Cobh and Cork

We docked in Southern Ireland at Cobh (pronounced Cove) and caught the train into Cork (meaning marsh).

The pictures are from our balcony when we docked.

We had to wait  a short time for the train so we checked out the souvenir shop and history on display adjacent the station.

Cobh was original called Queenstown .

 

It was a 24 minute train ride and when the cruise ships are docked the service runs every half hour. It cost 10 euro return per person which was pretty good.

 

Along the way we mainly saw mud flats as it was low tide. We were surprised to see the deep gorges cut into the flats.

When we got to Kent Station in Cork we asked how to get to the main street and we were told by a young railway attendant it was a 10 minute walk. I am so glad it was raining lightly and we took a taxi as I think the walk would have taken us at least 25 minutes – and we would probably have taken some wrong turns as it was not very clear. The taxi driver was great and told us a lot about the city as he drove us straight to the Grand Parade where you catch the Hop on Hop off buses.

He said the English arrived for a weekend in the 1600s and liked it so much they stayed for 810 years. It seems Cork has a long history of rebellion and development from the 7^th century.

We paid 15 euros each to do the hop on hop off bus and we had time to do one loop. The traffic was so congested we hardly moved at times. I sat downstairs with limited view as it was raining a bit. Paul ventured upstairs and got some good footage for his movies.

The medieval part of the city was interesting with very narrow streets. I really don’t know how the buses and cars manage to move around these areas on a daily basis.

The River Lee runs through Cork. A lot of the streets are on reclaimed land and some shops still have the arched entrances that used to be from the original canals with steps leading up to the shops.

The English Market is the most popular tourist attraction so we went for a look as it was on the Grand Parade where we got off the bus. The seafood and other meat products were amazing. I would love to have access to this when preparing meals.

We then caught a taxi back to Kent Station and caught the 4pm train back to Cobh. We thought the mud flats would now be covered with water but the tide had not changed much in the few hours we were in town so it was still the same as on our first trip.

I was able to buy a postcard and stamp at the souvenir shop and there was a post box on the outside wall of the building so I could actually send a postcard to my mum very easily. It’s amazing how this type of holiday activity is no longer easy to do in many places.

At 5 pm we had another bridge lesson on all the different types of doubles – very interesting for me.

Then we did our usual routine of a show, dinner, a few tia marias and off to bed. Another great day!