Lowes Travels

Sept 29 to Oct 1

This is the final post of our 3-part series detailing our Viking Saturn British Isles cruise over a month ago. If you want to catch up with our previous posts, click here for Scotland and here for Ireland.

Cruising along, we had one port stop in Wales at Holyhead, and four in England; Liverpool, Dover, Portsmouth and finally at our disembarkation in London.

Holyhead, Wales

Have you ever heard of the longest name of a place in Europe that only the people that live there and a few others can say or spell? We hadn’t until our tour bus passed by it. It’s the Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch village in Wales (did you try to read and pronounce it?). The name is 58 characters long (51 letters in the Welsh alphabet) and created as a publicity stunt in the 1860’s to attract railway tourists. Well, it’s still there today and our tour bus slowed down for photo ops. It’s the second-longest single-word place name in the world, following a town in New Zealand which has 85 characters. Interesting, huh?

We went by it on our way to tour Beaumaris Castle, an hour away from Holyhead port. Beaumaris Castle is considered one of the finest examples of the great medieval castles found in Wales. Its design of concentric “walls within walls” fortification is regarded as its most significant feature, which UNESCO has recognized as a unique artistic and military achievement.

To understand the feature we walked between the outer and inner curtain walls, through the passageways with its their inner walls, and then climbed up to the top for a better perspective on a rainy day:

After the castle tour we had time to look around the coastal city of Beaumaris:

Dinner that night was the Taste of Viking Barbecue, and we must say the meats were tender and perfectly grilled. Delicious!

Liverpool, England

There are so many things to experience in the city of Liverpool!

For one, its musical legacy boasts 56 musical artists who have had #1 singles, more than any other city. It has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the “World Capital City of Pop Music”. And of course the most famous of all is the Beatles. If you are a fan then a visit here is for you. It seems all things Beatles are in many corners of the city:

In 2004, the value of Liverpool’s architecture and design was recognized when several areas throughout the city with about 2,500 buildings were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the waterfront are some notable landmarks that include the three iconic “Three Graces” buildings on the Pier Head (Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building, and Port of Liverpool Building):

We had a chance to get inside the Liverpool Cathedral, the largest in the UK:

For dinner we dressed up and dined at the ship’s Chef’s Table restaurant. It is a specialty dining venue that offers a multi-course, themed tasting menu paired with wines. I don’t remember what the theme was that night, but I managed to take a picture of one of the dishes. The portions are small and meticulously paired with white and red wines:

The following day was a sea day, as the ship cruised along the English Channel to our next port stop. We like sea days, as they give us time to relax and avoid getting up early to catch our excursions. After Steve finished his morning walk around Deck 2 (he walks every day, on land and at sea), we had breakfast at Mamsen’s, a Viking dining venue that features Norwegian comfort food inspired by the Hagen family (Viking’s founders) cookbook:

Portsmouth, England

This was our getaway to see the famous prehistoric monument, Stonehenge. When we arrived we were greeted by the Spinnaker Tower that dominates the city’s waterfront:

It was an hour coach drive from the port to the monument. On the way, our tour guide shared some illustrations of how the massive stones were believed to have been erected in place using simple but ingenious methods:

We learned that Stonehenge is not an isolated structure, but rather part of a large prehistoric ceremonial landscape. The area includes hundreds of burial mounds and other significant Neolithic monuments:

There are no written records of the exact purpose of Stonehenge. It remains a mystery, and the subject of much debate. Anyone can have their own theories and stories about the boulders.

It remains one of Stonehenge’s greatest mysteries how the massive stones were transported and erected by prehistoric people without modern tools.

Portsmouth and its maritime history are strongly linked to the Royal Navy, and it is just fitting that we had a royal send-off from the Royal Navy Band Service. Click on the video to hear them play:

And with that the ship slowly sailed away as we enjoyed a Surf and Turf dinner.

Dover, England

Our final port stop in England was at Dover, famously known for its dramatic white-chalk cliffs towering over the English Channel. It’s the nearest city to France across the English Channel, and because of its strategic location it is known as the “Key to England”.

Our excursion was not at Dover, but rather at the historic city of Canterbury – about a half hour drive away. Canterbury is an historic city and a UNESCO World Heritage site. We strolled the city’s maze with its many ancient buildings converted into shops, bars and restaurants, and viewed some of Canterbury’s main sights:

These are ancient buildings constructed in the 1500’s, now converted into business enterprises:

 One of England’s oldest (with 1,400 years of history) and most famous Christian buildings is the Canterbury Cathedral. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Church of England. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site, recognized for its historical importance and architectural style, which includes Norman and Gothic elements. With limited time, an inside tour was not feasible due to huge crowds and we were obviously bummed. There was also a big event that day and visitation was limited.

Back on the ship in the afternoon, Steve was pondering whether to take a tour of the castle that we could see from our balcony.

The massive Dover Castle is perched high up on the white cliffs overlooking the channel. He was intrigued and decided to take a shuttle to check it out on his own.

These are his photos taken while enjoying touring the castle. A friendly guide took a picture of him sitting on the throne 🙂

Our time in England had drawn to a close. We’d enjoyed our port stops, learned a lot about the country and it people, history, culture and the varied architectural designs that date back many centuries.

It was time to disembark in London the following morning and explore that city on our own.

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Next up: Out and about in London!