Ireland and the UK

 Anchored in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. Doesn't that look like it should be "Dun Longhair"? It's pronounced "Dun Leary". So when you go there, you can sound really smart. Off we went to Dublin to visit St. Patricks Cathedral,

And then to Trinity College to see the hand-illuminated Book of Kells. The impressive part was the Long Room, or the library. Just imagine what these bazillions of old, old, books are worth!

The grounds are charming, as well. Gordon thought this place looked like Hogwarts. He hasn't seen the movies, okay?

We remained in Dun Laoghaire overnight, and the next evening we were to return to Dublin. Well, the wind picked up and some passengers who had gone into the little town got stuck there. You see, the tenders couldn't launch from the ship or return because the sea was so rough. We had planned to go into town ourselves at about 1 p.m. While we waited, they turned the ship. No good. They moved the tender dock. Took a while, but that worked. Finally, some very distraught folks returned to the ship. We bravely headed onto the tender, because that evening offered a special event for those of us on the Grand Cruise: dinner and entertainment at Christ Church, preceded by cocktails in the crypt. Couldn't miss that!

We moved on to Liverpool, where we chose to ride to a cute little town called Chester.

There was an M & S there. More Percy Pigs. We had a Beatles night that evening. The old folks rocked the boat, in spite of chilly temperatures.

The next place that the Seven Seas Navigator anchored was Fishguard, Wales. We climbed the hill to Strumble Head to see the interesting, and very ancient, little Stonehenge that was up there. No one really knows its purpose, but there are several more scattered around the islands and they are believed to be navigational aids.

After we climbed up there, huffing and puffing, it turned out that the bus could have driven us to within a few yards of the thing. They didn't tell us that. It was okay, it was fun. We then bussed to Porthgain, which is a small, sheltered harbor with a big past. Here, bricks were loaded onto sailing vessels for export. The bricks raced down from the top of the cliff through chutes. Looked dangerous to us, but the views from above the port were amazing.

Last stop on this leg was Waterford, Ireland, where we took a walking tour of the town. Nothing particularly noteworthy there, except for the main Waterford Crystal store.

From there, we set off for the "turnover" at Southampton. While they turned over the ship (meaning some got off and some got on), we visited Westminster Cathedral.

Jane Austen is buried at Westminster:

It's really an impressive place.

By the way, do you know how to watch a Formula 1 race on a cruise ship? Well, the answer is, you don't. Not on TV, anyway. What we've been doing is firing up the F1 website for the lap-by-lap coverage and Pati does her best imitation of David Croft. It's pitiful.