North West European Cultures
Departs 1st June 2008, from Southampton, for 11 nights.
Overview | Lecturers | Shore Excursions | Itinerary | Prices | Deck Plans
Reaching Falmouth in early morning, our tour takes us around the rugged coastline of West Penwith - a land of ancient monuments and beliefs shaped, in no small part, by the gales of the Atlantic.We visit Helston, famous for its annual Floral Dance; Mounts Bay to see the romantic fortress of St. Michael’s Mount; Lanyon Quoit, one of the best known Cornish megaliths; and The Merry Maidens, a group of 19 standing stones – said by legend to be maidens tempted by the Devil to dance on the Sabbath and turned to stone by a heavenly thunderbolt. We also see Chysauster, a Bronze Age village occupied for 400 years until around 100 BC.
From Glengarriff, with its magnificent views of the Caha Mountains, we visit the Bonane Heritage Park, home to around 250 archaeological sites. At Dromagorteen, overlooking the valley, we examine the ‘Judge and Jury’ group of 13 standing stones, said to be the centrepiece of a complex astrological calendar. Then to Molly Gallivan’s Cottage, where you’ll experience the life of rural Ireland before the days of electricity and modern conveniences.
In Reykjavik, we enjoy a tour of the city and its charming old quarter, before visiting the Saga Museum at a time that it would normally be shut.The museum tells the story of Iceland’s turbulent past, through the horrors of battles and the overcoming of natural disasters, to the creation of a remarkable and literate culture.
On Mull, we visit the impressive Estate of Glengorm and the multi-coloured village of Tobermory. From Glengorm Castle we walk to the Standing Stones and the Dua Ara Fort.
In Dublin, we pass the Customs House, Old Parliament - now the Bank of Ireland - and Trinity College, on our way to the National Museum, containing over two million objects dating back to 7000 BC. Our tour continues at the National Gallery of Ireland, where we take a guided tour of the Irish and Italian galleries. A late departure from Dublin and a relaxing day’s
cruising delivers us back to Southampton much enriched.
