Our Adventures

Each day we are in a port we have a choice of excursions. It’s difficult to choose just one since most excursions are really interesting. Sorry, Grant, we didn’t choose the Titanic Museum. Christine is kind of a royals nut, mostly Queen Elizabeth II, so we signed up for a tour of Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. Royal Hillsborough is where royals stay when in Northern Ireland on official business. Hillsborough Castle is not really a castle; it’s a manor house constructed of beautiful sandstone.

From the ship, we had a bit of a drive away from Belfast. Once out of the city, the countryside was gorgeous.

The Hillsborough village is a posh area. People want to be near the royals so they are willing to spend a lot of money to have that privilege. Our poor bus driver, though, was challenged by road work while trying to make his way to the castle. We were within about 100 yards of the entrance but the village street was blocked and our driver had to back up quite a ways and figure out how to turn around. We were all on the edge of our seats while he navigated into and out of a parking lot that was not fit for a huge bus. But he was an expert and managed to conquer the challenge.

Hillsborough Castle has quite a history. It was built as a private home of the Hill family in the mid-1700s. Hill descendents lived at Hillsborough Castle until 1922, at which time the British government purchased the estate. There’s then a long, complicated history of governmental changes after Northern Ireland separated from the Republic of Ireland, and then after Northern Ireland ended their own local governmental rule and the UK took over. At some point, Hillsborough became the official residence of the UK Secretary of State, and as I said, it is also the official home of royals when they are visiting Northern Ireland on official business. A couple of years ago, the upkeep and conservation of Hillsborough was taken over by a charitable organization, Historic Royal Palaces. HRP runs the tours of the house. I was bummed out because we weren’t allowed to take photos inside the castle because it is considered a secure location for the royals. So, the photos below are all from a book we bought so you can see some of what we saw.

A couple of interesting tidbits of history. Benjamin Franklin stayed at Hillsborough when he was in Ireland in 1771. Wills Hill, his host, the Earl of Hillsborough, had been made Secretary of State to the American colonies. Franklin and Hill were political enemies and held totally opposite views on the colonies. Some historians believe that Hill might have prevented the American Revolution if he and Franklin had been able to find some common ground on the colonies. But, as we know, there was a revolution. The dining room at Hillsborough Castle is referred to as the Franklin dining room. There is a bust of Franklin there, and a chess set that Franklin gave to Hill.

The other interesting tidbit is that the very first time the heads of state of the UK and the Republic of Ireland met on Irish soil was in 2005. Queen Elizabeth II and President Mary McAleese met in the Red Room at Hillsborough Castle. We loved that it was two women meeting on this occasion. We’d solve a lot of problems in this world if there were more female heads of state!

Here are a couple of exterior photos of the castle.

Truth be told, the tour of the Hillsborough Castle was not all that exciting. However, the place is called Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. Yes, garden!. One of our favorite things to tour. The weather was a bit dicey, with rain on the way. We also had limited time to walk around the gardens, which encompass some 100 acres. What we saw was beautiful. The border gardens were really great, and there was some topiary that was in the shape of a crown which was nice. So here’s some garden photos and a couple of views of the castle’s exterior.

There was a lovely little structure near a small pond. It is called Lady Alice’s Temple and it was built for Lady Alice, a Hill, to commemorate her wedding in 1867. It was a beautiful spot.

So, the garden was splendid, the castle, not so much. But we did see the signatures of King Charles and Queen Camilla in the guest book. They stayed in the castle 3 weeks ago. I wish we had had more time to walk in the garden.

On our return to the ship, we had a whirlwind tour around Belfast city center. Belfast has one of the finest collection of Victorian architecture anywhere in the UK. Unfortunately, it was very difficult getting photographs of many of the buildings from the moving bus. Here’s a few.

The standout building was the City Hall which we were able to go in. Queen Victoria granted Belfast city status in 1888, so the city decided it needed a new city hall befitting of a city in the UK. Belfast was growing rapidly from its shipbuilding, rope making and linen making industries. The new city hall opened in 1906. It’s a very impressive building based on the architecture of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

On the grounds of the City Hall is a Titanic Memorial monument. The Titanic was built in Belfast.

After City Hall, we were taken back to the ship. We had a leisurely afternoon. Just before dinner, the excursions director does a talk about the next day’s port of call, which is a nice overview. We then went to dinner in the main restaurant. We asked two women from Boulder if they’d like to join us, so we had a nice chat with Amy and Twig (her real name!). Afterwards, the show starts at 9:00. Tonight it was Kristen Key, a musical comedian. She was pretty funny and we enjoyed her.

As I had mentioned, the age group on this ship is old (like us), so there’s a lot of joking about how late the show starts (9:00pm). At any rate, we managed to stay awake until the end of the show, but we were in bed asleep soon after.

We had a leisurely morning, on this our embarkation day. We had a nice breakfast in the hotel. I made the mistake of saying it was a full English breakfast. I stand corrected – it is a full Irish breakfast. Don’t really know what the difference is, but I think in the Irish breakfast there is both black (blood sausage) and white (pork and oatmeal sausage) pudding. Irish bread leans more towards soda bread, as well. At any rate, we filled up on a yummy breakfast. A couple from New Zealand sat at the next table and we spent a long time comparing travel notes and, or course, talking about politics and their total disbelief that we could have such a maniac for president. They were familiar with upstate New York because they had visited people in Jordan, NY.

We packed up and left the hotel around noon and took a taxi to the cruise terminal. Our taxi driver had a really thick Irish accent and was a little difficult to understand, but we did learn that his mother was from Malta and he had visited Malta last November. It really is a small world.

The cruise terminal was not a terminal, but rather a tent in an industrial area. We weren’t supposed to be embarking in Dublin, but that was changed for some reason. Dún Laoghaire, about 40 minutes south of Dublin was our original departure point. It definitely was more convenient to leave from Dublin, about a 12 minute drive from the hotel. We had about a 45 minute wait until we could board, but it was fun chatting with sister cruisers and watching people arrive. Getting on to the ship was a challenge as the gangplank seemed very steep and it had very narrow treads. It was quite a climb up the steep gangplank, the equivalent of 3 decks of the ship. After finally managing to make it into the ship, we were herded into check-in, which consisted of filling out a health questionnaire, getting our pictures taken and handing in our passports. That made me a little nervous, but they said the ship handles the immigration process and once we enter the UK, we’ll get our passports back. We then got our cabin keys and were escorted to our cabin by our steward, Kahn. Nearly all the crew are Filipino, which we experienced on nearly all the other cruises we’ve been on.

Our cabin is a porthole cabin, 3 portholes, in fact. A thousand dollars more would have meant a big window, but portholes seem just fine. It’s a very comfortable room with a walk-in closet, full bathroom with walk-in shower, a nice seating area, queen-sized bed and a desk area.

While we waited for our luggage to arrive, we toured around the ship trying to get acclimated. There are 4 restaurants, several bars, an auditorium which is called the lounge, small pool and hot tub, a nightclub area, and a cafe/library, one of my favorite areas.

Back in the room, we unpacked and rested a little. Then we went to the information session about the ship and our port of call tomorrow. There is another big change in the schedule. We were supposed to dock in Douglas on the Isle of Man, but weather prevents this. I guess there are severe winds so the ship wouldn’t be able to leave the harbor tomorrow night, so instead of getting stuck for extra days on the Isle of Man, our port of call tomorrow will be Belfast, only 18 nautical miles from Dublin, but in a different country. This delayed our sail away time, so the Olivia sail away party on deck became just an Olivia celebration party. We are meeting lots of women, but remembering names is most challenging, even for me. But, we all have that problem as I would estimate the average age on this ship is probably 65+. I think there are a few youngsters (under 40), but nearly all of us have gray hair. But it is fun chatting up people and finding our where they are from, how many Olivia trips they’ve been on, and that sort of thing.

After the Olivia party, we had dinner at the Star grill. It was really good. We then went back to the cabin for a rest. We’re going to have trouble staying up for the 9:00pm show every night. Christine took a rest and I went out to take pictures of leaving Dublin port.

We did manage to get to the show tonight. This being the first night, each of the Olivia performers did a short set. Our entertainers are Vickie Shaw, a very funny comedienne who we’ve seen on past trips and the only entertainer we’re familiar with, Sandra Valls, Angie K, and Kristen Key. I think they need to work on the sound a little because the musicians were incredibly loud and I couldn’t hear the words being sung. Kristen Key seems really funny, she is a comedienne who plays guitar and sings funny songs as she’s telling jokes.

After the show, the party continued in the nightclub and Christine got her second wind and danced. I actually joined her for a few minutes, but dancing is not my cup of tea.

And we came to the end of our first day on the ship. We have an early excursion in the morning, so off to bed.

Here’s the sunset tonight.

Today we had tickets for a walking tour of Trinity College, a visit to the Book of Kells, and the Old Library. Trinity College is about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we set off. I will say, though, free breakfast at Hampton Inns in the U.S. don’t compare to the one here at our hotel. We can help ourselves to a full English breakfast, great breads and pastries, 8 different kinds of coffee, meats and cheeses, and lots of fruit. We’ve treated ourselves to “take out” of breads and deli stuff for lunches and/or dinners. It’s been great.

We walked along the River Liffey to start. It was a nice morning, about 62 degrees, and partly cloudy. We saw swans swimming in the river. I really enjoy a city with a river running through it. I wish Binghamton would do something with its rivers to entice more people to downtown, other than students that is.

We crossed the river to the Temple Bar district, which is Dublin’s vibrant cultural and nightlife quarter. It reminded me a lot of the French Quarter in New Orleans. What we love walking around many areas in Dublin is the abundance of flowers that adorn so many of the buildings.And there certainly was an abundance in Temple Bar.

This area is home to the famous Temple Bar Pub, established in 1840. The pub advertises itself as the established home of traditional Irish music in Dublin; the pub with the largest collection of whiskies in Ireland and the pub with the largest selection of pub sandwiches anywhere in the world. The locals call it an overpriced tourist trap and steer clear of it. But, it is a very nice looking establishment.

We arrived at the main entrance to Trinity College and saw the Campanile through the doorway.

This was where our tour of the college began. Trinity students give a 45-minute tour of parts of the campus. From the photo above to the Campanile is called Parliament Court. Around this courtyard, it looks very symmetrical with the Chapel Building on one side and the Exam Hall on the other. Students call these two buildings Heaven and Hell.

Trinity College was founded in 1592 by charter of Queen Elizabeth I. It was built on the site of an abbey that had been present since the 12th century. Henry VIII had the abbey demolished after he was denied a divorce by the Pope. Trinity College was created as a Protestant university and until 1870 it was rare for Catholics to attend. Many in Ireland still think it is only a Protestant university. Our guide told us that for many Irish students, tuition is nearly free, with the Republic paying the bulk of the tuition. For foreign students, tuition is about 30,000 euros. About 22,000 students attend the college, 58% are women.

Our guide told us about the Campanile and that students do not walk under it. As the story goes, if a student is under the Campanile as it chimes, he/she will fail exams. Because the bells are only chimed for special events, students never know when the bells will sound, so better not to walk through the Campanile ever.

Another story was about a provost of the university, George Salmon who served from 1888 until his death in 1904. He is infamous for saying that “over my dead body will there ever be a woman admitted to Trinity.” Well, on the day of his funeral in 1904, the first woman was admitted, Isabel Marion Weir Johnston.

One of the buildings around the Library Courtyard that is beyond the Campanile is the Graduates Memorial Building. It looks very old, but it is one of the newer buildings, built in 1902. It houses many of the oldest university clubs, like the Debating Club and the Philosophical, Theological and Historical Clubs.

One of the oldest building on campus is the Rubrics, a smash up of the words red brick. The building was designed and built around 1700. I stole the photo below from Wikipedia.

One of the prettiest buildings is the Museum Building. It was built in the mid-1800s and is built entirely of hand-carved stone. Folklore has it that there is stone from every quarry in Ireland somewhere on the exterior. Only two men chiseled all the stonework. There are over 600 individual flower motifs surrounding the entire building, all hand carved, no two flowers the same.

We went inside the museum briefly. The staircase and the domed ceiling were great. There were several arches having red and white stripes that reminded me so much of what we saw in Cordoba, Spain at the Mosque-Cathedral. I asked our guide about them and she said they were of Spanish influence, so I showed her a photo of the Mosque-Cathedral, and she was impressed.

Our guide then left us at the Book of Kells exhibition. The Book of Kells is a richly illustrated medieval manuscript containing the four Gospels, widely considered Ireland’s finest national treasure. Crafted around 800 AD by Celtic monks, it is celebrated for its masterful calligraphy and intricate, vibrant illumination. It was written in Latin on vellum (calfskin) and has incredibly intricate illustrations. Seeing the actual book itself was kind of a non-event because it was in a glass case in a darkened room. Photographs of the book were forbidden, so you got to have about 10 seconds looking into the case as queued up people behind you wanted you to move on. There was a very good exhibition beforehand, with an audio guide, that explained a lot about the book. However, it was noisy and crowded and difficult to really understand the exhibits. So, the Book of Kells was somewhat anticlimactic for me.

What knocked my socks off, though, was the Long Room in the Old Library. The library was built in the late 1700s. Its collection was over 700,000 books, and as the library gained every book published in Ireland and the United Kingdom, it ran out of space and the roof was raised and a new barrel vaulted ceiling and roof was created. The oldest books are a collection of over 200,000 books dating back centuries. Even though only about 17,000 books are currently shelved in the Long Room, walking into it is stunning. In addition to the 65 meters (213 feet) of two levels of shelves, and the marble busts lining both sides of the room, there is a giant orb, called Gaia, hanging from the ceiling at the far end of the room. It is a depiction of one of the photos an astronaut took of the Earth from space. It was absolutely amazing.

Most of the books have been removed for a huge renovation and conservation project. There were little movies in some of the shelving alcoves about the conservation process. Very amazing to see that each book is removed by hand, carefully cleaned, measured, tagged, entered into a database, wrapped and placed in boxes and moved to storage – each book! The whole process is known as decanting. It was fascinating to learn about the process.

Even without the books, the room was absolutely amazing.

There is also a medieval harp on display known as the Brian Boru harp. The harp is the oldest of its kind in Ireland; it has incorrectly become associated with the great Irish king Brian Boru (died 1014). Although its early history is uncertain, it probably dates from the 15th century. It is made of oak and willow with 29 brass strings, and is the model for the emblem of Ireland.

We sat on a bench for a long time just taking in the awesomeness of this magnificent room. It was really something to see.

After the Long Room, our tour ended with an immersive experience where we watched 2 films, one of which was broadcast on a surround screen. It was about the history of the Book of Kells. The other was about the history of the Long Room. Both were good and we enjoyed them. All in all, the Trinity Trails experience was well worth doing. Learning about the college was interesting. I suppose it was important to learn something about the Book of Kells. But, for me, the main attraction was the Long Room. It was fantastic!

After all that, we wandered around for a while. I wanted to get to two places that Eve, Christine’s daughter, told us about, but directions were very difficult to follow. We’d been on our feet for several hours and we were both dragging so more walking was not very appealing. We stopped at a convenient store for a cold drink and a snack and sat on a wall in the Temple Bar area. After that, we decided we’d had enough touring and so we headed back to the hotel for a rest. I suspect we’ll be down for the count and won’t venture out later in the afternoon. Tomorrow, we head to our cruise ship.

Christine is in a book club and when she mentioned our trip to Ireland/Scotland, one of her friends (Terry) mentioned a place named Tyrrellspass and even sent Christine a photo of the Tyrrellspass castle. Well, that clinched it. If we were in Ireland, we had to visit Tyrrellspass. That village is about 60 miles west of Dublin, so the big question was how are we going to get there. I researched trains and buses, which was possible, but took hours and was surprisingly expensive, and we couldn’t count on the timing of the buses. So, that left the option of renting a car for the day, which we did. I have driven on the left twice, so I thought I could do it okay.

We walked about 20 minutes this morning to the car rental place, which was not easy to find. The office was in the back corner of a parking garage, so we had to hunt around a bit for it. I managed to get all the paperwork completed and, as you know, by the time every option you pick is paid for, the car is much more that the $80/per day you said, “oh, that’s not bad.” At any rate, we got a Toyota Yaris hybrid, a very tiny little car. I spent time videoing the entire outside of the car and playing with all the controls so I knew where everything was. We spent money for a nav system, but what that turned out to be was Android car play, so I used Google Maps on my phone, which displayed on the dashboard. The most nerve wracking part was getting off the 5th floor of the parking garage. The turns were soooo narrow. I can’t imagine what larger cars do, although we didn’t see too many larger cars in Dublin.

Once out of the garage, we turned right and then left about 20 times to get out of center city Dublin. I had a hard time understanding all the street markings, but as long as there was a car in front of me heading in the same direction or turning where I needed to turn, everything was okay. After about 20 minutes, we left center city and got onto the M4, a major highway going west. It was pretty smooth sailing after that. At the toll plazas, you tap your credit card to pay the toll, which took all of 5 seconds to register.

Our directions were good getting to Tyrrellpass, which is a lovely little Irish village.

The first official language of the Republic of Ireland is Irish (Gaeilge), and as you can see from the bilingual sign, it is a doozy of a language. It is mostly spoken is smaller rural areas, but it is mandatory for children to learn it in school. English is the second official language. I found it nearly impossible to understand Irish, and most of the time I had a had time with Irish English speakers.

We walked around the village green and chatted with a worker who was fixing a post where a statue is supposed to stand. The village green is bordered by a Church of Ireland church, St. Sinian’s. I didn’t know there was a Church of Ireland, which is a member of the Anglican communion. The cornerstone of the church was laid in 1810. I thought the church had been closed, but it apparently is still in use.

The rectory, across the street from the church is a beautiful building. That little gray car parked in front of the rectory is the Toyota we rented. There were several really nice houses along the small street, referred to as the Crescent, to the right of the rectory.

We wandered through the village down Main Street. In addition to shops and houses, there were lovely flowers everywhere, many in the gardens of the houses. Christine really enjoyed photographing the beautiful flowers.

Just outside the village is Tyrrellspass Castle, now a restaurant. This is the place we came to see. The part of the small castle that is still in use is called a tower house. It was fully renovated in the 1970s by a local architect. A main beam found in the house was carbon-dated to 1411. The ground floor was turned into a restaurant several years ago after the tower house was renovated. We were disappointed to learn that the little museum we read about was no longer in operation, so we didn’t learn very much about the structure or the Tyrrell family. Tyrrellspass gets its name from the Hiberno-Norman family, Tyrrell, who were granted the title of Lords of the Barony of Faftulagh, in which the village is situated. They arrived just after the Norman invasion. Most of these settlers actually came from England and Wales. The Irish Tyrrells held many strongholds in the Midlands and built tower houses on strategic, passable routes through boglands. That’s how they made their fortune, collecting tolls. The Tyrrellspass tower house is the only Tyrrell tower house remaining.

Richard Tyrrell became famous during the Nine Years War. In 1597 he commanded troops in winning the Battle of Tyrrellspass against the British. Tyrrell’s 300 men defeated the Brit’s 1,000 men. I wonder if Christine’s family tree could ever be traced back to the original Irish Tyrrells or whether her family tree remains English.

The tower house is really quite an impressive structure, much bigger than I had imagined. The castle part is a rather dilapidated circular structure, but it is the tower house that was extensively renovated.

We had a fantastic lunch in the restaurant, filet of salmon on mashed potatoes and veggies of carrots and broccoli. The portions were huge and I was so surprised by the affordability of such a large meal. We really enjoyed the salmon. It was silky smooth and it came with a wine cream sauce that was delicious. And even though the meal was large, we indulged in cappuccinos and dessert. Christine had strawberry cheesecake and I had profiteroles. Yum!

We decided to take a different route back to Dublin and so we set off on a secondary road towards a village named Edenderry. The scenery was beautiful, and what you might expect, very green. The area was mostly agricultural with lots of cattle and some sheep. It got a little hairy on the route back because the lanes are so narrow. I kept sideswiping the tall vegetation along the side of the road on the left, which was scaring Christine to no end. I did hit a curb, too, something I had done before when driving on the left in the UK. I hate those curbs that sneak out into the road around pedestrian crossings. After many miles of narrow lanes, we decided to get back on the M4 highway. I had a difficult time following the route being spoken because the words were not matching up with the signage. I had to turnaround at least 3 times before getting back into Dublin. Once in Dublin, it was left, right, right, left for about 5 miles. We eventually made it back to the parking garage, but then I had to drive up 5 floors. I kept hitting the rubber posts along the left side as I came around the corners. But we made it back in relatively good shape. One wheel had a dent where I hit the curb, and the back right fender had a scrape mark. I don’t think I actually caused that, but I won’t be surprised to get a big, fat bill for damage to the vehicle. However, my per-departure video does show some damage in that spot. We’ll see what happens.

We were glad to dump the car, but glad we went on that little adventure. We’ll remember Tyrrellspass Castle and the nice day we had visiting the village and tower house.

Saturday, June 13, 2026, we departed Binghamton to travel to Dublin, Ireland where we’ll get on a luxury Windstar cruise ship the following Wednesday and journey 8 days ending in Edinburgh. The cruise is sponsored by Olivia Travel, the women’s travel company with whom we’ve taken many trips. Christine saw this trip advertised and wanted to go. We’ve never been to Ireland and she’s recently been talking about Ireland because her father’s family apparently is Irish. Christine learned about a family clan named Tyrrell whose original tower house was built in the middle of Ireland long, long ago. More about that tomorrow. At any rate, we’re off on a wonderful trip.

Our friend Eve was kind enough to pick us up and drop us off at the bus station. We traveled to New York’s Port Authority bus terminal. It was a beautiful day for travel and seeing the Upper Delaware River along NY Route 17 was a treat.

The traffic around the NYC area was crazy because of the World Cup match so it was very slow going into the Lincoln Tunnel. There was a quick view of Manhattan just before entering the tunnel.

We arrived at Port Authority about 45 minutes late, but we still had sufficient time to get to JFK the recommended 3 hours ahead of our flight. We opted to take the subway to avoid traffic in and around the city. After a few queries, we found the E train and we survived well, with Christine seated right away and I got a seat during the ride. From the E train, we got to the Air Train at JFK and arrived at Terminal 4. We checked our suitcases, made our way through security with essentially no line, and got to our departure gate. All in all, the trip to JFK was fairly easy.

We boarded the plane and pushed back on time, but then it took forever to take off due to all the jets queued up awaiting takeoff. Finally, we were in the air. Flight time was just about 6 hours. Neither of us slept, but it was a good flight. We got our first glimpses of Ireland as we neared Dublin.

Getting through immigration was quick, surprisingly, and we were happy to see both suitcases arrive on the baggage carousel. We opted for a cab to the hotel, but we arrived too early for check-in. We dumped the luggage, had a cappuccino in the lobby, and then headed out for a walk. Our hotel is two blocks from the River Liffey, which is a lovely place to stroll.

We had in mind doing a Hop On Hop Off tour around Dublin to get a feel for what we might want to see later. It was a 90-minute route and we sat on the upper level of a double-Decker bus. It was a beautiful day, not too chilly, with lots of sun. It’s hard to take reasonable photos while bumping along in a moving bus, and you see so much that you forget what you’ve seen, but here are a few photos. There are so many beautiful old brick buildings; the color of the brick is stunning. I didn’t really remember what any of the buildings were but ChatGPT helped identify many of them. But I love the old brick buildings the most.

You can’t come to Dublin without learning a little about Guinness beer which has been brewed since 1759. There is an historic district in the city where you see warehouses and old worker housing built during the heyday of brewing in Dublin. The plant still employs about 800 workers today, but that’s a small fraction of the numbers employed in the past.

Whiskey is the other big alcohol product famous in Dublin. This picture is of a landmark chimney at the Jameson distillery.

We got back to the hotel around 2:30 p.m. and our room was ready. We unpacked and then collapsed into bed for a nap. I set an alarm to wake us up around dinner time. I didn’t want to sleep then and not be able to sleep at night. We snacked a little because we didn’t feel like getting dressed and going out again. We watched some TV while I blogged. Hopefully, we’ll get a good night’s sleep and be ready for an exciting little adventure tomorrow.

Sunday was a bright sunny day. A beautiful 2-mast sailing yacht had come into the bay Saturday night. We saw only the illuminated masts. This morning we could see the fantastic yacht.

As the morning wore on, more and more boats moored in the bay. We love checking out all the boats with our binoculars to see what’s going on.

I wanted to get into the sea one more time before leaving on Tuesday. We tended to things around the apartment and lounged until the afternoon. Then we suited up and went across the street to the rocks where we’ve swum a lot in the past. Christine found it easier to get in the water there than at the little beach we tried earlier in our stay.

I think the sea is a couple of degrees cooler than two weeks ago, but nevertheless, it was heavenly to be in the sea. Per usual, I just floated around and enjoyed every minute. Christine did a couple of laps up and down, but she also enjoyed just floating. She also likes to twirl around in the water, and there was plenty of that going on.

After we cleaned up, we met Tony for a drink and dinner at Peppi’s. We talked mostly about the properties still owned by the Caruanas and how difficult it has been over the years to get any good information from the attorney who has handled them for many years. Tony and his sister Marianne will be taking over from Gloria the responsibility of working with the attorney to sort out what’s what. Tony has an appointment with the attorney tomorrow.

It was pretty amazing to be with Tony here in Malta. I never would have expected that. Tony misses home and he is a bit bewildered with all the noise and crowds in Malta. The Aussies will be here until November 12.

After our dinner with Tony, Christine and I got a gelato and headed back to the apartment.

Monday is our final day in Malta. My phone rang at about 8:30 with Carol inviting us for a coffee at 10:30. She has been so good to us during our stays, but we’ve really seen much more of her this trip and it has been a delight. She is full of stories and loves telling all about her life in Malta.

We walked over to Dingli Circle. The first couple of days of our stay we had purchased some mums and a cyclamen to brighten up the apartment. The mums bit the dust pretty quickly, but the cyclamen was doing well. Christine wanted to pass it on to Carol. We went up to her apartment with the plant and Carol’s eyes lit up. She was thrilled to receive it and it immediately went into a ceramic pot that she had on her coffee table. I’m happy that Christine thought of giving it to her and that Carol appreciated it.

We then walked up a block or two to a renovated theater that has a nice coffee bar. On the way, we walked by an antique car, which I think was a Morris Minor. I thought of Bob Weslar and his collection of wonderful car photos and snapped a picture of the Minor for him. It was in beautiful condition.

Teatru Salesjan, established in 1908, is Sliema’s oldest theater and a cornerstone of Malta’s cultural heritage. It’s advertising says, “blending historical architecture with modern amenities, it serves as a vibrant community hub for performances, workshops, and artistic expression.” Carol has a membership and goes to a lot of shows there. She also frequents the coffee bar and I’m glad that she gets out to these kinds of events. The theater has been beautifully restored. We had an enjoyable time at the coffee bar.

We walked Carol back to her apartment and said our goodbyes. Carol has been such a good friend to us and it’s been great getting to know her so much better.

On the way home, we stopped in our market to get a couple of carrots. We still had hummus in the frig and we’re trying to eat everything we have. Carrots and hummus were Christine’s lunch along with some chips. I’m having a PB&J sandwich to use up the bread and jelly we have. For the most part, we’ve done well with food, eating mostly in, with a few dinners at Peppi’s and once at Raffael’s.

So now we’re starting to pack, always bittersweet. I’m ready to be home, but we’re going to miss our bay view. It’s very windy today and the sea is full of whitecaps. We were very fortunate with our weather this trip. Other than a lot of very windy days and one full day of rain, we’ve had lovely weather, mostly sunny and in the mid-70s.

So, good bye Malta. We’ve loved being here. We don’t know when we’ll see you again, but we’ll take you with us in our hearts.

Carol called Friday morning to ask if we wanted to go for coffee with her and John. Of course, the answer was yes. It has been so nice of Carol to include us in her outings with John. And I’m glad they have each other as friends. It’s good for both of them to stay active.

We walked over to Dingli Circus where Carol lives to meet them. There was a bit of a disagreement on where we would go. John wanted to drive all the way north to Golden Bay, but Carol nixed that, so we went to Bahar ic-Caghaq just a little way up the coast. This is where we tried to go that first Sunday and it was so crowded that there was no place to park. On a Friday, it was doable.

There is a lovely little restaurant right on the beach called Las Palmas. We took a table outside. Fortunately, the wind was not bad and the building provided shade. We all had brunch, including Carol, who after some haggling that John did, got an omelet that wasn’t on the menu. I think Carol probably gets what she wants most of the time. At any rate, it was a lovely spot and we enjoyed each other’s company. John was more talkative, which is nice. I think he has difficulty getting a word in when Carol is with him. The restaurant, in addition to lots of outdoor seating on both sides, has two nice indoor areas. A terrace is under a giant carob tree that Carol said is rare to find in Malta these days.

We spent the rest of the day lounging around and then went to Peppi’s for dinner. Christine didn’t like what she ordered, a salmon salad, that was so salty she couldn’t eat much of it. That was unfortunate.

On Saturday, we went to San Anton Gardens. We skipped the bus and went by taxi, which I’m really getting used to. Christine remembers San Anton Gardens from her childhood. We also visited the gardens when we were here in 2016.

San Anton Palace was built by one of the Grand Masters as his summer residence in the early 17th century. The gardens were created and expanded over the years. During British occupation, the palace was the home of the governor. San Anton Palace is now the official home of the President of Malta. I read that Queen Elizabeth stayed at the palace during royal visits in 1954, 1967 and 2005. It amazes me that anyone can walk right up to the home of the Maltese President. Except for a small guard checkpoint at the entrance to the private drive, there was no evidence of any other security, although I’m sure that there were surveillance cameras around. At any rate, the palace is surrounded by walls and is quite protected.

San Anton Gardens are laid out in a formal manner, with graceful walkways, sculptures, ornamental ponds with ducks and turtles, and a small aviary where there are peahens and peacocks which roam freely around the garden. The gardens contain a number of fountains and there are benches and places to sit in the shade and enjoy the sounds of the garden.

The gardens contain a large variety of trees and flowers from around the world, including a variety of palm trees, cypress, jacarandas, araucarias, and other exotic plants, some of them over three centuries old. For many years it has been customary for visiting heads of state to plant a tree in memory of their stay in Malta. The gardens also contain an orangery and it was once the practice of incumbent governors to give baskets of oranges grown in the palace gardens as gifts at Christmas time. I helped myself to an orange from one of the trees. It was a navel orange and was quite tart. Christine enjoyed it more than I did.

There weren’t many flowers blooming still, but there were splashes of color here and there.

And we came across a couple of cats lounging near the palace. Malta has lots of cats which are taken care of by an army of volunteers. Walking along the streets you’ll see water dishes, some food dishes and cardboard boxes for shelter. Cats are beloved in Malta. There was even a movie made a couple of years ago titled The Cats of Malta.

We really enjoyed our time at San Anton. There were lots of families with young children enjoying the gardens, which was nice to see. It was a calming and beautiful environment, providing a real haven from the hustle, bustle and noise of this over-touristed island.

We thought we’d find a place near the gardens for a late lunch. Not seeing anything noticeable, we walked across the street to the 5-star luxury hotel, the Corinthia Palace Hotel. Although we saw people eating in the lobby area, when we sat down thinking a server would come by, no one did. After 10 minutes, we got up and left. We ordered a cab and went back to our flat and had lunch there.

Later that evening, we ordered a pizza from the place next door and ate in. So two days of enjoyable, relaxed time in Malta. Our time is coming to an end, which is surprising that nearly 4 weeks have passed. We don’t have anything big planned, so we’ll take our time and just enjoy being here the next couple of days.

On Wednesday Christine started the day with some awesome sunrise photos.

Later in the morning we got a call from Carol Farrugia saying that she was at a local cafe having an orange juice and would we like to join her. Truth be told, we were just lounging around in our nighties having a leisurely morning, but after her call, we quickly dressed and set out for the 5 minute walk to il-Torri, the St. Julian’s watchtower just around the curve of our bay. Carol picks this spot on warm, sunny days because the cafe is right on the seafront and you get a lovely view of the sea. Carol entertained us for quite a long time with stories of her family and relatives. She’s very funny and we enjoy listening to her.

After meeting Carol, we walked back home and had some lunch. We had arranged a 4:00pm meeting with the Aussies for a drink. We met them at the corner. Because Tony has difficulty walking, we jumped on the bus and rode a few stops down Tower Road. We got off at Ghadir and stopped into il-Gabbana, a restaurant on the Promenade, for a drink. It’s another nice spot overlooking the sea. Afterwards, since we were just across the street from Stella Maris Street, Christine wanted to walk up the block to show Tony and Linda where her grandmother Rosina lived. After that, Christine and I walked home and Tony and Linda went back down to Tower Road to catch a bus to their flat.

Thursday, we met up with the Aussies for a trip to the Esplora Science Center in Kalkara. Dion had figured out we could take a boat from Sliema to Esplora. We hopped on a bus to the ferries side of Sliema, and with a little effort, found where the boat was that would take us to Esplora in Kalkara. The boat was a large traditional Maltese boat called a luzzu. There was only two other people on the boat, so it was like our own private luzzu.

The boat crossed Marsamxett Harbor then headed around Fort St. Elmo at the end of Valletta, entered into the Grand Harbor under the Fort St. Elmo Footbridge, across the Grand Harbor below Bighi and into the Kalkara Marina. It was a beautiful, relatively short 20 minute boat ride offering fabulous views of all the historic sights around Valletta, Birgu and Kalkara.

The Esplora Science Center is housed in a very historic building, Bighi, which was built by one of the Grand Masters as his retirement palace. Then, the British Navy needed a location for a hospital and Bighi became the British Naval Hospital early in the 19th century.

During the first World War, Malta became known as the Nurse of the Mediterranean. Thousands of wounded sailors and soldiers were brought to the 25 hospitals in Malta, the largest being Bighi. The British Naval Hospital was very advanced in its medical practices, including in infectious diseases and treatment of mental health issues including PTSD. The Cot Lift, above, was especially built for the movement of wounded soldiers from ship to medical ward. It is the second oldest lift in Malta after the Barrakka lift.

Esplora Science Center is a hands on museum full of interesting science-related exhibits. Things related to pulleys, airplane wings, water and air pressure workings, etc., were all available to try out. Dion said it made him a kid again and he tried out everything. Lots of families with children were visiting and it was fun to watch and listen to the kids try out some of the experiments.

Christine attached herself to a group hearing about the history of Bighi. After the tour, she spent a long time talking to the tour guide, Charmaine Bugeja. Christine has an old photo of herself as a baby with her Aussie cousin Michael born 9 days ahead of her, both moms, grandmother Rosina, Uncle Joe and the 3 oldest Caruana children, on the balcony of what she thinks is the British Naval Hospital.

We asked Charmaine if she recognized the part of the building visible in the photo. She said that it couldn’t be Bighi because it did not have a maternity unit. It could be the Naval Hospital in Mtarfa, but Charmaine thinks it was taken at a church. She thought maybe it was Ta Pinu in Gozo, but I find that hard to believe. But the possibility that it is at a church makes some sense because it might have been a christening of both babies. At any rate, Christine and Charmaine talked a very long time swapping stories about growing up in Malta and their respective families.

One of the interesting things Charmaine pointed out is the etchings done in the pillars of Bighi. Soldiers as far back as the late 18th century would carve names, dates, and other things, into the limestone. Charmaine thought that she had seen an etching with the name Tyrrell, but she couldn’t locate it on the many pillars in just part of the building we viewed.

Esplora has a planetarium and we all went to the showing. The topic was the International Space Station which I thought would be interesting, but in reality, it was an animated kids’ movie projected onto the planetarium ceiling. One thing I didn’t know is that the ISS has been up in space for 25 years. It will be in operation another 5 years, and then it will be decommissioned. I don’t know what happens to it then.

After the show, we enjoyed views around Kalkara, Birgu and across the harbor to Valletta. It was a beautiful day.

Then it was back on the luzzu to return to Sliema. Again, we had beautiful views around the harbor.

Once back in Sliema, the Aussies went to Valletta. Tony is trying to see the attorney handling the properties the Caruanas have. It is quite a complicated story of property, ownership, who’s in line to inherit, and even how can the properties by sold.

We returned to our apartment for a rest. We then went to Peppi’s for dinner and had gelato for dessert from our favorite gelato shop 3 door down from our flat. Yummy! I really liked the Bighi building. The science museum was okay, but talking with Charmaine about both the history of Bighi and having Christine swap stories with her was the real treat of the day.

We’ve been to the historic Silent City of Mdina many times, but its “suburb” Rabat was on my list of places to visit. Rabat is also historic. Mdina and Rabat were built on top of the ancient Roman city of Melite. There are catacombs in Rabat that I wanted to visit.

We got off to a bad start with the bus. My plan was to take a bus into Valletta so we could get on a bus to Rabat starting empty from Valletta in order to get a good seat. Unfortunately, bus after bus to Valletta were full and didn’t stop to pick up any passengers. We waited as several completely full buses flew by. Then we crossed back to wait for the bus to Rabat. I knew it would be full and possibly we’d have to stand for an hour. We waited over an hour as two buses that were supposed to come, didn’t. It was frustrating. As expected, when a bus did arrive, the bus was full, but someone offered Christine a seat, albeit an uncomfortable one. This bus went all over the place, making the trip to Rabat very long. But, we did get to Rabat.

We wandered around for a while. Many of the streets in the old city are very quaint. Hard to believe that cars drive down most of the narrow alleyways.

Rabat really is a charming city and not as crowded as Mdina.

One of the popular tourist sites is the Basilica Church of St. Paul’s. There must be 100 churches in Malta named after St. Paul. He was shipwrecked in Malta and stayed for 3 months while preaching Christianity. In the basement of the Basilica is St. Paul’s Grotto, a very sacred space visited by the faithful and is thought to be the earliest center of Christianity in Malta. We didn’t go into the church or the grotto as Christine was having some difficulty walking.

Down the street past Cataldus Chapel was the St. Paul’s Catacombs. St. Paul’s catacombs are part of a large cemetery once located outside the walls of the ancient Roman city of Melite. Several catacombs run together in a vast underground network of various types of burial chambers. There are over 30 hypogea, or underground temples/tombs is the whole complex. Romans thought that burying bodies in the city was unhygenic, so outside the city, they dug down into the limestone to create networks of chambers for bodies.

Since Christine wasn’t walking well, and had seen the catacombs when she was a child. I left her in the visitor center and headed down to the catacombs. It was quite difficult to navigate around as it was pretty dark and any signage that was there wasn’t readable in the dark. I was glad that Christine opted not to go down into the catacombs. The are several entrances down to various burial plots, each containing many different types of dug out places where bodies were stored. All of the burial plots were carved out of the limestone. I can’t imagine how much work it was to make these resting places for dead bodies.

After my visit to the catacombs, we walked back towards St. Paul’s Basilica where a town square is and looked for a place for lunch. He had a nice pesto pasta salad and a cold drink and felt much rejuvenated. We even had sufficient leftovers to take home for dinner. We then walked across the square to a famous shop selling traditional Maltese pastries, Publius Parruccan Confectionery. We each got a chocolate Maltese kannoli. They were huge, so after eating half, we wrapped them back up to have after dinner. Maltese kannoli are slightly different than Sicilian cannoli, so I learned. But any kannoli/cannoli is yummy.

After our hectic bus ride this morning and Christine’s leg cramps, we did the sensible thing and ordered a taxi to take us home. Within minutes we were on our way back to Sliema. We got back home in just under 30 minutes, whereas the bus would have taken an hour-and-a-half. I’m getting used to hiring a cab!

We were both quite tired when we got home. This is me after our day in Rabat.

Can’t believe I posted that picture!

We enjoyed our pasta salad, augmented with chicken, for dinner and certainly enjoyed the rest of our kannolis. It was a tiring day, but I ticked another thing off my “to do” list. I think we’ll have a quiet day tomorrow. I can’t believe we’re down to a handful of days remaining for this trip. It’s going by quickly.

The Aussies were headed to Mellieha today. Bernadette’s partner David volunteers for Heritage Malta and he had a shift at the Red Tower so he invited them to visit him at the Tower. We weren’t sure we would go, but later in the morning we decided to hook up with the Aussies at 1:30 at the Tower.

We got the bus to Mellieha. My plan was to find a cafe or restaurant on the bay and have lunch, then get a cab up to the Tower. We got off the bus towards the bottom of the hill before getting to Ghadira Bay. The Parish Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Mellieha’s Parish Church is a striking building that stands out all over northern Malta. Much of Mellieha sits at the top of the several hills. I always forget how hilly Malta is. In the field across the road were several small farm plots. Much of the agriculture in Malta is done on small plots worked by Maltese families.

We made our way to Mellieha Bay and had a nice view across the water. You can see the Red Tower on the hill across the bay.

Ghadira Bay offers the largest sand beach in Malta. Christine remembers coming here to swim as a child. Her Auntie Tessie and Uncle Walter had a place in Mellieha. It’s an especially good place for families as the water remains quite shallow for a long way out into the bay making it fairly safe for children.

Of course, the sand beach is full of loungers and umbrellas for rent.

We found a little restaurant near the blue and white umbrellas in the shade and enjoyed a light lunch and had a cold drink.

We definitely did not want to walk up to the Tower, so we ordered a taxi. Within minutes, we were picked up and whisked up the hill to the Tower. We wandered around the perimeter of the Red Tower awaiting the Aussie’s arrival. The views from the ridge were spectacular, and even better once on the Tower’s top deck.

Saint Agatha’s tower, better known as the Red Tower, formed part of a vast coastal defense system of fortifications and watch towers built by the Knights of the Order of St. John during the 17th and 18th centuries to protect the coastline from incursions by the Ottoman Turks and Barbary Corsairs from North Africa. The Red Tower was built over 2 years in 1648-49.

Here’s a map showing all the fortifications and watch towers that were built around the Maltese Islands.

The fortified tower is situated on the commanding heights of Marfa Ridge above Ghadira Bay and overlooks the small island of Comino and the Gozo Channel. One of the Grand Master had built a very similar tower on Comino, St. Mary’s Tower. St. Mary’s Tower and the Red Tower could each blast cannonballs into the Gozo Channel thus sinking invading ships in the crossfire. You can see St. Mary’s Tower on Comino in the photo below on the lower right. Across the channel is the island of Gozo.

The Red Tower was comprised of 4 levels, including a very large cistern below the tower that captured rainwater from the roof. The cistern held 53,000 liters of water, enough to supply 50 soldiers for some 40 days. The second level was the main hall comprised of two vaults where the garrison lived. On this level was a niche with a small altar dedicated to the Tower’s patron, St. Agatha. St. Agatha was an early Christian martyr. Her story is really quite gruesome.

Here’s the crew watching a video about the history of the Knights and the Red Tower.

Tony was hurting because he, Linda and Dion walked up to the Tower up a very steep hill from the bus stop. Linda said that he has been having difficulty walking and so I had great sympathy for him having done that difficult climb.

The third level of the Tower was sleeping space for additional soldiers sent to defend when there were sightings of Turks or Corsairs. The final level is the roof. The levels are accessible by a spiral staircase.

The square roof is flanked by 4 turrets. The turrets provided shelter for the guards and were also used to store gunpowder and weapons. And the views were stunning. The map below shows whats visible from the Tower.

I am happy to have finally visited the Red Tower. I’ve been intrigued by it on all our visits, sitting proudly up on that ridge. So, another check mark on my list of Maltese things to do.

We didn’t want to walk down the hill to the bus stop, and I didn’t want Tony to have to do that either. So I called an Uber, which is mostly served by the Bolt taxi service. Tony, Christine and I piled into the cab leaving Linda and Dion to walk to the bus stop (that’s what they wanted to do). It’s about a 45 minute drive back to Sliema and we were happy not to be on a crowded bus. I think Tony was really appreciative for the ride.

We had another night in and had a light dinner and watched TV.