WanderlustandWhimSea

Few things live up to their hype but Highclere Castle exceeded my expectations. I was childlike in my anticipation, as I approached the Castle. I don’t even know how many times I’ve watched the series but being there was a very special experience. I replayed countless scenes from Downton Abbey as I walked up the… Continue reading In the Footsteps of Downton Abbey

The Isle of Skye has dramatic landscapes with mountains rising up out of the ocean. The Island museum has the old style Croft cottages showing island life. It’s easy to fall in love with the Highland Cows. I would never take a picture of a regular cow but I found myself taking dozens of these… Continue reading The Isle of Skye and Highland Cows

I knew a trip to Scotland in October was likely to be rainy and it sure is. The bonus on the Orkney’s was 30 mph winds with gusts up to 40. The other bonus is all the rain is plenty of spectacular rainbows. I saw my first double full rainbow! As we motored along the… Continue reading The Orkney Islands

The Highlands rolling hills are an inviting landscape. The sheep dominate the landscape with the occasional castle ruin thrown in. We saw a demonstration of working dogs and the training was amazing. Our 2 hour boat ride on Loch Ness failed to reveal Nessie but I’m sure she was lurking below the surface. Scotland is… Continue reading The Highlands

I left Iceland and headed to Scotland for a 12 day adventure. I landed in Glasgow and took the train to Edinburgh. I just love European trains! We just finished a tour of Holyrood where the Royal Family still occasionally resides and there was a parade, complete with bagpipes. Except it wasn’t a parade, it… Continue reading Independence for Scotland

The Icelandic Horses are easy to fall in love with. They are a hardy, spunky horse with a distinct genetic make up. The Vikings brought the first 1K Icelandic horses but now there are 10K. Iceland is fierce in their protection of these horses as no new horses are allowed to enter the country and… Continue reading Icelandic Horses

After spending 2 weeks on a cruise to Greenland I flew back into Iceland. I rented a lovely apartment near the harbor for 4 nights as I was waiting for my 12 day Gate 1 Country Tour to begin. Since restaurants are notoriously expensive in Iceland, I wanted a kitchen to make some simple meals.… Continue reading Iceland – Lots of Waterfalls

We came upon this beautiful wreck on a zodiac tour of the archipelago . It was very near port so something must have gone terribly wrong. The Greenland Star started operation in 1964 and was wrecked in 1984 by an inebriated Captain running aground.

I didn’t even have Musk Ox on my animal bucket list, but I was thrilled to see about 30 yesterday. We were navigating a narrow Fjord in the zodiacs and the Musk Ox were all around. They sort of look like Wooly Mammoths. The hunting season just ended and they were still a bit skittish… Continue reading Musk Ox and Icebergs

The Venture is an Expedition Ship with 2 submarines on board. This is a new concept for cruising and quite the unique experience. The submarine holds 6 guests and a Pilot. So I have to admit to a bit of ignorance about Greenlands geography. I thought it was mostly flat and dominated by an ice… Continue reading A Submarine Ride