June 5, 2024
Back in Belfast
Today I got the news around 10:30 am in Cork, that I am scheduled to fly to Grand Canary, Spain at 3pm tomorrow and I can access my baggage on the ship, at noon before heading to the airport. I quickly packed up all my stuff at Edel's and had a quick goodbye, for now, because we are determined to meet up again soon, somewhere warm, so she can have a proper ship experience!
It then took me about 5 hours, to drive back to Belfast in my sporty Kia Rio rental; did I mention I got a standard transmission to make things more of a challenge and exciting! I haven't driven stick in roughly 30 years & add on the opposite side of the road driving! Party!! Poor Edel did a couple of body jerks while riding shotgun and not in control, over our week of touring.
I am staying at a different hotel downtown this time in Belfast and the picture above, the Protestant headquarters, is right outside my window. I am also just 2 hotels down from the famous Europa hotel, the most bombed hotel in the world! Good Karma right!
Late tonight I found out that our itinerary, once we set sail on the 15th, is also changed for first couple of days but it means I am going to miss hooking up with my dear friend Tom Powl in Hamburg, Germany. I talked to him tonight and sent new itinerary below and he is going to see if perhaps we could meet up at another point. I hope so, really would love to see him!
Guilin, China is just a 3 hour,18 minute high speed train ride from Hong Kong . It is a charming city known for its dramatic landscape of limestone karst hills. In the center of town are 2 lakes, Shanhu ( cedar) and Ronghu ( banyan) that remain from a medieval era moat, that once surrounded the city. The twin pagodas, the Sun and the Moon , sit on the the shore of the Shanhu and light up the sky at night.
The start of our Train Trip thru CHINA - Bob and his four ladies! God Bless Bob! He is a patient man & spent a good amount of time planning out this trip, that the group was kind enough to let me jump in with them, for part of it, just days before leaving. I had been planning a similiar trip for Bosco and I , but things weren't coming together and he wasn't really excited by trip, so I thought it might be a good idea if I went with others. The five of us got off the ship in Hong Kong on 8/30/26.
So excited to get out and explore this huge city. Our Port is attached to a huge shopping mall - so it is a bit of a hike before we even get outside. When we do the heat hits us like a brick wall! There are typhoons, in the area and according to a local, when the storms come in, they first bring a wave of fog, heat and humidity to Hong Kong .