Belfast, Northern Ireland - August 11, 2016

We arrived in the very busy port of Belfast early in the morning.  The ship was tied up just a mile or two from downtown, but there was a threat of rain, so we took the free shuttle.  Belfast is a large bustling city with a lot of history.  

There are many old churches and some gorgeous old government buildings, including city hall and the customs house. 

We found a nice small botanical garden adjacent to Queens College.  We had fish and chips for lunch and then did some more walking.  We had a few sprinkles, but otherwise it was just chilly and windy.  We took the shuttle back to the ship in time for tea.

Douglas, Isle of Man - August 10, 2016

This was a tender port, so we had to wait a bit to get into Douglas.  It's a delightful small city of 26,000 people.  The day was overcast with a chance of rain.  We had no plan, so we just explored downtown and then into the residential area.  The streets were very clean and there were lots of small front yard gardens.  After the crowded streets of Dublin, it was pretty serene.  The city is very compact, and just beyond the edges are green hills with fields divided by hedgerows.  We could see lots of sheep.  There's a an ancient local breed of sheep, the Manx Loaghtan, that has coarse brown wool and four or six horns.  I  bought two skeins to play with.  The city used to be a favorite vacation spot for Brits but has fallen out of favor in recent years.  However it is the capital, so the city survives.

I've always wanted to live in a place called Tickle Close.

Dublin, Ireland - August 9, 2016

The forecast in Dublin was for 65 and partly sunny, but it was chilly, windy and mostly cloudy.  We took the shuttle into the city, about a 20 minute ride.  We had a walking tour mapped out, but we mostly just walked, looking at one amazing ancient building after another.  The city was quite crowded, with lots of construction going on but the people were friendly and polite.   

We visited the beautiful Trinity College campus and Christ Church cathedral, just one of many gorgeous churches.   

We had lunch and walked along the streets of shops.  St. Stephen's Green was really lovely.  

It looked more and more like it might rain so we got on the shuttle and were back on the ship by tea time.

Rotterdam, The Netherlands - August 7, 2016

With no tour today, we set out on our own.  We walked along the water.  It was very serene and lovely, a stark contrast to our day in Amsterdam.  There were lots of bikes, but all being ridden politely.  We crossed several bridges on our walk.   

We found the beautiful Laurenskirk, built in 1620 but destroyed in 1940 during the war.  It was rebuilt in 1952, and now has exhibits of artifacts from the first church.

We then went to the Mart, an amazing building with apartments draped over a tall arching structure.  Inside is a huge market, reminiscent of Pike Place in Seattle. 

My personal favorite was the cannoli shop. 

We had lunch at the Mart and then made our way back to the ship.  On our way out of the Port of Rotterdam we passed the MS Rotterdam V, our predecessor.  It lives permanently in Rotterdam.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - August 6, 2016

Well. An interesting day in Amsterdam.  We had a tour scheduled, a canal boat tour and then time on our own.  When we boarded the bus, we were told that the city would be crowded because there was a gay pride canal boat parade in the afternoon, but that we would be gone before it started.  No problem.  What we later learned was that there were one to two million extra people and that this was the last weekend of a two week (!) celebration.  Big problem! There was trash everywhere, much like the day after Carnival in Rio.  It was not a particularly satisfying visit.  In fact. We ended up getting a refund of the money we spent for the tour.  But it's still an interesting city.  

There are 750,000 people in Amsterdam and one million bikes, all speeding around as if they owned the place. 

And lots of cheese!