Some Pictures From The British Isles

Our trip started with a long flight to London and then a hop to Dublin where we met our neighbors and friends Ron and Debbie Martin in Dublin. As seen in the picture, our Dublin tour included a stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral, an Anglican Church, this church has not been Catholic since Henry VIII.

Following our Dublin tour, the next day we got on a bus with guide in hand for a tour of the Republic of Ireland. Here we stopped mid-day for a lunch on a riverboat that travels up and down the Shannon River (longest river in Ireland). Ron and Deb are to the right of Marguerite.

Following a night in Sligo, Ireland, we went to Kylemore Abbey in Connemara, County. Originally built by a rich person as his home, it was eventually turned into an Abbey for a group of Nuns. To support the order, they have turned it into a very nice tourist attraction.

Here we are on our way to the top of Blarney Castle, just outside of Cork, Ireland. At the top of the castle, Debbie and Marguerite kissed the Blarney Stone, which is not easy to do, you have to do it upside down. I could have done it but I would still be there trying to get up.

This was the highlight of Marguerite's trip. We spent the night in Waterford, Ireland, and the next day we visited the Waterford Crystal Factory and Visitor's Shopping Area. Marguerite spent a fortune here and enjoyed the factory tour.

Marguerite's maiden name was Marguerite Neville McMillan. So while in the British Isles we had to visit the MacMillan (McMillan is just a different spelling) homestead and the Neville homestead, which we did. The MacMillan Clan is from the Knap part of Scotland (extreme western part of Scotland). Around when Columbus was doing his thing the MacMillans had a castle and were a major influence in this area. What you see here is the MacMillan Cross in a little church in the town of Kilmory, Scotland. I had to rent a car, get a hotel in Lochgilphead, Scotland, and then drive on a one lane road (on the wrong side of the road except on a one lane road there is only one side but when you come to another car you pull to the left not the right) to a point in Knapdale which is a part of Argyll, Scotland. Thank goodness for the internet so I could find all of this.

Here we are at Castle Sween. It had been occupied by many clans and during a brief 20+ year period it was occupied by the Macmillans . Marguerite got a little teary eyed looking around her family digs (I was teary eyed because I had to drive back on the one lane road and remember to veer to the left when traffic appears). This castle has not been used for hundreds of years and was in a poor state of repair. It is a few miles up from Kilmory. This was Marguerite's second favorite place we visited.

Here Marguerite is entering Edinburgh Castle. This is the capital of Scotland and this castle has many ceremonial affairs. After touring the castle, Marguerite went off on her own touring and shopping in Edinburgh. We do not do well shopping together and Marguerite gets "castled out" quickly. Prior to the castle we went to the Scotch Whiskey Museum and Marguerite had my sample, she was feeling good. In Ireland we also visited a Whiskey Museum and she had my samples too.

Here we are on the Britannia, Queen Elizabeth's ex-Yacht on permanent display in Edinburgh Harbor. Very nice little boat with huge dinning rooms and formal parlors. Bedrooms actually not that great. We could see the double bed where Prince Charles and Diana did the deed to make Prince William. This was Marguerite's third favorite place we visited.

Here Marguerite is visiting the church where old Bill Shakespeare is buried. We also visited the house he was born in and Marguerite went to a play, Richard III. She enjoyed it very much except she did not understand it. Between the Elizabethan English and the Today English Accents, she did not understand what them'all were say'in. They do the play in different periods. This period was in 1850 costumes which helps confuse the issue.

We visited Warwick Castle which was the home of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. The Earl backed Henry VII during the English Civil War and was known as "The King Maker". The castle was lived in until the 1970's and therefore is in very good shape. It is also a wax museum so what you see next to Marguerite Neville McMillan Jackson Dill is a wax figure of Richard Neville.

We then went to Oxford where we were greeted by a friend of Marguerite's, Phil Davies. After showing us around Oxford (he taught there for many years) he invited us to his home where we had dinner and were houseguests. He lives out in the country in a Manor home that has been divided into four parts and four families live it (each part is very large and the grounds are large also). It is near Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill was born. This palace is a very very huge place for the Duke of Blenheim.

We have been to Roman baths in Pompeii, Rabat, and now England. Those Romans were clean folks. These ruins are very extensive and give the viewer a good idea how the better 5% lived a few thousand years ago. Bath, England, is a nice tourist town.

We now visited Cardiff, Wales. The castle in Cardiff was owned by the richest man in Victorian England. He did a lot of improvements to the castle and it shows (but not in this picture, we are inside a bigger castle that houses the old smaller castle). The castle goes back to Roman times but what you see is from the Norman Period. We were getting pretty "castled out" by this time.

Here Marguerite is on Westminster Bridge in London. In the background is the London Eye. A big Ferris Wheel that we rode and got a great view of London. We saw the musical FAME and it was great. We also did some museums and the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Victoria and Albert Museum, et al. Margueritie's feeties were about shot at this point and we were really looking forward to coming home.