Day 7 Wednesday April 17th Belfast

 After a smoothe night we arrived in the morning at an overcast Belfast with a threat of rain in the offing.  We have the appropriate clothing so we would not 

Samson and Goliath

be put off by some of the wet stuff.  We could see across the harbour the huge dock cranes "Samson and Goliath" which had played a large part in the shipbuilding industry. We had booked on a city coach excursion at 1200 and so prepared before then, we picked up a packed lunch which the boat had prepared for us. Our time came for boarding the coach and off we went with a guide to the city.  We were looking forward to seeing how it was recovering after the 

Queen's University

recent interesting history.  Our first stop was at the impressive Queen's University - founded in Victorian times and still keeps the former British sovereign's connection.  We had a quick walk and look at the gateways before returning to the coach.  Our guide was effusive about the recovery of Belfast but did not gloss over the problems the troubles caused.  We carried on through the the different quarters until we came to the 

Belfast city hall

city hall, another impressive building with St Paul's Cathedral influence and where we would have a guided tour.  In the gardens of the building

Titanic memorial

 a memorial to the sinking of the Titanic has been created with plaques listing all of those who perished as she sank - very poignant.  We then entered the building and were 

looking up to the cupola

immediately struck by the grandeur of the entrance hall with the staircase and cupola above.  We had time to get comfortable and then met our specialist guide from the city hall who started the tour by going up the staircase to the first floor.  There 

the "industry" mural

was a mural depicting the three great industries of Belfast. Linen making, shipbuilding and farming.  It was painted as the building was built to 

celebrate Queen Victoria giving Belfast city status.  We then went down a corridor showing portraits of all the mayors of Belfast before entering the council chamber.  Each of the 60 councillors had an individual desk with the chairman having an impressive seat in a commanding position to control matters.  It looked more imposing than the council chamber on St Mary's.  They had two gold chairs

part of the council chamber

the state function room

 where King George V and Queen Mary sat at the opening.   We then arrived at the large state room where important functions take place.  Very nice décor and extremely good carpet with the city arms woven into it.  We spent some time here and then we could go to see an exhibition of the history 

stained glass Titanic

of the city which for us had limited interest and as we went down a corridor there were stain glass windows including on showing the Titanic.
We concluded our tour and went to the garden for our picnic lunch before going for a quick look round the shopping area.  We had a quick

good looking M&S

 unsuccessful excursion into M&S and then returned to the coach. It was a quick ride back to the ship and boarded before 

East Maidens Lighthouse

we set sail a bit later.  As we went up the Irish coast northwards we passed the East Maidens Lighthouse.  The weather was better at this end of the day.

Day 6 Tuesday, April 16th At Sea

Our new itinerary!

 A day at sea - a day to relax and catch up with the blog.  Overnight the sea had been quite rough and Christine did not sleep too well but yours truly managed OK.  The weather was dry but quite windy, I think the roughest part would have been as we came round Lands End.  We explored the ship some more and had spells sitting in the lounge drinking coffee, observing our surroundings and I would catch up with the blog.  We could follow our location on Google maps as we approached St Georges Channel and our sedate speed on Digihub.  Eventually we could see the coast of Pembrokeshire and then Ireland and by then the weather was calmer.

google location

After lunch we did go for an extended walk round the deck which gave us some exercise and fresh air.  Then a short siesta and some more blogging! 

The Welsh coast

The Irish coast

The sun beginning to set

The day continued at this very exacting pace - we had meals at the appropriate times including unsuccessfully trying a different restaurant.  We booked on a tour of Belfast for tomorrow and generally made the most of the day before retiring early in preparation for Belfast.

Day 6 Monday April 15th Fowey

 The voyage overnight was quite lumpy although we were not adversely affected and when we woke up the ship was moving quite a bit and there was a lot of "white" water.  Announcements were soon made that it would not be ideal to continue on round Lands End in this swell and that our itinerary would be altered.  If you looked at yesterdays post we were due to stop at Fishguard but this has now been scrubbed and we are visiting Fowey today instead.  We now have a new voyage route which I will post tomorrow.

looking to sea from Fowey

MS Maud

We made our way into the

 Fowey estuary in late morning where it was very much calmer and more comfortable.  We lunched and joined a waiting system until it came to our turn to use the inflatable boats to land at Fowey.  We believe neither of us had been to Fowey before.  It had small 

we join the boat people

Fowey lifeboat

roads and many individual shops up  the road leading from the jetty.  There were many yachts and some fishing boats in the sheltered harbour.  We wandered the streets, visited the large church and entered a couple of shops before walking towards one of the ferries.  Fowey has two river ferries, a

passenger one to Polruan and the more interesting rollon-rolloff car ferry to Bodinick.  We walked to near the latter ferry and I videoed it in action if you watch you can see smoke from the funnel and hear Christine's dulcet tones. 

  

Day 5 Sunday April 14th Dover and departure

Dover Castle from docked boat

 It was not so sunny this morning as we got ourselves together to start our next holiday adventure.  We packed, checked out and taxied to St Pancras station.  We caught the express train to Dover and got a taxi to the port terminal.  It was quite a tortuous check in process but eventually we were allowed onto the MS Maud and found our cabin. We went through the usual welcome and safety lectures before we set sail at 6pm.  There was quite a swell but a good sunset. 

Our proposed route!

The White Cliffs

Heading into sunse

France from boat

Day 4 Saturday April 14th London

 Another bright sunny day greeted us as we awoke near the Tower of London. We 

Tower Bridge

had a relaxing start to the day, we had a good breakfast at the Premier Inn and then 

enjoying the view!

decided to go on a walk across Tower Bridge and part of the South Bank.  All  was pleasant with mostly families enjoying the weather and holiday break.  We walked along as far as HMS 

HMS Belfast plus ?

Belfast which had a modern Dutch? warship tied alongside her.  This ship had arrived the previous evening and Alison and Margaret were prevented from crossing the bridge because it was raised to let her through.  

Having enjoyed the sights from this side of the river we made our way back to our base and then set out for Kings Cross station where we met up with Jenny and son who were starting their journey back to Durham.  We had a picnic together and then a man was spotted who had been with Jenny on their previous holiday in Ibiza.  The boys had a good reunion and enjoyed playing ball on what was a happy coincidence.  We eventually said our farewells and we departed to cross London to visit Ros at her new home in Crofton Park.

from Blackfriars platform

We changed trains at Blackfriars, with the platforms across the Thames, found the 

house OK and were warmly greeted.  We had a tour and Ros is rightly proud of her new home.  A lot of talking with Heather and Alan being there too.  We had a meal together at a local pub, said our farewells and then successfully made our way back to the Premier Inn.  It had been a busy,  fun-filled day and we retired fairly early that night with the next part of our holiday beginning tomorrow.

Day 3 Friday, April 13th Celebrations in London

The old and the new

We arrived safely in London - without too much delay - and yesterday was really good.  I will leave some photos here at the moment, Alan and Heathers' Golden Wedding celebrations,  and fill the text in on Monday - a day we have at sea.  Yesterday and today are both busy!  

Heather and Alan Golden Wedding Celebrations It was really lovely weather 

The celebrating couple

with blue sky, sunshine and warm temperature as we made our way to the Millennium Pier by the Tower of London.  We are going on a river cruise with a meal included.  A friend of Heather's was unable to make it 

The adults ready to go

 and so our friend Ian was invited as a replacement.  Ian's office is just by the tower and he was able to arrange the time for the trip.  It also turned out that Ruth and their daughter Charlotte would also be in London and so they said they would come and wave us off.  We gradually gathered at the pier head including Heather, Alan, Jenny, Ros and the boys who had a railway journey delay and had to come part of the way by taxi.  We all greeted each other, took some photos and then boarded the ferry for our trip.  We progressed down the river nearly to Greenwich  and as we 

On board

did so we had short speeches by Jenny and Alan together with toasts. Soon our meal was being served which was all very delicious.  The boat 

the meal is coming!

turned and we came past the Tower and went upstream as far as Westminster.  A good day for it all!  We disembarked again at the tower and then all walked around St Katherine's dock which was full of interesting vessels all of which are now not involved with commerce.  We found a cafe for a refreshing cup of tea 

Tower Bridge

etc before dispersing in our different directions after a memorable time. A special mention should go to Jenny and Ros's young lads who had been exceptional throughout this long adult time! 

Charlotte with us and R & I

Charlotte with us

It was very good for us to see 

Ruth and Charlotte as Charlotte is due to fly to Los Angeles on Sunday and so we did not know when we would see her again.     

We went back to our Premier Inn for a time of R & R before we went out as we had arranged to meet Christine's cousins, Alison and Margaret, for a light meal later on.  We had shared pizzas and while we were sitting there Ian and Ruth knocked on the window and we waved to them.  We made our way back to the hotels and said our farewells to Alison and Margaret and we were unsure when we would meet them again.  After all this excitement with more to come tomorrow we were not late retiring for the night.

Days 1 & 2 Wednesday and Thursday, April 10th & 11th St Martin's to London!

 The start of our first trip off St Martin's for nearly a year.  We both feel we need a holiday.  We have planned this one for some time and we hope it lives up to expectation.  We are hoping to enjoy family celebrations, a cruise around part of the British Isles and some quality time with friends.  To us it all sounds really good and we are looking forward to it.

St Mary's on a gloomy day

Tresco from St Mary's

We had a quick journey
on a  jetboat from Lower Town to St Mary's.  It was overcast and felt it could rain at any time.  There was no flying for the day and the Scillonian custom was boosted by non-flyers. St Mary's and across the water to Tresco never look their best on days like these.

The Scillonian left just after time and we had a pleasant journey although a bit rough at times.  We had bought sandwiches on St Mary's and had an on-boat picnic.  We disembarked and soon made our way to the Premier Inn. 

The next morning we had eye tests and other tasks which we successfully completed before catching our 1215 train to London.  It is another overcast day 

Truro Cathedral

Brunel railway bridge

although quite warm. Truro 

cathedral didn't look at its best and the Brunel railway bridge across the Tamar was certainly shrouded in mist.  We have now come away from the coast (at Exeter) and the view is clearer although still overcast.   

We are now looking forward to completing our rail journey and arriving in London. We are going to stay in a Premier Inn close to the Tower of London for three nights and so more of our activities tomorrow.