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...
Yesterday we were in Puerto Montt, and we took a shore excursion to Puerto Vargas (we, maybe) and Frutilla. The former was the City of Roses —they grew everywhere. The city is on the 2nd largest lake in Chile. The latter is the City of Strawberries, although I saw not one while we were there. Today we did not choose an excursion. I’m sure it would be lovely, wherever we would go, judging by the landscape. We went to guest services and upgraded our internet package. Fish Farm, likely salmon. Chile is a major producer of salmon.
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