Paul and I flew into Montreal on 9/12/25. The airport was a zoo. Paul’s phone recorded 2.8 miles of walking. Now, some of that was no doubt also in the Austin airport. That evening all who came in early for the Winemakers’ cruise gathered in the hotel bar. The next day we all had tickets for Aura, the light show at the Basilica. We Ubered there, packed in like sardines. The Aura show was quite impressive in person. We were not allowed to photograph the show itself, but I took pics when the lights came back on. The organ The lighting as we waited for the show to begin
I was under the impression that Scotland is basically one place, just north of England. Was I ever mistaken! It is made up of 790 islands, of which 94 are inhabited. So today we docked at Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis. In the afternoon we took a very interesting shore excursion. We visited three interesting places on the isle: the Callanish standing stones, which predate Stonehenge by about 2,000 years. Set in the shape of a Celtic cross, it is based on the lunar calendar. We also saw the Carloway Broch, a defensive tower built around 100 BC. We stopped at Gearrannan, where there is a museum of ancient “black houses.” Here people and their animals lived together, using peat for fuel, as recently as 1974! The Callanish Standing Stones The Broch — the outer wall was five or six feet wide! The entrance was very low. The Black Houses The heather is in bloom every where. Lovely!
St. John’s turned out to be more interesting than we expected, mainly due to the narrow harbor entrance and the very protected harbor. It was raining when we arrived and took our first foray into the town, although it was 60, so not terribly unpleasant. We came back to the ship for lunch and a brief rest before we reported for our excursion. By then the rain had more or less stopped, but at times it was foggy. St. John’s is a colorful town with a great mix of architectural styles. The harbor itself is charming! The harbor through dirty windows! Funny thing happened at the lighthouse. As we were walking back down the path, we heard a fog horn out in the distance. As we approached a certain building, the horn blew again, louder this time — ah, must be getting closer. This happened a few more times. Then we came to a sign that said the sound may damage your ears, and just about that time, an ear piercing horn sounded from the building! It was the lighthouse horn! Cabot Tower an...
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