Sights, Sounds and Seaside Towns

On Friday, the four of us visited the quaint town of Cobh. The cabby who took us to the train station was puzzled as to why we were heading there on a miserable cold and rainy day. Apparently there isn't much to do there, but that didn't matter much to us. Thank goodness we stuck to our plans because it was absolutely worth it.

The train to Cobh was only about a half hour and when the handful of us left on the train spilled out in to the station we decided to just follow the crowd. As the city came in to view, it was apparent that although there may not be much here, the locals were warm and inviting and willing to come up with things for us to do.

The memorial park for the passengers
of the Titanic and Lusitania

Turns out there's more to learn about Cobh than what meets the eye. Cobh is the second largest harbor in the world. Sydney is the first. Because of its ability to dock large ships, Cobh was where the Titanic made her final port of call before she sank.  On April 11, 1912 there were 123 passengers who boarded in Queenstown (as it was called back then) and only 44 survived. There is a beautiful park, memorial, and museum in remembrance of those passengers and also the passengers of the Lusithania. The 700 survivors rescued from the Lusitania were brought to Cobh. 1200 died in the German U-Boat attack, and 100 or so are buried in the Old Church Cemetary here.

This tiny town was already much more interesting than the cabby or guest information receptionist gave it credit. The musuem was already closed but hopefully Mo will visit Cobh again and let us know what's inside.

St Coleman's Cathedral in Cobh

Most of our time spend here was in search of St. Coleman's Cathedral. It isn't too hard to find, but it's a workout climbing the steep and winding streets. The wind and rain didn't help much either. After a bit we finally made it to the top and the view was amazing. The cathedral is much bigger than it appeared and it looks out over all the town. It too was closed. Ohh well.

The only other place we were instructed to see before leaving was Kellys. You can't really miss the local pub because the door was practically a revolving one. It was clear that we weren't 'townies' but that didn't matter . Kelly's had the pefect coastal pub feel. With several hightop tables of old fishermen standing around and other cozy booths with couples of all ages, it didn't take long for us to make ourselves at home. We sat in a back room by a fire which was perfect because we desperately needed to warm up.

My first Irish Coffee
... oh boy

It only seemed right that I order an Irish Coffee....bad idea. I thought maybe it would have a little Baileys or cream liquor in it, not sure why I didn't recal the Irish's love of whiskey. But I made sure to ask one of the bar tenders (the most charming old man, of course) if it was served hot, because the two shots of whiskey the first bartender had put in were not going to warm me up the way I was hoping. Turns out Irish Coffee, in case you didn't know, is about 2 parts whiskey: a splash of coffee: and 1 part thick cream on top. I wasn't a fan. But I did my best to not waste it, with the help of the girls. They were wise enough to stick to a safe hot chocolate. Live and Learn is what this trip is all about, and now I know. We left Cobh only a couple of hours after we arrived, but it was well worth the trek.

Here are all of the pictures from Ireland, enjoy!