Tag Archives: Tuesday Travels

Cruising Loch Ness #Scotland #TuesdayTravels

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It has been a couple of months since I did a Travel Tuesday post, but I’m finally picking up where I left off in Scotland; this week Loch Ness!

Loch Ness

First glimpse of Loch Ness

We got our first glimpses of Loch Ness from the bus. As you can see from the photo, the weather was quite overcast and threatening, though it never did rain while we were there. Our first stop was Urqhaurt Castle, which I’ll write about another Tuesday. I have too many pictures to fit them all in one post.

Loch Ness

Another view of the loch

Loch Ness is quite large, extending twenty-three miles. As the bus wound its way around the loch, we craned our necks and enjoyed the different views. It really is beautiful country.

Ducks in Loch Ness

After our exploration of Urquhart Castle, we moved to the little dock to await our sightseeing boat. At the water’s edge, we spotted this mother duck and her little ones. Pretty soon mama and two of the ducklings had waddled out of the water to see what the tourists were up to. We knew what the little beggars wanted–food. Some of the people in our group had bought packets of chips which the little ducks were happy to chow down on. Everyone got a kick out of them. So cute.

Loch Ness ducks

Feeding time

The sightseeing boats weren’t the only vessels out on the water. We spotted this sailboat not far from shore.

Sailboat on Loch Ness

In case you’ve ever wondered how chilly it can get in Scotland in July… yes, those are ear muffs she’s wearing! I was huddled into the hood of my jacket, too.

ear muffs

ear muffs in July

By the time out boat arrived, I was chilled and happy to sit inside where it was warm, so I’m afraid I don’t have any more pictures of the loch. Lots of people were also happy to sit inside the boat with a cup of hot coffee, tea or cocoa, though the hardy ones stood outside for better views and photographs. The next day I came down with bronchitis. Bummer. For some reason being out on the water when I’m not at my healthiest brings on a bad cold or bronchitis overnight. My friend Janet Cornelow, who was with me in New Orleans on our ill-fated cruise on the Mississippi in 2010, said it has something to do with the barometric pressure on the water. I don’t know but I’m filing this under “things to remember”.

sightseeing boat

More from Scotland next week.

Linda

Normandy: Valor and Sacrifice #TuesdayTravels

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Since tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, I thought it appropriate for today’s Tuesday Travels topic to be the valor and sacrifice of the men who landed on the beaches at Normandy.

Omaha Beach Memorial

VIERVILLE SUR MER – APRIL 6: the memorial on Omaha Beach in Normandy on April 6, 2015 Vierville Sur Mer, France

On my July 2015 cruise, our first Port of Call was Le Havre, France. According to our guide, the correct pronunciation is “L’Avruh”, not “Le Harv”. The name simply means the harbor. We were one of the first groups off the ship, mustering at 7:30AM after a very short nice. (We lost an hour between London and Le Harve.) I hadn’t yet bought my new camera, so today’s photos are from bigstockphoto.com. (So happy I had credits left this summer.)

The motor coach took us to Normandy where we saw the beaches and cliffs the Allied forces were forced to assault. It’s no wonder there was such tremendous loss of life. We toured the Museum of the Landing Day at Arromanches, a lovely beach town, where we saw a film about the building of two artificial harbors developed by the British, called Mulberries, that were used to unload the heavy equipment needed for the campaign: jeeps, trucks, tanks, etc. A storm blew up shortly after the invasion and destroyed the Mulberry in the American sector. You can still see remnants of the British Mulberry near Arromanche les Bains.

Arromanche Beach

Arromanches les Bains seafront beach and remains of the artificial harbour used on D-Day in World War II. Normandy France.

After lunch we visited Pointe du Hoc where visitors can climb onto some of the German bunkers and imagine how overwhelming it must have been to land on an exposed beach, then climb cliffs to engage the enemy.

American cemetery

Grave markers at American cemetery, Colville, France

Rose left at grave

Rose left at grave of unknown soldier, American cemetery, Colville, France, July 2015

Our tour ended at the American Cemetery in Colleville, a very moving experience. Some of the markers are for unknown solders and read

“Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God”.

I teared up when I saw that someone had left a pink rosebud by one of these markers.

Veteran’s Day used to be known as Armistice Day, the day World War I, the “war to end all wars,” came to its conclusion. Unfortunately, the Treaty of Versailles the followed planted the seeds for the next war. I wish WWI had been the war to end all wars, but sadly that did not happen. And that is why it’s important to reflect on the sacrifices of our men and women, and not just on Veteran’s Day.

Linda

Note: This may be the only Tuesday Travels this month as I have signed up for National Novel Writing Month for the first time this November. So the plan is to work on my next Regency romance instead of blogging.