 2019 もっと詳しく
+1
フォローする概要カレンダー共有共有死ぬまでにやっておきたいことリスト
最新のものから
  • 旅行の開始
    2019年7月31日
    Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 1 Wgton, Christchurch to Singapore

    2019年7月30日, ニュージーランド ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    30/819-01/08/19

    Getting There....

    A somewhat mixed start to the trip. We arrived at Wellington airport in good time for our flight to Christchurch so that we could take a look at the new Rydges hotel and have a drink in their house bar. All well and good so far and having done that we made our way back into the terminal to go to the lounge. The airport was packed and I couldn’t get Christine in as they were accepting no guests so we had to fork out for our own refreshments......

    The rest of the journey to Christchurch was uneventful and we stayed the night at the Sudima hotel which is walking distance (in the freezing drizzle) from Chch airport. I say uneventful, but when Christine unpacked her suitcase she found a note from airport security telling her that her rechargeable power pack had been confiscated and destroyed as they can’t be taken in the hold of an aircraft! We walked back to the airport in the morning (just freezing this time....) to find our flight was delayed by an hour. Still we have a 5 hour turn around in Singapore so hopefully no dramas there and we had to amuse ourselves in the deserted international koru lounge at Christchurch until boarding. We bumped into another couple we’ve met at various travel related events over the years and they were on the same flight en route to Bali to meet their daughter.

    Did I say 5 hour turn around...? Well despite our flight being late arriving, our flight to Heathrow was even more delayed and didn’t leave until 2.55am local time (we arrived at 7pm). I’ve now seen more of the lounge at terminal 2 in Singapore than I ever wanted to....

    The photos show the view from Rydges Airport Hotel in Wellington, our Christchurch hotel, the view from the international terminal in Chch, the “packed” koru lounge and the beer I had with dinner last night!    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    1
    1111

    Day 2 Southampton

    2019年8月2日, イングランド ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Sometimes things don’t go quite as planned which seems to be a bit of a recurring theme so far... The delay meant we had to jump on-line and change our transport arrangements to Southampton (at a cost of an extra 20 pounds).

    So the flight from Singapore was delayed, and delayed, eventually taking off just after 3 am. The flight itself was pretty uneventful with a sleeping pill ensuing 9 of the 13 hour flight passed with me knowing nothing about it. We were just about to land at Heathrow (literally just over the end of the airport) when we had to do an emergency go around as there was a plane on the runway in the way. Luckily no issue apart from from some startled looks on the passengers faces and we eventually landed safely.

    A quick trip through immigration and then onto the loser cruiser (err...bus) to Southampton arriving about 2.30pm. We are staying at the Premier Inn West Quay which is pretty basic but close to the centre of the city. So we walked down to the Sea City museum to visit the Titanic exhibition and history of the Southampton (both really good).

    While we were there we saw some photos and commentary about Robert Hickens who was the grandfather of a friend of Christines (Deidre) and the Quartermaster on the Titanic. More of him later as we have a special job to do when we get to the Titanic Experience in Belfast.

    We went out for dinner and were going to a local pub (the Titanic) which is cute from the outside (see attached picture) but really basic and I don’t say that lightly. It had a small but friendly crowd of regulars so we had a couple of drinks there and adjourned to the nearby Standing Order pub for actual dinner.

    An early night as we were both knackered after about 38 hours of travel/faffing around.

    Photos attached show our seats from Chch to Singapore; Singapore Airport terminal 3; seats on the much delayed flight to Heathrow; the double round approach to Heathrow; the Standing Order pub; the Titanic pub; the old City Gates Southampton; a bio of Deirdre’s grandfather; a mock up of class 2 Titanic cabin; a article from an April 1912 newspaper again featuring Dee’s grandfather.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 3 Isle of Wight

    2019年8月3日, イングランド ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    About 16 months ago during our last trip in Japan we attempted an epic public transportation challenge, well today we undertook a similar journey across to the Isle of Wight. Now I had been hoping for a little bit of inside information as a colleague of mine had recently been to the UK and planned to go, however she decided that the sites of Leeds were more alluring so no insights were to be had....

    We left the hotel at about 8.45 and typically having just missed one, took the 9.45 train from Southampton to Portsmouth which stops at every lamppost between Southampton and Portsmouth and then caught the bus down to Southsea. From there the day’s transportation highlight - a hovercraft. Yes, the last remaining hover passenger service in the world runs from Southsea to Ryde, it’s an epic ten (!!!) minute journey across the mighty (you’ll have to take my word for that) Solent channel.

    By the time we arrived it was after midday and time for lunch, so after a walk up (and I mean up, it’s a steep little township) the Ryde Main Street for a look around, we went back to the waterfront to the Royal Esplanade pub for lunch. That was nice enough, but there was no time to linger as we had legs four, five and six to complete.

    That involved a bus trip to Newport in the middle of the island on a double decker and we managed to score the front seats on the top deck for a rapid trip through the pretty Isle of Wight countryside. From there it’s a connecting bus and an equally foot to the floor ride down to Cowes. Honestly you’d have thought we were on the Isle of Mann the way those drivers wrestled those buses rapidly through the narrow roads, and getting into the Cowes bus stop involved some of the tightest and best manoeuvring of a large bus I’ve ever seen. These guys must have been failed F1 drivers at some point...

    Cowes is famous for the yachting regatta that takes place each year and as the starting point for the Fastnet classic, a famous open water yacht race that back in the late 70’s resulted in some really tragic loss of life as a big storm blew in. The Fastnet started today and happily there were no weather dramas to report. After a walk through Cowes township we decided a trip to another pub was in order so repaired to the Fountain Hotel next to the large yacht harbour.

    After a quick pint of an underwhelming lager (and a half of berry cider for Christine) we caught the Redjet fast ferry for the 25 minute journey back to Southampton to complete the round trip and arrived back to our hotel (by foot) at about 4.30pm.

    We’ve sussed out a nice restaurant down by the waterfront for dinner and we have the morning in the city before boarding the Nautica in the early afternoon. Ship’s wifi permitting, I’ll report in after that...

    Photos attached show.... Our hovercraft!!; Our Hovercraft from another angle!!; me on the hovercraft!!; a rare slow point of view from the bus; the Main Street of Ryde: the Royal Esplanade pub (pubs may become a recurring theme so be warned); the Redjet fast ferry (with it’s slow cousin the background); the dining room of the Royal Esplanade pub (featuring me at the bar!).    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Days 4 and 5 Southampton/Bon Voyage

    2019年8月4日, イングランド ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We had a bit of free time on Sunday morning as we weren’t due to board the Nautica until 1 pm. So I went out for another walk early, making it as far as St Mary’s stadium (home of Southampton FC). Typically for a lot of British stadia it is in the middle of an industrial/council housing area but only a 15 minute (if you know where you’re going) walk from the city centre.

    Also typically there a few signs pointing you in the general direction and you can often see the place but it takes a series of dead end guesses as to which actual street is the correct one! Anyway several false starts and curse words later, I found it (see attached photo) and took an alternative route back to town.

    Following that we did a bit of shopping and took the 3 minute taxi ride to the ship. Boarding was really easy and we were having lunch and a drink within 15 minutes of turning up dockside.

    Hotel review.... We stayed at the Premier Inn Westquay. Pros - it’s really close to town, the port and transport routes and it’s pretty cheap. Cons - just about everything else. It has no reception to speak of, the rooms are really basic (no fridge!), and there aren’t too many staff around to do anything.

    We are en route to Edinburgh and had a sea day for the first day of the cruise so not much to report or see. Lots of reading, forming of quiz teams, playing of games and lazing around.

    Photos attached ..... Southampton FC’s St Mary’s Stadium, Central Hall and the Premier Inn Westquay.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    1

    Day 6 Edinburugh, Scotland

    2019年8月6日, スコットランド ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Edinburgh, or the Dunedin of the North as some with a very vivid imagination might describe it. We arrived to a really great Scottish summer’s day, well it was raining and about 17 degrees so pretty typical I guess. It got better as the day went (see photos for evidence) and didn’t rain during our entire time ashore.

    We docked in Leigh which is a seaside suburb and were berthed right next to the former royal yacht Britannia (more of that later). We did not have a tour booked so went into the city and walked the Royal Mile which runs between Edinburgh Castle at the top end and Holyrood Palace/the Scottish Parliament at the other with a few side excursions into the small lanes and surrounding streets.

    The Edinburgh fringe festival was well underway and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo is about to start it’s run, so the city was packed and really lively. We walked for bloody miles interrupted by a stop at the Castle Arms for a drink and the World’s End pub for lunch (photos attached...). We didn’t go into the castle grounds as it was chaos up there with thousands of people on site. Lots of Harry Potter themed stuff around as it was the place where J K Rowling wrote the first of the novels. Loved the city, it’s extremely picturesque and well laid out.

    After returning to Leith we went and did the tour of the Britannia which is well worthwhile if you’re ever in town. It’s smaller than you might imagine but did play host to most world leaders at some point up until it’s decommissioning in 1997.

    Ship life update - our newly formed trivia team (4 Americans, 2 Canadians and us) finished second on day one of the ship team trivia contest, beaten by a team that got a perfect score. On day 2 we were forth (there are about ten teams) and the same team that won on day 1 got a perfect score again, I’m a little suspicious.....

    The photos show... The Royal Mile, leading up to the castle; the Elephant House cafe above which J K Rowling wrote the first of the Harry Potter books; Victoria terrace overlooking Victoria Street; Edinburgh Castle with me in the foreground; the Tollbooth Tavern on the Royal Mile; the grounds outside the Castle ready for the Tattoo; the World’s End pub with me in the foreground again; the Queen’s bedroom on Britannia; the Royal yacht Britannia; the Castle Arms where we had a drink on the terrace.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    1

    Day 7 Kirkwall, Orkney Islands

    2019年8月7日, スコットランド ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Kirkwall, heard of it? Well I’m guessing probably not so I’ll tell you a little about it. It is the capital of the Orkney Islands situated off the northern end of the Scottish mainland and was a key naval stronghold in both world wars. The township itself is larger than we expected and appears to have about 9000 people living there with a good array of sites, shops and pubs.

    The weather can be challenging but played ball for us today with temps about 14 - 16 degrees and no rain. Remember this absolute peak summer.... Regardless it is a really pretty place with a surprising amount to see. We didn’t do any of the formal tours on offer, instead deciding to find our own entertainment.

    That consisted of firstly a visit to the wireless museum, it’s tiny but packed with old radio equipment, games and gimmicks, including a game of the original Pong which we played and should you ever find yourself in the area, part willingly with the 3 pound entry fee and treat yourself to some old radio nostalgia (see photos!).

    Then off to the actual Orkney Museum to take a look at the exhibition they had about the scuttling of the German Fleet at the end of the First World War. 52 ships were scuttled in Scapa Flow (the area of water almost completely surrounded by the Orkney Islands) by the German Navy commander after they were forced to surrender and sent to the Orkneys where they could be kept secure and boxed in.

    There is also the remnants of an Earls’ Palace, a really large non-denominational cathedral, some lovely shops in a pedestrian area and about 6 pubs!

    We had lunch (and a pint of Orkney Gold for me) at the largest of the Hotels - the Kirkwall, my lunch included a haggis filling which was very tasty.

    The islanders consider themselves to be as much Norwegian as they are Scottish, although that said we were farewelled by the local highland dance troupe!

    Trivia Update - our team was reduced to 6 tonight but still managed second place and we were well happy with that.

    Photos - Highland Dancers waving us goodbye; the Kirkwall Hotel; the Wireless Museum; Pong!; Downtown (me in foreground again), Earls’ Palace (i am again in the way); the Bishop’s Palace; St Magnus Cathedral    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 8 Torshavn, Faroe Islands

    2019年8月8日, フェロー諸島 ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    The Faroe Islands are a self governing nation and a semi dependant part of Denmark using the Danish currency and military but otherwise a fully functioning nation of it’s own. There are 52,000 Faroese, most of them living in two towns, with Torshavn the capital having about 22,000 citizens.

    We (along with some other fellow passengers) had arranged an independent walking tour of the city in the morning and a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) tour of the sea caves and Puffin colonies in the afternoon. The walking tour was interesting enough but the guide we had (her name is almost unpronouncable in English) over explained everything and a result the tour moved at glacial pace. Too slow for us and after an hour we left them to it so we could conduct our own walking tour of Torshavn, the unintended highlight being when Christine locked herself in a restroom when the handle fell off the inside of the door!

    Anyway she was quickly rescued and in a massive irony the exact same thing happened to one of our companions later in the day, says something for the quality of Faroese toilets I guess....

    The RIB tour was fantastic, we saw heaps of Puffins, a seal swimming in the ocean and the sea caves and sea stacks were amazing, the boats were able to get right inside the caves and in one case all the way through to the other side. Really rugged country, I’m not sure the photos are able to do it justice.

    Trivia update - again only a six but we had a win. The team that had won every day to date were short of their two key players and didn’t even feature in the top 4.

    Photos - Tórshavn old town; grass roofed houses; RIB tour; the suits we wore while on the RIB; a sea stack; the next few are sea caves/sea stacks.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 9 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

    2019年8月9日, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Not much to report today, a day at sea moving between the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Seas have been a little rough and the temps are starting to drop noticeably.

    We have seen a few pods of passing dolphins though, see pictures attached.

    Photos - passing pod of dolphins.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    1

    Day 10 Akureyri, Iceland

    2019年8月10日, アイスランド ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    We arrived early in Akureyri (a ku rare ri) and had arranged another independent tour with 10 other passengers. It was a long day of Waterfalls, thermal activity and hot springs.... Akureyri is Iceland’s second largest city with a population of around 22,000.

    We first visited Godafoss (waterfall of the gods) which is a little like the Huka Falls only a bit bigger. By this time it was apparent that Iceland was going to live up to its name as it was getting seriously cold. The supposed top temp for the day was meant to be 7 degrees but if it reached that I’d be surprised and we had driving wind and sleety rain most of the day.

    That did put a downer on bits of the day as it was just too cold and wet to really appreciate the sites we were seeing. this became especially apparent at the Dentafoss Waterfall (forgive the spelling) which is Europe’s most powerful waterfall and seriously impressive. Unfortunately by the time we arrived the weather was at it’s worst and it is a posted 15 minute walk to the falls from the car park.

    Christine and I managed to do it in about 7 minutes with the rest of our group trailing way behind but it was so cold and wet we literally took a couple of photos and headed back. Despite our rain gear we were seriously wet and cold when we got back to the van. Then it was off to the Myvatn Hot springs where I was the only one of our group brave enough to take a swim (and it was well worth it!).

    We saw some Game of Thrones filming locations and view other scenic locations featuring lava fields and lava stacks.

    Trivia update - we had been on a run of first and second places but came crashing back to earth today, not featuring in the top five.

    Photos - Godafoss falls; and another shot of Godafoss; me (wearing almost every piece of clothing I bought with me) in front of some lava stacks; lake Myvatn’s crater lake; Dentafoss falls; Myvatn baths; another shot of the baths (I’m in there somewhere...).    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 11 Isafjordur, Iceland

    2019年8月11日, アイスランド ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    Isafjordur I think roughly translates to icy fjord which is fair enough as even in the middle of the Icelandic summer it was pretty cold. We had arrived hoping/expecting to be able to go whale watching. Unfortunately due to the weather and poor sea conditions, that got cancelled so we were left to our own devices in this thriving metropolis....

    Well actually it’s a small township of about 4000 people and as it was a Sunday there wasn’t much open, so after a quick trip into town which mostly consisted of having a hot chocolate in a local cafe so we could use the wifi, we came back to the ship after only a couple of hours ashore. As it happened most of the ship was back on board soon after midday as the afternoon excursions were cancelled as well (again due to weather). I didn’t think it was quite as a cold as the previous day, but the forecast top temp was 5 degrees, you’ve got to love an Icelandic summer....

    Ship life update - Christine had a “win” at bingo! She won $65, but having spent $25 that day and the previous day that bingo was played meant she is only up $15, but still...

    Trivia Update - another day another second place. The team that usually gets everything correct had their gun players back and predictably beat us with a perfect score to our 19/21.

    It may be a couple of days until we can post this and the Greenland updates as the wifi access is getting pretty limited. Will post a couple of around the ship shots as well as we have a couple of sea days coming up.

    Photos attached... 1; the only place in town you can buy alcohol (I had hoped to get some Icelandic beer or wine, but being Sunday this photo of the outside is as close as we got.. 2; the Viking Sky also in port that day (it’s the same ship that almost sunk off the coast of Denmark - NB may have been Germany... a few months ago. 3; Downtown! 4; Isafjordur harbour    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    1

    Days 12 & 13 Cruising the Denmark Strait

    2019年8月12日, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Two days at sea here and a change of plans. Today we were supposed to be viewing Prince Christian Sound in Greenland. However bad weather meant that wasn’t possible and nor were either of the planned Greenland ports. So a few phone calls and renegotiations later and we are visiting a different Greenland destination - Tasiilaq on the South East of Greenland (Ammassalik) . However that is tomorrow’s story....

    We have two sea days to report on before then. There are some photos of the ship attached, but before that an indication of what a typical day at sea looks like... Breakfast can be challenging as everyone tends to go at the same time meaning getting a seat in the Terraces cafe can be a mission but we usually manage it and tend not to stay long as breakfast for us is usually just cereal and fruit, rather than the full three course event that some make it. Then it’s off to Horizons bar for various games (golf putting; cornhole - it has various names but it’s a throwing game trying to get a bean bag into a hole - and of course bingo!). Combine that with lots of reading and its soon lunch time.

    Same deal at lunch and it’s usually easier to go to the main dining room as the buffet area again gets packed at peak times between noon and about 1.30.

    Ordinarily it would be pool time after that, but as this is a cold weather cruise it’s more reading and further games in the afternoon before Trivia in the late afternoon. All of these activities are in pursuit of Big O points. You get these for winning or placing in the various competitions and they are traded at the end of the trip for tee shirts/bags and other branded gear depending upon how many you have to spend.

    By then it’s time for happy hour in the late afternoon and whale spotting. We’ve seen quite a few today and hope to encounter more close up on a tour we have later in the trip. The evening is taken up with dinner about 7 - 7.30 followed by late night trivia or a show (although we’re not big on those as they tend to be show tunes or the like which neither of us are keen on).

    Photos attached show Our cabin; Horizons Lounge; Our cabin from the other end!; the Nautica lounge (where all the shows take place); our quiz team (I’ve named them the Undertones which they are a bit non-plussed about) in order the people are Kent and Lynette both former biotech doctors from just north of San Francisco, Donna and Malcolm from Chilliwack in Canada; Glenda and Andy (he’s a former naval dentist) from San Diego; one of the officers on board who looks disturbingly like Boris Johnson    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 14 Tasiilaq, Greenland

    2019年8月15日, グリーンランド ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Today we visited the substitute port of Tasiilaq part of South Eastern Greenland. Greenland is now it’s own country with appropriate representation and governance although it still retains Danish currency and close economic and militate you ties. The population is mainly Inuit and they have their own language although most have some Danish and some English as well.

    The township itself is about 2500 strong and is as you might imagine fairly basic. There is a small supermarket, a couple of other souvenir/tourist shops, a post office and bank. They have a decent size hospital and school, a couple of churches and a largish port (the main industry being fishing). It takes about an hour to do a loop of the township and see the sights such as they are. The day was an absolute cracker, cool - about 9 degrees - but clear sunny skies after the morning fog had lifted and no wind. the harbour is quite small and there is a lot of loose sea ice floating around (photos attached).

    We left the ship using tender craft to get ashore about 10.30 and were ready to return about 12.15 but very worthwhile despite the short stay.

    A sea day tomorrow as we make our way to Reykjavik where we now have 3 days instead of two due to the other cancelled Greenland port.

    Trivia update - a somewhat frustrating 3rd place today but still regularly featuring in the top three so still happy enough...

    Photos attached - Sea ice; Sea ice and fog!; Tasiilaq; more ice; 3 shots of err downtown...; the local bar (closed when we called in); the Red Church; Nautica at anchor in Tasiilaq harbour    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 15 Reykjavik, Iceland Day 1

    2019年8月16日, アイスランド ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    This was the day in Reykjavik we weren’t supposed to have... Following the forced abandonment of a day in Greenland due to weather we arrived back in Iceland a day early for the first of now three days in the capital. We didn’t bother organising a tour and spent the day exploring the city. The local council put on free shuttle buses and we arrived in the city centre about 10.30 am and spent about four hours wandering the streets. It’s a pretty enough city, dominated by a large church at the top of a hill which can be seen from almost everywhere.

    The bus dropped us outside the new Harpa which is a large concert/conference venue on the waterfront. We roamed the historic centre of the city, now dominated by the usual array of pubs and souvenir outlets and which gave us the opportunity to finally upload some blog content. We had been relying on the ship’s wifi alone for the last few days since leaving Isafjodur and which does not have enough enough oomph to upload anything containing a picture.

    Observation - Reykjavik is expensive! Actually Iceland in general is expensive, the meal we had at the Sweet Pig gastro pub (that is the english translation, it has an Icelandic name which I won’t attempt to replicate here) which was a burger for Christine and a pulled lamb dish for me plus a Prosecco and an on site brewed “Orange Blood Pale Ale” (very nice) cost the equivalent of about $110 NZD!!

    There are loads of pubs and craft beer venues, and “happy” hour beers come in at about 1000 ISD which is approx $12.50 NZD - the “ordinary” price is approx double that, so not an especially happy hour...

    I also visited the Iceland Punk Museum which is a tiny little place dedicated to detailing the history of punk music in Iceland and run by one of Iceland’s original pioneers of the genre, really interesting.

    Otherwise we saw the town hall which sits on an artificial lake (pond), the Parliament, several pretty cool sculptures and art works before returning vis the local Vinbudin (Govt run wine, beer and spirits store) to purchase some local beer and wine for responsible in cabin consumption over the next few days. The other interesting thing we came across was the brand new Scenic Eclipse which is a new commercial super yacht run by an Australian outfit and is (after much delay) leaving for her first ever voyage from Reykjavik.

    Photos attached show... The pub we had lunch at; flowers celebrating Gay pride week which starts tomorrow; part of the historic district; me with a street monument; the church in the background of almost everything you see; a loo!!; two downtown shots.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    1

    Day 16 Reykajavik, Iceland Day 2

    2019年8月17日, アイスランド ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Another day, another change of plans. Today was supposed to be the day we took a flight over icefields and active volcanos, however there have been extremely high winds in Reykjavik today and the tour had to be cancelled due to adverse flying conditions for the small plane being used. Tomorrow’s whale watching expedition is in jeopardy for the same reason but i guess we’ll come to that when we get to tomorrow....

    Unfortunately that’s just how things roll in this part of the world where adverse weather is a part of everyday life even in mid-summer. That said apart from the high winds (which wouldn’t rate much of a mention to anyone who has spent much time in Wellington - “a bit breezy” by our standards...!) it was fine and sunny with temps about 15 degrees.

    So with time on our hands we decided to knock off a couple of things we hadn’t managed the previous day in Reykjavik and visited the Northern Lights experience centre which gives information and picture/video representations of the Northern Lights from all over Iceland. For those wondering if we have seen the lights for ourselves... no, this the wrong time to see them as they usually occur in winter between late October and late March although there are occasional sightings from early September through to late April

    After that we headed back through the city and up to the main Church featuring an impressive organ/pipe set up. Of more interest was the assembling of the gay pride parade floats and the parade route was packed.

    Otherwise we occupied ourselves in a couple of local pubs sampling some further local beers (for me at least) before returning to the ship about 3 pm in time for pre dinner happy hour...

    Photos show the Northern Lights (not live..); inside of the Harpa concert hall; the Scenic Eclipse about to embark on her maiden voyage from Reykjavik; the waterfront bar we had a drink at; Reykjavik harbour and public exhibit in the background; Hallgrimskirkja Church which dominates the skyline; the harbour again; another public art piece    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    2

    Day 17/18 Reykjavik and at sea

    2019年8月18日, アイスランド ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Well the last Reykjavík day was supposed to be the day we finally went to go whale watching.... But, you guessed it, the weather gods simply will not play ball and it was cancelled (again) due to high winds and rough seas. Having explored most of Reykjavík in the previous two days and the alternative tours on offer not being that attractive, we opted for a day on board.

    Consequently there is little to report apart from our stash of “O” points which you get for winning various games, reaching levels that might enable us to buy the ship when we get off!

    We enjoyed both Reykjavik and Iceland generally, I can report that I bought back to the ship a few examples of locally brewed beers (aside from the ones I sampled on land) and they are uniformally excellent. Even the local lager (Polar Beer) is passable and the other boutique beers are really good.

    We are now en route to Derry, Northern Ireland and we’ve attached some photos of things around the ship to give an idea of the facilities on offer on this small 700 passenger vessel. Tonight we have an invite to Drinks with the Captain for a couple of hours before we due at the specialist Italian restaurant on board “Toscana”.

    Photos - the Grand Dining Room; the crew undertaking a safety drill on the wharf in Reykjavik; the Nautica lounge (the bloke at the lecturn is Shaun our cruise director); Horizons lounge at the front of the ship; a sample of the cruise daily showing the sort of things that happen on a sea day!    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 19 Derry, Ireland

    2019年8月20日, 北アイルランド ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We arrived in Northern Ireland today. Well sort of, the port we used for Derry (Londonderry to some - depends on which side of the religious divide you sit) is actually in Greensgate which is across the inlet in Donegal, Republic of Ireland, about a 40 minute drive from Derry itself.

    We had decided to take one of the ship’s tours today to Dunluce Castle and the Giant’s Causeway which is a UNESCO world heritage site of uniquely shaped hexagonal rocks. On the way to the causeway you pass through both the seaside towns of Portrush, site of the recent British Open Golf tournament and Bushmills, home of Ireland’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery. It is a fascinating part of Ireland and also in the area is a famous rope bridge and the dark hedges, although due to time constraints we didn’t get to see those....

    As we didn’t arrive in Greensgate until midday (its a long way there from Iceland) this was an afternoon/evening tour and we got to the causeway about 4 pm after a two hour drive and had a couple of hours to look around. That was after a stop at Dunluce which is a castle ruin on the cliffs overlooking Portrush Bay (see photos).

    You could take the bus down to the causeway but we chose to walk (down at least) to the rocks. It is one of the most popular spots in Northern Ireland and there were hundreds of other visitors on the day we were there. You can clamber all over the rocks and there are unsurprisingly a lot of accidents as people slip or fall on the uneven terrain. During the time we were there and although we didn’t see it, a lady (who was not part of our group) fell from her wheelchair badly injuring herself.

    We had two hours there which was enough time for us to see and walk around the causeway and have enough time left over for a drink at the local pub.

    After the trip back to Greensgate we decided to visit another local hostelry for a drink before returning to the ship about 8.45pm before an 11 pm departure.

    Photos attached show... light and dark hexagonal rocks; Dunluce Castle ruins; causeway rocks; the organ pipes (cliffside rock formation); me in front of rock face; the Nook, a local pub we visited; another bar in Greensgate we went to; Portrush Police station and it’s surrounding perimeter fence, a reminder of the sometimes troubled circumstances prevalent in this part of the world.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 20 Belfast, Ireland

    2019年8月21日, 北アイルランド ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Really interesting day today. We arrived in Belfast quite early and wanted to go to the Titanic Centre which is (unsurprisingly) in Belfast’s Titanic quarter and was back at the turn of the last century, the world centre of shipbuilding. The centre itself stands on the site of the slipway that launched many ships including the Titanic.

    It is a huge building and the number one tourist destination in Ireland (or Europe if you believe their publicity). We left the ship early to try and beat the masses arriving just after it opened at 8.30. That proved a good decision as when we left about 11 am it was getting pretty packed. It’s very well done and well worth a couple of hours of your time if you are ever here (see some of the photos). There is also a smaller White Star Line Ship, the Normadic, in one of the adjacent slipways that you can walk through, although we didn’t take up that part of the tour as we only had one day in Belfast and many things to do.

    We had been hoping to speak to one of the curators as we had been given copies of letters written by the Titanic’s Quartermaster in the aftermath of the sinking to have looked at with a view to donating the originals (owned by a friend of Christine’s who is his grand daughter). However they were all off site, so the best we could do was get the email address of one of the lead curators and put Dee in direct touch with her.

    After a quick trip back to the ship to drop off the enormous amount of shopping and souvenirs that had been purchased (Christine is mad for the Titanic) we took a couple of hour trip with the taxi driver that had dropped us back there into the Shankhill/Falls Road area of Belfast. Like many drivers in Belfast he specialises in providing independent tours of the area to see and learn about the areas and people that shaped this very divided city.

    He grew up and still lives in Shankhill but nevertheless gave us a rounded overview of both the Protestant (Shankhill) and Catholic (Falls Road) perspectives of the history and key events that still dominate the areas today. It is pretty confronting to see and learn about the atrocities that have been committed by both sides in pursuit of their particular view of how Ireland/Northern Ireland should exist.

    After that we were dropped into the centre of Belfast and that co-incided with the weather packing in. It had been mild and overcast to that point but from about 1 pm it started to rain and get colder and that got progressively worse as the day wore on. After a walk through through the centre of the city we went to the nearby Robinsons Pub for a drink and lunch. Reputationally it is the site of the most bombed pub (it’s actually two pubs joined together) in Belfast and that’s saying something considering the amount of trouble that city has seen over the years.

    We bumped into Dave and Lesley two friends from the ship at the pub (surprising as we were the only non locals there) and had lunch with them before walking to take a look at the Belfast City Hall which is a really impressive building with lots of stained glass marking various Belfast events and information about the many famous people that were born in or lived in the city. By now it was about 3.30, raining and pretty cold so we decided to call it a day and head back to the ship on the double decker buses they had put on to ferry us from the port to the ship and back.

    Photos show... The Titanic Slipway (with our ship in the background...); the main staircase of the ship as depicted in a virtual walk through; a replica Titanic lifeboat; the Titanic Centre; the Normadic; a Protestant memorial wall; our driver and me looking at the exterior of a Shankill house; one of the 47 walls that still separate the Protestant and Catholic areas; Robinsons Pub, downtown Belfast; Belfast city hall    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 21 Dublin, Ireland

    2019年8月22日, アイルランド ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Home of Guinness, Temple Bar, the world renowned Trinity College and many (many) churches. It’s a great place but one we had visited previously and seen all the aforementioned things and a few besides. So we decided to make our way into the city, take a wander around and see what took our fancy.

    So after a walk from Merrion Square where we were dropped off about 10.30 am what took our fancy unsurprisingly turned out to be a visit to one of the hundreds of pubs for lunch (the Oliver St. John Gogarty Bar in Temple Bar in this case) which was pretty good. Lucky we were there by 11.45 as from soon after mid-day, every pub was packed with lunch goers. We then went for a stroll up Grafton Street the main shopping drag, through St. Stephens square, the Irish Parliamentary complex and ended up at the Natural History museum which was small but really comprehensive in it’s displays of Irish wildlife.

    By then it was mid afternoon and time for (you guessed it!) another visit to a local pub (Kennedy’s in this case) before walking back to get the 2.45 pm bus back to the ship. Well that was the plan... Turned out the bus had left early as it was packed and the next one wasn’t till 3.30. So we hooked up with another couple of passengers and caught a cab back alongside the river Liffey, arriving back at the ship just before 3 pm.

    As I type this we are just about to depart (6 pm) and have a sea day before concluding the trip in Southampton. So barring a huge win at bingo or one of the quizzes there will likely be little to report until we get to London on Saturday.

    Photos attached show.... Pearse Rail Station; the River Liffey (with our ship in the far background); Hapenny Bridge; the Temple Bar (located in Temple Bar); the pub we had lunch at; the Natural History Museum; two shots from inside said museum; Grafton Street.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 22 Cruising English Channel

    2019年8月23日, English Channel ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    This was the last day of the cruise portion of the trip before 5 days in London to finish. As is typical on a last day at sea there are several rituals to observe. Firstly there are the many goodbyes you have to make. A small ship like the Nautica means you get to see and spend time with a lot of people and crew over the course of the 20 days.

    Secondly as with all cruise lines they are super keen for you to (positively) review the trip and the crew by means of a survey that each line conducts after every cruise. Then you need to decide to which of the crew you might tip that little bit extra (even though all gratuities are included there is still an expectation that some tipping will take place). Most importantly is the cashing of the credits (O points) that have been won for playing/winning/participating in various games or quizzes during the trip.

    We had a staggering return of over 300 (360 to be exact) which enabled us to get lots of “free” branded gear -socks/hats/shirts/jackets and the like.

    Lastly (after packing of course) we had dinner with our quiz team who had all grown really close over the course of the trip (we ended up finishing second overall in number of points won by any of the 12 or so quiz teams during the voyage if anyone is wondering) and ended up finishing the evening up in the main bar about 11pm.

    Early start tomorrow so that’s it for today’s update. Photos attached show...

    Our O ;points collection!; sunset over Dublin as we pulled out; the final crew show of the trip (virtually the only one we went to over the whole trip); “baggo” - one of the games regularly played on board; Bingo!! - more lost than won I’m afraid; a video of some lumpy weather between Greenland and Iceland in 4 metre seas.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 23 Southampton - London

    2019年8月24日, イングランド ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Off the ship for the final time this morning about 8 am. We arranged to get a cab to the rail station with a couple of friends we made on the ship and disembarking was so easy we were off the ship and at the station within 25 minutes which meant over an hour’s wait for our 9.30 train to Waterloo station in London.

    That all went smoothly enough and we arrived about 11.15 and picked up a black taxi to our hotel/apartment in South Kensington. You know how Londons cabbies used to do “the knowledge” (which was a test that meant they had to memorise every street and the quickest direction to it in central London)? Our cabbie was obviously a complete failure at the knowledge as after 40 minutes in his taxi we were further away from where we wanted to be than when we started.

    We had done this trip a few times before so I knew he was completely lost and following a few increasingly heated exchanges we parted ways, settling on a ten pound (out of the 45 on the meter) as fair exchange for his uselessness. I imagine he can still hear the very colourful language I used as I left the cab and hopefully my parting advice to him about choosing a different career path comes to fruition.

    Anyway ten minutes and one driver who did actually know his way around later, we were at the Collingham apartments. We have stayed here about 4 times previously and they really look after us. We have been given a split level balcony apartment and there was a bottle of wine and chocolates awaiting us on arrival.

    London has a reputation for cool cloudy weather, well not today! Almost 30 degrees with more just like it forecast for the next few days. It was a very hot and sweaty journey by tube out to Camden Town Markets for the afternoon where we were met by every other person in London who also wanted to be there on a Saturday afternoon - jeez it was packed!

    Made a few purchases and made our way back to Kensington about 4 pm. After a quick stop at one of the local pubs and a bit of supermarket shopping we decided to call a halt to the day about 6 pm.

    I had intended to get to a local football match (probably QPR) but the time it took to get to our apartment and the crowds at Camden Town put paid to that. A quiet night in cooking for ourselves in preparation for another day in the London heat tomorrow.

    Photos show... The Collingham Apartments; several shots of the inside and balcony of room 122...    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者
    Fish & chips for Lunch

    Day 24 London

    2019年8月24日, イングランド ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today we went for a walk through the Brompton Cemetery. It is only a short walk from where we are staying in South Kensington and a real mostly undiscovered London gem. It is a huge old place that could do with a bit of care and attention in places but has loads of ornate plots in a fantastic walled garden setting. There are also lots of very inquisitive squirrels and other wildlife roaming around.

    After that it was off to the Science Museum which is in the same area as the Natural History and Victoria and Albert museums but we had not visited here previously. It’s really cool and well worth two or three hours if you find yourself in London. There are loads of differently themed exhibits and the one’s that really captured our imaginations were dedicated to flight and technology. We also saw a special exhibit on the work of the British GCHB (the secret communications monitoring service) which was also very good with lots dedicated to the Cold War era of the 60’s and 70’s and some of the goings on between Britain and the then Iron Curtain nations.

    We adjourned for lunch (to a nearby pub naturally which had very effective and welcome air conditioning) and then went to Harrods to pick up something for dinner from their food court which has awesome (if pricey) fare. By then it was mid afternoon and I left Christine behind because I had a couple of choices of other things I wanted to do...

    On our last trip here I made an unsuccessful journey to take a tour of Lords Cricket ground (unsuccessful because the last tour left literally one minute before I arrived and they wouldn’t let me tag on the end of it). So I’ve been a bit bitter towards Lords and the stuffy attitude of their staff ever since and I decided to exercise my second option - a trip to Wimbledon to see the All England Tennis Club Museum and tour the Centre Court.

    Getting there was sort of simple. It is on the same line as that which runs from Earls Court station (a 2 minute walk from where we are staying). However I have a word of advice... I was fairly certain the best station to get to the tennis centre was Southfields but a bloke I got talking to on the train said Wimbledon Park was better. While that may sound logical, it wasn’t actually true and I had to backtrack to Southfields - don’t trust the locals, virtually no-one is actually a local!!

    Anyway it turned out to be a fifteen minute walk from the station (in 30 degree heat), but well worth it and I have a couple of photos that will appear in the next update as I took them on a really old travel phone and transferring them needs another app. The centre court itself is smaller than you might imagine and certainly quite a bit smaller than the only other comparator I have - Rod Laver arena in Melbourne. Beautifully presented as you might expect and the museum tour is top rate.

    Photos attached show... Brompton Cemetery buildings; the main pathway in the cemetery; one of the side paths; a squirrel paying me no mind at all; one of the many crows in the cemetery; the Science Museum exterior; and the interior; a typical Kensington street, me outside the pub we had lunch at!    もっと詳しく

  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 25 Oxford

    2019年8月25日, イングランド ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Another scorcher in London today (33 deg) and we took a day trip to the city of Oxford, famous naturally enough for its world renowned university. Getting there was easy enough, it’s a journey of about an hour from Paddington station. Against my better judgement we decided to take the hop on hop off bus (I’m just not a fan...) but it gave us a really good overview of the main sites, University colleges and key information that enabled us to get a well rounded picture of the role the university plays in British and world events.

    After doing almost a complete lap of the city we got off and walked back to a couple of the sites we were interested in and had something to drink at the Kitchen Bar in Magadalen College overlooking the canal where punting takes place. That was quite amusing as many people elect to have a crack at it themselves rather than have one of the students do the punting for them. If you find yourself here take my advice and let the experts take care of the punting, most all of the amateurs ended up going backwards or round in circles. Sadly though no-one fell off while we were there....

    We took a short walk through the grounds before having lunch on the high street. Went to the covered market (don’t bother) and walked around town before heading back to the station to catch a train back to London about 2.40 pm. That was the start of a few delays.... The train turned up on time but then had a systems failure which meant all the electrics (and crucially the air-con) failed. That took fifteen very hot minutes to sort out and we arrived back at Paddington about 4 pm only to find that a points failure (no, I don’t know what that means either) had closed the underground line we needed to be on.

    London was super busy as well, as it was a bank holiday and the Notting Hill Carnival was also on which is sort of like London’s version of Rio’s Carnivale.
    Anyway, several roundabout subway journeys later we eventually made it back about 5.15....

    Photos attached - my Wimbledon souvenir (couldn’t post my actual Wimbledon photos...); punting in Oxford; Magdalen College, Oxford Uni; Oxford’s own bridge of sighs...; Christ Church College, Oxford Uni; Oxford High St; the rear of the Bodelian Library, Oxford Uni; err, another old building that we liked the look of....; the Chapel in Magdalen College    もっと詳しく

  • Undertone2019 Europe Trip旅行者

    Day 26 Cambridge

    2019年8月26日, イングランド ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Yesterday Oxford, today, Cambridge!! Yes we doubled down on our University sojourns and spent the day in Cambridge. It is about as far north east of London as Oxford is west of the Capital and just as easy to reach by train.

    Given that we took the hop on, hop off bus yesterday and to keep the comparisons fair we decided to do the same in Cambridge. For my money Oxford is slightly the grander of the two cities and Cambridge seems to have more of a chip on its shoulder about Oxford than vice versa. Cambridge is where a number of the royal family have gone and Prince Charles is less than fondly remembered as probably the dimmest person to ever attend (there are strict academic criteria to meet for everyone else) and they created a course specifically to enable him to pass out with a degree (although even that took a year longer than usual).

    The main tourist related activity that Cambridge does way better than Oxford is punting, so we waited till today to take a punt tour along the river Cam. You can do it yourself, but having watched people giving out a go yesterday we took the safe option and left it to the experts and took a trip with one the many firms offering guided punts. It’s only a about a kilometre each way and passes alongside three of the university’s most famous colleges (St Johns; Trinity and Kings). Whilst the colleges are a seperate entity from the university itself, every student must be a member of a college to study.

    Thankfully no transportation issues to report today and apart from managing the unseasonable temperatures (it was another hot day here with temps again in the early 30’s) the day was drama free. Less people around today as the bank holiday long weekend is over and just as we are about to end our holiday the high temps are due to end. Should drop down to a more comfortable mid 20’s tomorrow which is our departure day. We are not due to fly out until late in the evening so we have a day that we will spend shopping in Oxford Street/Covent Garden before collecting our bags for a 7 pm check in time at Heathrow.

    Photos attached show... The Cambridge version of the bridge of sighs from our punt... (sigh, I’m over the bloody bridge of sighs, I’ve seen Venice’s original and in the past two days, replicas of it in both Oxford and Cambridge); St Johns College Chapel; the mechanical bridge; our train to Cambridge; Trinity College; a Cambridge Street with random construction worker in the foreground...; the river Cam; Kings College; the punting station on the river Cam.    もっと詳しく

    旅行の終了
    2019年8月29日
  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • ホーム
  • 当社について
  • グループ追跡
  • プレス
  • 規約
  • プライバシー & Cookies
  • ヘルプセンター
  • 印象