Wherever We Go

City Hall in Belfast Our next stop is Belfast, Northern Ireland, birthplace of The Titanic.  It is odd to think that Northern Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom.  The Pound Sterling is the currency of choice.  Tomorrow as we go into Ireland, we will revert back to the Euro because The Republic of Ireland is part of the European Union.   It is not necessarily a good situation here.  By that I mean that there is still a little tension and turmoil that goes back to the time of the "Troubles".   That is what they call the time of division and fighting back in the late sixties.   It lasted about 3 decades, and there is still an under current of bad blood with some folks.  It is definitely better now though. The border between Northern Ireland and Ireland to the south is what they call a transparent border that the two nations pass thru freely and without checks.  But should Great Britain withdraw from the EU, the b...

Here we are in Scotland in the United Kingdom at our only stop, the Isle of Skye.   Before I go any further, let me say that Vialula was searching high and low but no signs of Jaime were found (for you Outlander fans!).  She even danced around a few stones in the Highlands but no luck in traveling back in time.  I guess it must just be a Hollywood stunt.  We are winding up our journey with only a couple of weeks remaining.  Hard to believe but it has to end sometime. The port at the Isle of Skye is called Portree.  It is a tender port as it is very small.  Portree is a quaint little town dotted with green mountains and beautiful little shops and homes.  Our adventure today took us out of Portree to Dunvegan Castle, home of the McCleod clan for over 800 years, and they still own it today.  Though it is open to the public, the family still stays there on the upper floor when they are in town.  There are beauti...

Very early morning sailing thru the fjords to Flam Sunrise in the fjord If I thought that the slow trip up the fjord to Oslo was spectacular then I just don't have the words to explain the one to Flam.  The pictures will back me up but even they don't give you the true visual treat that seeing it does.   Flam is a village on the Aurlandsfiord which is part of the vast Sognefiord.  Get those names?   And when I say village, think small.   There isn't a lot to do in Flam but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot to see.  It is a deep water port so we get off the boat and walk about 150 feet and get on the train.  It is all that close together..  When the Flam Line Railway train pulls out we are about to embark on what some call the most beautiful train journey in the world. WELCOME TO FLAM The Flam Railway Line is only a 12.6 mile journey but it takes you thru 20 tunnels, one bridge and 10 stations as it climb...