Fifth Port - Greenock, Scotland

On July 23rd we docked in Greenock, Scotland. We then took a bus to Loch Lomond, the largest lake in Great Britain. When we arrived at Loch Lomond we boarded the Astina for a cruise around the loch. As we waited to board the boat, Robert and I were approached by 3 Scottish teens who wanted to know if we knew when the boat was leaving. They were thrilled to find out that not only were they talking to Americans, but Texans no less! It was fun to talk to them, although I will admit that we had a hard time understanding them sometimes. Apparently folks from small towns in Scotland can have really heavy accents!

The cruise around the loch was wonderful. Very relaxing and full of amazing sights. I love this picture. The dark patches are actually the clouds' shadows drifting across the land.
One of the many amazing homes we saw on the loch. I think this one is now a hotel.
May I interject here to say that this weather was typical of our whole cruise. It rained on us the first day (in La Havre), but other than that, we had days like this the whole cruise. And this is not typical weather for the British Isles. Everywhere we went, the locals kept saying how fortunate we were. And we really did feel fortunate. Traveling is definitely more fun in sunny weather! Oh, and the temperatures were in the 60s and 70s every day. Ideal.
Beautiful.
This castle was actually on a little island in the middle of the loch. Can I just say how much I love castles? We need castles in Texas!
This was the tour guide for one of the other groups. Our tour guide was great, but I was disappointed he wasn't wearing a kilt like this guy.
We made a pit stop for bathrooms and shopping. And to get a picture of this guy - a fine example of a Highland bull. I love the long hair. I guess it keeps him warm in the cold Scottish winters.
We saw so many scenes like this. Scotland is a beautiful country.
We spent some time at the Scottish Wool Centre. We got to see this amazing border collie at work.
Back at the farm, he would be herding sheep. But here he was herding ducks. Very masterfully, I might add. It was a lot of fun to watch him at work.
After the border collie demonstration, we went shopping in the Scottish Wool Centre. So much to buy and not nearly enough time or money!

This shore excursion was long and jam packed. It was a great, but tiring day.

Third Port - Invergordon, Scotland

We docked in Invergordon, Scotland on July 20th. We took a bus through beautiful Scotland to Loch Ness. Yes, the famous Loch Ness, home of Nessie, the famous sea monster. Alas, we caught no glimpse of Nessie, but the Loch was still beautiful.

We also saw the ruins of Urquhart Castle, perched on the banks of Loch Ness. It is thought that the castle was built during the 13th century, and largely destroyed in 1692. The ruins that are left are still pretty impressive.

Here's a view of the tower, still mostly intact.

A view of Loch Ness through a windowless window.

A random bagpiper. I don't know if he was part of the castle ambience or just playing on his own, but I enjoyed listening to him.

It was a short trip to Loch Ness and the Urquhart Castle ruins, but we saw some beautiful scenery and checked off an item on our list of famous places to visit!

Second Port - South Queensferry, Scotland

We left La Havre the evening of July 17th. We were at sea all day July 18th, and docked at South Queensferry, Scotland in the early morning of July 19th.

Our ship actually docked in the harbor. Apparently the Crown Princess was too big to bring into shore. So we had to be tendered ashore. That meant we got to ride a lifeboat. I'm glad we didn't have to spend more than 20 minutes in a lifeboat!

In South Queensferry we boarded a bus for our shore excursion to Edinburgh, Scotland. Our first stop was the Royal Yacht Britannia. The Britannia was launched in 1953 and until 1997 it was the royal yacht of the Queen of England and her family. It's now on display in a complex at the end of a shopping mall (which seemed a little odd to Robert and I). It was interesting to wander around and admire the opulence of the Britannia. Here's a picture of the main dining hall. Pretty nice for a boat!
After leaving the Britannia (and her souvenir shop), we went to lunch at the King James Hotel. the food was good, but nothing to get overly excited about!

After lunch we visited Edinburgh Castle. It was a beautiful castle and it was fascinating to see how it seemed to grow out of the rock.
Robert and I were really there!
Here's a view of Edinburgh from the castle grounds.

After leaving the castle, we were taken to Princess Street to do some shopping. That was a disappointment. The street was full of high end clothing stores - not what I was looking for!

We enjoyed our trip to Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland.