'Round Britain

I've had really busy couple of days trying to see as much as possible on this 'Round Britain cruise. I wish we did this one more than once a year, I really enjoy it. I got to visit Kirkwall, in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, for the first time. Nick and I managed to figure out how to take a public bus and then a short walk on our own in order to see the famous Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar, prehistoric monuments of unknown purpose that are incredibly still in place. Its a bit like Stonehenge, only different, haha. I was really glad we were able to navigate our way out there and back in the short amount of time we had. We were quite proud of ourselves for managing it. We also had a wander around town and looked inside the 12th century Cathedral there, as well as some ruins known as the Bishop's Palace.

In Glasgow, we got to meet some of Nick's relatives, who took us out to lunch at a nice pub-style restaurant overlooking the firth and Dunbarton Rock. It was nice to get to meet them.
Today we were in Liverpool, and the band had the night off. A few of us went to a pub to meet up with Albert, our trumpet player last contract, who lives nearby. It was good to see him and catch up a bit. After that Nick took me back to the Cavern Club to see inside, something I hadn't been able to do last time. I had been on a tour that only stopped for a photo outside. This club is a replica, just a few feet from the original, which was sadly demolished. But it uses the original bricks, which is neat. We spent a bit of time down there, there was some live music. It was a great day off! Not that we really needed one after only a week on board, but I'll take it where I can get it.
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