May 30, 2024
Ship Update
When we arrived in Belfast the night of the 28th, there was a residents meeting with owners. That afternoon they had just had the DCN inspection on board and we did not pass the inspection in the water processing system of the ship, due to corrosion beyond the limits in a small, but tough area to gain access. This repair is going to cost us 4 days more in dry dock to get cut out and reinstalled. The hope is that work will be completed and we with have our occupancy certificate for a June 4th boarding. Then they hope to set sail somewhere between the 5 to 7th once everything and one is aboard and approved. We will then join the itinerary wherever it falls, most likely Paris first. Sadly, for Edel this means no sailing vacation! She has been a great sport enjoying our day trips around Ireland and it has been great having the time to catch up with her. She will definitely be picking a future port to get on.
Photo above show shipyard of Harland & Wolff and you can see our ship to left of high rise in the back - all white - she is a beauty!
So new plan in this adventure has us driving out of Belfast this morning and we are headed to Bray in Wicklow County, below Dublin, to explore the area and try some new thrills! Stay tuned.
Love Sea Days ! I got a much needed haircut and color. Think I'll be going shorter, but giving this a whirl! Can you see the back in the mirror? The bangs and side volume, is what drives me nuts in the heat and humidity!
Wat Bang Kung Temple was a quick stop along the way to the Train Markets . What makes this unique is the Temple is completely enclosed by roots of four giant trees (a banyan, bodhi and others). From the outside, it looks like nature has swallowed the building. Inside the chapel is a golden Buddha image, that locals still visit to pray. It was quite active during our short visit there. The Temple dates back over 250 years and survived the Burmese invasion.
We picked Sunday, hoping for less traffic, to explore two famous Markets. First we traveled about 1.5 hours to the Floating Markets at Damnoen Saduak . We hired a driver with a van for the day, to take the group of us. Below is some of the interesting architecture along the way.