( Overview
/ Europe 2017
It is 7am Friday. We are departing from Eemshaven, Netherlands. We are now able to start the cruise. Hopefully we will not meet any parts of cyclone Aileen on our way to Falmouth in England. This storm has been so severe, classified as gale force 12, it is the first time the MET office has named a storm.
We arrived in the Isle of Wight. Our cruise schedule is now altered. We will no longer have time to visit Isle of Scilly, UK and Bristol, England and Milford Haven, Wales and Cork, Ireland.
We used the ship's tender boats to reach the boat haven. We walked around Cowes and indulged in Cream Tea. A quaint small town. We hired bicycles for the afternoon for £10 each. We covered a hilly 16km.
We cycled to Newport and chained the bicycles at the marina. We walked around the township and the old timer car rally. Next on to Castle Carisbrooke, King Charles I was imprisoned in this castle before he was beheaded.
Then onto Osborne House in East Cowes. It was a challenging uphill cycle. We toured the Royal Apartments.
Osborne House was designed by Prince Albert in an Italianate style. In the 1840s Osbourne was the seaside home of Queen Victoria, her husband and their 9 children. It was also the location of the Dame Judi Dench film about Queen Victoria, "Victoria & Abdul". It consists of Osbourne House, the Swiss House (children's play house), the beach access and extensive gardens. Queen Victoria was Empress of India. She decorated the Dunbar Corridor and Dunbar Room with Indian portraits and the moving portrait of Maharajah Duleep Singh.
We dropped off the bikes about 5:45pm and headed to a local pub, the Pier View, for a Guinness beer.
Back to the ship for our 5 course restaurant dinner and then the evening entertainment in the Show Lounge, the Dance Troupe.
We arrived in the Isle of Wight. Our cruise schedule is now altered. We will no longer have time to visit Isle of Scilly, UK and Bristol, England and Milford Haven, Wales and Cork, Ireland.
We used the ship's tender boats to reach the boat haven. We walked around Cowes and indulged in Cream Tea. A quaint small town. We hired bicycles for the afternoon for £10 each. We covered a hilly 16km.
We cycled to Newport and chained the bicycles at the marina. We walked around the township and the old timer car rally. Next on to Castle Carisbrooke, King Charles I was imprisoned in this castle before he was beheaded.
Then onto Osborne House in East Cowes. It was a challenging uphill cycle. We toured the Royal Apartments.
Osborne House was designed by Prince Albert in an Italianate style. In the 1840s Osbourne was the seaside home of Queen Victoria, her husband and their 9 children. It was also the location of the Dame Judi Dench film about Queen Victoria, "Victoria & Abdul". It consists of Osbourne House, the Swiss House (children's play house), the beach access and extensive gardens. Queen Victoria was Empress of India. She decorated the Dunbar Corridor and Dunbar Room with Indian portraits and the moving portrait of Maharajah Duleep Singh.
We dropped off the bikes about 5:45pm and headed to a local pub, the Pier View, for a Guinness beer.
Back to the ship for our 5 course restaurant dinner and then the evening entertainment in the Show Lounge, the Dance Troupe.