May 7 - Isle of Man

Today we anchored off the town of Douglas on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.  I was here three years ago and I remembered a lovely island with very friendly people.  The place hasn’t changed.

I’m going to repeat some of the history and facts about this place because I find it very interesting.  Man has been inhabited for more than 8500 years.  At various times in its long history the island has been under Gaelic, Norse and Scots rule.  At present it has a unique status in its relationship with Great Britain.  It is a Crown Dependency with King Charles III being the titular head of the island, but Man has an independent parliament, the Tynwald.  The island has no capital gains, wealth, inheritance or stamp taxes and a highest income tax rate of 20% so it is a tax haven.  Its parliament the Tynwald is considered to be the second oldest legislature in the world after the Icelandic Althing and it is actually the oldest continuous parliament because the Althing was disbanded for a period of time. It also happens to be the first national legislature in the world to give women the vote in 1881 although it excluded married women from that right. (How weird is that?)

Anyway, they speak a variety of Gaelic language here in addition to English of course. The Manx language was nearly lost but several years ago it became compulsory to teach it in primary school and now all signs on the roads are in both Manx and English.  The island was created after the last Ice Age and as it sits in the midst of the sea it has no snakes (hooray), no foxes, wolves or deer. It has a breed of sheep found no where else called Loaghtan sheep which have brown coats and four horns (they may have as many as six) and are good for both their wool and their meat, unlike other sheep which are generally bred for one or the other. It does have one very strange animal though.  There are wallabies (relatives of kangaroos) on the island! There is a nature reserve on the northern end of Man and a couple of wallabies escaped and they have been busy procreating.  Who knows, this may become the Kangaroo Island of the northern hemisphere.

The Isle of Man is approximately 222 square miles in area with a population of about 85,000 and a per capita income of more than $89,000.  That’s because so many shell companies and wealthy people have declared residency there because of its tax advantages. Near the end of May Man has a very big and famous motorcycle race which brings in thousands of biking enthusiasts and which has been operating for nearly 120 years.

Enough about the history of the place.  I took a tour today which brought me to the southwestern corner of the island to the village of Cregneash, a living history museum run by the Manx National Heritage Society.  This is a sort of Manxian Colonial Williamsburg.  There are reenactors in the houses costumed as they would have been hundreds of years ago, loaghtan sheep are raised there and the farms around are operated as they would have been.  Some of the cottages are privately owned but the residents are required to maintain the same outward standards as those of the National Heritage buildings.

These are some scenes along the road to Cregneash

The buildings are made of stone with fences that are also stone, much of which looked like flint to me.  The roofs are mainly thatched.  In one building I met the village blacksmith who was busy creating some farm implements for his neighbors.  He was a man from Colorado!   I know blacksmiths are in great demand because that’s a dying craft and this man had an opportunity to come to Man and took it.  At another cottage I met a fiddler who played me some tunes on his fiddle.  Sitting by the window in his cottage was an old Singer sewing machine and I asked him if he was also a tailor.  He said he wasn’t but he told me about the machine.  Evidently more than 100 years ago a ship carrying among other things a load of singer sewing machines ran aground off the tip of the island.  The machine he had sitting there had been salvaged.  It was one that didn’t even have pedals. To operate it there is a hand crank on one side.  

The village of Cregneash

The little church

My excellent walking companion Alan

Sorry it's blurry, but this is the village blacksmith

Some loagthan sheep and lambs

The village fiddler

That's the salvaged sewing machine by the window.  I kept thinking of the Fiddler on the Roof in that cottage.

After we took a leisurely stroll through the village we headed to the most southwestern tip of the island where we could see a small island called Calf Island divided from Man by a very rough area of seas.  The terrain around us reminded me a lot of some of the northern Scottish hills which are essentially treeless except these hills seemed a little greener.  I’ll see if I’m right in a few days when we get to Scotland.  Which reminds me, I should mention that the weather in Man is actually pretty temperate because it is impacted by the Gulf Stream.  While it gets cold, they don’t get a great deal of snow except in the highest elevations.

The end of the Isle of Man

It looks pretty wild down there

After our stop at the end we headed back across the island to Douglas through little villages.  We passed the ruins of a monastery which was dissolved by Henry VIII after his break with the Catholic Church.  The town of Douglas has a lot of hotels and vacation apartments along the waterfront promenade to accommodate vacation travelers and the many visitors who come for the motorcycle race.

It was pretty late when we got back to the tender dock so I didn’t walk around.  I must say something about the lovely people who were my guide and driver though.  Tove was our guide and she was an absolutely delightful person. She answered the many questions we had (I’m almost embarrassed to say most were from me because I want to know everything about everything – she probably was thinking “not another one” but she didn’t seem annoyed).  Alan was our bus driver and when we stopped at Cregneash, the walk to the village was along a fairly steep and uneven path with some rabbit holes along the way.  Because of my almost irrational fear of falling and breaking something and because I don’t want to hold other people up, I was going to stay in the bus. Alan the driver insisted that I go and he gave me his arm and we walked along a slightly different path.  He is a native of the island and was a delightful ambassador for his home.  I remember that the people I met during my last visit were just as nice and friendly.  It was an all together lovely day. I wouldn't hesitate to come back here again if my travels bring me this way.

In the evening I dined with Lisa and Charles, a very nice Australian couple with whom I've sailed several times.  Lisa is one of my dancing partners and a trivia teammate.  We have a lot of fun together.  Her husband Charles is quieter but has a wicked sense of humor. We were joined by Caroline, the Entertainment Manager.  It was a nice evening and all in all a great day.  So Nite-nite for now.

Today we're anchored off Fishguard, Wales, a place I visited about three years ago.  It's pretty chilly and kind of gray out so I decided it was a good day to have a sea day.  I had catching up to do on e-mails and some business things so this worked out well.  I did write about the nice history of events in Fishguard when I last visited and to remind myself and anyone else reading this, I've copied some of what I wrote then.  This is the story of the "Last Invasion of Britain." 

In 1797 the French and British were fighting and Napoleon dispatched warships carrying about 1400 troops to land and capture Bristol. The wind didn’t cooperate with the French fleet and they wound up sailing into Fishguard Bay, our port today. The local fort fired its one and only cannon and cannonball as an alarm to the local townsfolk.  The French thought they were meeting stiff resistance so they withdrew and instead landed at a nearby beach in the village  of LLanwnda (good Welsh name).  The French soldiers were a ragtag bunch of mainly recently released jailbirds (Napoleon had his best troops fighting on the continent).  So, when the French came ashore and began plundering the surrounding town and houses they found lots of food and wine and proceeded to get very drunk. A local woman named Jemima Nicholas, who was a cobbler, came down to see what the furor was about dressed in a red cape and a black top hat carrying a pitchfork. She looked so fearsome to some of the drunken French soldiers that she managed to round up 12 of them and march them off to be locked up in the church in Fishguard.  Then she sent word out to the surrounding farms that the women should dress in their red cloaks and black hats, which happened to be everybody’s Sunday best clothing, and stand on the hills above the beaches.  From the French ships the women looked like British soldiers, or at least their drunken state led them to believe that, so after two days the French surrendered.  In the surrender agreement signed in the Royal Oak Pub in Fishguard, the French commander referred to the "several thousand British troops of the line" coming to meet them in battle.  And so ended the last invasion of Britain in February, 1797.

About 15 years before the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Fishguard the townspeople decided to do something to commemorate the event.  They decided to make a tapestry like the Bayeux Tapestry recounting William the Conqueror’s invasion.  Over the next 13 years with the help of an artist who was from the area originally they designed and then stitched a 100-foot tapestry telling the story.  Seventy-three women stitched 41 panels using 154 different colors of threads depicting the events of the invasion.  The pieces were carefully assembled and are on display in the town hall in Fishguard.

Sorry there's nothing new, but I'm taking the lazy road tonight.  Dinner with the captain again tonight.

May 5 - Waterford, Ireland

We  docked in Cobh, Ireland this morning and since I’d booked a tour I had to get up very early.  Seabourn offered a tour to visit the Waterford crystal factory and since I love their crystal I thought I should go and see the Mother Ship. No surprises here – Waterford is located in the town of Waterford in the county of Waterford, about an hour and a half bus ride away.

The Irish countryside is quite pretty, lush and green.  It is, after all, called the Emerald Isle. We passed through lots of meadows with very happy-looking cows, a few sheep and lots of barley fields.  Barley is used for all kinds of things the Irish are pretty famous for – feed for their cows to make great Irish butter and grain to brew Irish whiskey and beer.

We arrived in the town of Waterford which lies along the Suir River. The Suir eventually flows into the Irish Sea and sometime early in this century the remains of a large Viking settlement were found just upriver from Waterford so a replica longboat has been placed near the riverfront.

The Viking longboat replica

The tour of the Waterford factory was interesting but also a little disappointing.  I can’t recall all of the history of the company except for a couple of basics.  It was founded in 1783 by somebody named George Penrose.  In the mid-19th century it closed.  Since then there have been various attempts to reopen the business.  After going through a series of private equity companies, in May 2015 Waterford, which by then had merged with Wedgewood, Royal Doulton and some other brands, was acquired by Fiskars Corporation, a Finnish home products corporation.  The only thing I’ve ever heard of Fiskars making are cutting shears for sewing.  

Over the course of all the reorganizations and refinancing, most of the crystal production, including all the stemware, is made in places like Slovenia, Poland and Hungary.  The factory we went to makes things like big presentation pieces such as trophies for sporting tournaments and, most famously, the ball that drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

It was interesting to see the artisans at work blowing the glass, marking it with markers to indicate where the patterns should be carved and etched. I learned from the guide I spoke with that the stemware pattern I have has been retired and is considered a heritage pattern which can bring pretty big prices if sold (Bear that in mind Katie, if the time ever comes!).  Naturally at the conclusion of the tour we ended in a showroom with some beautiful things.  I’m not in the market for anything so I didn’t have to worry about temptation.  It was very interesting seeing some of the exquisite one-of-a-kind things like a grandfather clock or cinderella’s coach or musical instruments.  I have a greater appreciation for the level of detail and care that goes into making things like those.

This and the next are wooden molds made first so when the molten glass is made it can be shaped in them

This man is making a wooden mold for some piece

The glass blower blows his piece and then the molten glass will be placed into a mold.  While still very hot the end will be snipped off.

This man marks the pattern

A carver at work

I just have to include some of these photos of the finished works of art. They are so beautiful and took so much work.

This EDvard Much's "The Scream" in crystal

This Van Gogh's "Starry Nights"

Finally, a nativity scene infront of a representation of the Twin Towers on 9/11

After our visit we had lunch in a hotel in Waterford.  It was tasty but way too much food.  I even tried a local beer (I never drink beer but it seemed like the thing to do). We drove back to Cobh via a different route and passed a pretty famous castle, Lismore, which in fact was the name of the first Waterford pattern and is still produced today.  The castle is not open to the public and it was while she was telling us about Lismore that I learned what I thought was some interesting stuff about Irish history, both old and contemporary.

While I didn’t learn a great deal about it when I was in school, I knew like most of us that Ireland belonged to England for centuries and was not treated well by the latter. Especially in the 19th and first part of the 20th centuries there was lots of fighting and upheaval for Irish independence in part because much of the land was owned by absentee English landlords (mainly from the British aristocracy). In 1921 a delegation of Irish Republicans negotiated in England with the British and in December, 1921 an Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed.  One of the Irish delegates was Michael Collins, a former member of various Irish revolutionary groups.  The treaty gave Ireland its independence but required the Irish to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown.  It also allowed English landowners to retain their holdings in Ireland.  So for example, the Duke of Devonshire, an English peer, owns Lismore Castle and several thousand acres of land around it.  Upon the signing of the treaty he ceded a thousand acres to Ireland, but it turned out to be land that wasn’t suitable for farming or much of anything else.  Michael Collins, about whom there was an academy award film made, was subsequently killed by some of his anti-treaty Irish brethren who weren’t happy with the deal.

To put it simply, think of what it would have been like if after our American Revolution we would have had to swear allegiance to King George III and if some of his court favorites to whom he’d given large tracts of land in the colonies had been allowed to keep those holdings.  Would the Revolutionaries have stood for that?  I think our boys Ben Franklin, John Adams and John Jay did a much better job looking out for us.  What the guide told me may have been an oversimplification, but it does sound like the Irish got worked over.

It was an interesting day from lots of perspectives and I was glad I took the tour despite the early morning departure.  Any time I can learn more history I’m happy.

And by the way, we ended our cumulative trivia in the late afternoon and we blew everyone away!  I got another Seabourn ball cap to give away!

May 4 - At Sea and I’ve completed another year

Just a few pictures of cabin today. We had a peaceful and lovely day at sea.  On this cruise I’ve been so lucky with the weather.  I slept late, played trivia in the AM and Name that Tune in the PM.  Along the way, I got birthday cards, wishes and songs.  My favorite milkshake maker made me an extra-special milkshake.  At dinner I went to Solis and had a lovely meal with the Cruise Director, Entertainment Manager, and a friend.  I even got a few presents along the way.  That makes four years in a row I’ve done that; how lucky am I! 

I didn’t stay up too late because I had to get up early for a tour.  All in all it was a lovely day.  I do like the  way they say Happy Birthday in Spanish; it’s “Feliz Cumpleaños”  which means essentially be happy for completing another year.  I think that’s what I’ve done successfully.

April 30 and May 3 - Portland, England (AKA the Jurassic Coast)

We’ve made two stops in just three days at this small place, the Isle of Portland on the southwest English coast.  It’s  the southernmost point in the county of Dorset.  Portland is what is called a “tied island” in that it is connected to the mainland by a barrier beach called Chesil Beach.  The island is about four miles long by not quite two miles wide and is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site known for its geology and land formations.  Stone from this part of England was used to build St. Paul’s Cathedral and, strangely enough to me, the United Nations Headquarters on the other side of the Atlantic.

Not exciting to see, I know, but this is Chesil Beach which must be man- madeconnecting the island with the mainland

The first time we came here on the 30th of April I only took a round trip on the shuttle bus into the little town of Weymouth.  It was extremely windy and it was actually hard to walk. Since I knew we’d be back in just three days I opted to not go ashore.  I did see something very interesting as we sailed away on the 30th and I’ll just tweak your curiosity now and tell you more about it later.  It was something very unusual for this part of the world.

Anyway, on May 1st we docked in Portsmouth which I’d been to before and where I’d visited the Royal Navy Dockyard and seen the Tudor ship Mary Rose and the HMS Victory of Admiral Nelson’s fame.  I didn’t think they’d changed so I had a sea day in port.  After my lovely visit to Dover and Canterbury I found myself back in Portland.  The wind was calmer although we had more clouds than a few days ago, but thankfully it didn’t rain.

This weekend is a holiday weekend in the UK.  The first Monday in May is apparently always a bank holiday so on this Sunday May 3rd the little town of Weymouth on the isle of Portland was bustling.  The British do love their dogs and I saw all varieties walking around the promenade around the small boat harbor.  I even gave a few a nice head and chin rub.  I do miss having a dog, but if I want to keep on cruising, it  wouldn’t be fair to have a canine companion.  

The small boat harbor in Weymouth

There were lots of families around and many of them were baiting lines and fishing off the harbor walls.  I went over to a couple and found they were fishing for crabs.  The kids would catch them and put them in a bucket of water.  I asked if they eat them, but they told me they don’t.  After a few minutes they toss them back in.  They’re just caught for fun.  As you can see from the photo I took they look quite different from our Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs.  Everyone looked like they were having a good time and everyone seemed to be catching them.  Perhaps the crabs are smart enough to have figured out they get an easy meal with no penalty to pay for it

Same basic shape but doesn't look nearly as good as our crabs.

I walked around the harbor for a while and then decided I’d try lunch at one of the pubs and cafés around.  I found a table outside at the Quayside Pub and Café and sat waiting to be served.  It turned out this was one of those places where you go in and order, pay and they bring it out to you.  I found a nice young Englishman to table sit for me so my place didn’t get taken and went inside. My intention was to try some genuine English fish and chips, but on the menu I saw a crab salad and after seeing all the crabs being caught, I thought “why not?”  I’ve decided it’s a mistake for anyone familiar with our crabs to order them from elsewhere.  The salad was okay, but that’s all I can say for it. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs are the best and I’ll challenge anyone who says otherwise. It was pleasant sitting there and I chatted with the people who guarded my table. After I’d finished, rubbed a few more dog heads (can you imagine what would happen in the US if people came in with a non-service dog to a restaurant?) and noticed that the clouds were looking darker I decided it was time to walk back around the harbor to the shuttle bus stop.  About that time a couple of sailboats came along and the drawbridge was raised so traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian was stopped as the boats glided through.

The Quayside Pub and Café

My crab salad

Back on the ship we had afternoon trivia and we had to reconstitute our team.  Only Lisa, a really fun Australian I know from several cruises (she likes to dance at the Club too BTW), were left from the last leg.  We found some Brits and Americans to join us and proceeded to finish in third for the day.  It’s cumulative so we’re okay. (If we don’t win that’s okay with me too but not everybody feels that way.)

So now to what I teased you with earlier.  The first time we stopped here the other day I learned from thebus driver that they have a group here called the Weymouth Ukeleleians(sp?).  They are a group of senior(seasoned) citizens who get together and play the ukulele.  I don’t know about you, but I associate ukes with Hawai’i, certainly not Dorset in England.  Well, be that as it may the group comes down to the dock just before sailing and serenades us.  They all look well-seasoned.  Some of them wear flowered shirts and they played for us.  While I listened they were playing Beatles tunes – Ticket to Ride and Eight Days a Week.  How fun is that?  As we finally sailed out a three-cannon salute was fired by the Nothe Fort Victorian Artillery Brigade.  I didn’t get a picture  of that but it was so nice.  I have read that this community is a pretty depressed area of the UK and they very clearly welcome tourists and cruise ships unlike some places.  It is an absolutely lovely place to come.

These are the Weymouth Ukeleleians.  If I can figure out again how to post a video I will, but right now I can't get it to work.

I had a nice evening at a small hosted table with some people I already knew.  The show tonight was  Scottish duo, brothers who sang Celtic songs.  They were very good, but I have to say that when they talked I probably only understood four out of ten words.  I need closed captions with Scots or Yorkshire accents.  But the music was toe-tapping and fun.  After I went to the Club and met my new friends Sonja and Ton from the Netherlands who are such fun!  We danced and at mid-night they had the band play, and everybody sang, Happy Birthday.  How great is that!  Tomorrow is a sea day so I can sleep in.  Hooray!