Dublin, Ireland> Home- September 25, 2025
Today we had beautiful weather as we drove from the hotel to the Airport. The drive was about 3.5 hours but we were finally able to finish listening to the Barbra Streisand's autobiography on Audible. It was well over 40 hours in total of listening at 1.5 times speed-- we started on a prior road tri...
Donegal, Ireland- September 22-25, 2025
Donegal is our last stop on this trip. David had driven extensively the pervious day so we drove directly to the hotel, only stopping for lunch at a carvery in Carrick-On Shanon. We had aimed for a Michelin Yum pub here but it was closed on Mondays. So were directed to the carvery, which while nothi...
Adare, Galway, Connemara, Ireland- September 20-22, 2025
We drove today to the larger city of Galway. Along the way we stopped in the very cute town of Adare (population of the area is about 1200). It is described as the "prettiest village in Ireland". It's a very posh village with many original thatched roofs and it will host the 2027 Ryder Cup. We had a...
Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Ireland- September 18-20, 2025
Our hotel in Kinsale was The Perryville House. The Perryville House was built in 1820 by Captain Adam Warren Perry for his family whose ancestors continued to reside here until the late 1950s. It had various owners from then until 1997 when it was refurbished. It is now full of antique furniture and...
Ardmore, Blarney, Kinsale, Ireland- September 17-18, 2025
Today we first drove to Ardmore, to the Cliffhouse Hote l, and had a coffee. Ardmore is a seaside resort and fishing village in County Waterford, Ireland, not far from Youghal on the south coast of Ireland. Ardmore is believed to be the oldest Christian settlement in Ireland. According to traditio...
Waterford, Ireland- September 15-17, 2025
Today we drove from Wicklow, first to Kilkenny Castle in Kilkenny. https://www.kilkennycastle.ie It is a castle built in 1260 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways. It was a symbol of Norman occupation, and in its original 13th-century condition, it would...
Wicklow, Ireland- September 14-15, 2025
Debarking the ship was easy and we were at the airport to pick up our car at Enterprise by 9 am. We drove for 45 minutes to Powerscourt Estate. https://powerscourt.com/ The estate is located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, and is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landsc...
Dublin, Ireland- End of Cruise- September 14, 2025
We really enjoyed our expedition on the Silver Wind. The ship, while built in 1995 and is generally well maintained. The food is very good. The staff, as usual, are welcoming, efficient and friendly. David slipped on a hike, and the team wrote him a personalised message wishing him a quick recovery,...
Belfast, Ireland- September 13, 2025
Today we docked at the Port in Belfast. We spent a long weekend here last year, so opted for the Giant's Causeway tour, outside of the city, today. Its a 2.5 hour drive to the Causeway, but first we stopped overlooking the Carrick-a-Red Rope Bridge This is a rope bridge near Ballintoy in County Ant...
Tobermory, Scotland- September 12, 2025- no Iona or Lunga
Rough, rough seas again. The Captain was very helpful and direct about how rough the 5 meter seas were that we had been experiencing overnight, and how difficult it would be to visit Iona and then zodiac around Lunga today. So no Iona or Lunga. So the team pulled out a plan B and instead we visited...
Kirkwall/ Orkney Islands, Scotland- September 11, 2025
Having to miss our port meant 2 days at sea. In this case they were rocky days at sea. The ship provided several lectures and on the second day they had a fantastic brunch to keep us more than satisfied. Also, one evening they did a Liar's Club event which was good for several laughs. Today we took...
Husavik, Iceland- September 8, 2025
Today we were in the huge metropolitan city of Husavik. Húsavík is on the northeast coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay, and has a huge population of 2,485!!!! Húsavík even has an airport. This was a much larger town than our most recent remote visits. The most famous landmark of the t...
Djupavik, Iceland- September 7, 2025
Djúpavík is a small village in the North-West of Iceland. It is located at the head of Reykjarfjörður on the Strandir coast in the Westfjords region. Here is a famous Herring factory. Djúpavík Ltd. was formed in 1934 but no banks in Iceland would lend them sufficient capital to build such a huge fis...
Hofsos, Malmey & Dragney- September 6, 2025
Today didn't go quite to plan. Last night the seas were rough and we were awoken as a couple of bottles fell from our shelves. The swells remained rough as we moved to our zodiacs to visit Hofsos. Just as we moved away from the ship a wave hit the ship and splashed into the zodiac wetting David who...
Thorshorn & Raufarhofn, Iceland- September 5, 2025
Today we made two stops. First we stopped at Thofshorn. This was a slight adjustment on the itinerary as the original location, Tumavik , just around the bay, is a very challenging landing so we moved to the more easily accessible Thofshofn. We zodiaced to shore and then did a 2 kilometre walk aroun...
Djupivogur, Iceland- September 4, 2025
Today we anchored near Djupivogur and used the zodiacs to come ashore. Immediately we were whisked away on a 2.5 hour drive to Fjallsarlon Glacier Lagoon (the tour was 8.5 hours in total). Fjallsárlón is a glacial lagoon in Iceland, located on the southern end of Vatnajökull glacier. Vatnajökull is...
St Kilda - Hilta & Boreray Islands, Scotland & a Day at Sea- September 2-3, 2025
St Kilda is a remote archipelago situated 35 nautical miles west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It has been called the island on the edge of the World, and it is certainly remote, and infrequently visited. T...
Island of Mull with Durant Castle, Scotland- September 1, 2025
This was to be an Expedition cruise. This means we usually had to dress in wet gear, put on special life vests, step into rubber zodiacs, and climb onto shore. A little more daring and close-up than a standard cruise. As it was an Expedition cruise, the stops are "suggested". We were going to more r...
County Meath, Back to Dublin to join the Silver Wind, Ireland- August 28-31, 2025
Another adventure begins- away from warmishness of Barcelona to less so Dublin. After our 2.5 hour flight we made a slightly less than 1 hour drive up to The Johnstown Estate. https://thejohnstownestate.com It a stately manor hotel, but has been modernised and we were upgraded to a two bedroom lodge...
Silver Wind Expedition Ship
Silver Wind Expedition Ship Entered service in 1995. Tonnage 16,800 GTLength 156 metres long Beam 21 metres wide Draft 4.5 metres draft Decks 7 Speed 21.9 knots Capacity 294 passengers Crew 208 A major upgrade occurred in December 2018. A second refurbishment in November 2021 saw her benefitting fr...