Cork, Ireland, July 24, 2023

Today was Monday and we docked in Cobh ( pronounced cove) Ireland. It was originally named Cobh and then for a few years was known as Queensland because Queen Victoria came for a visit. Then when the civil war began, in the 1920’s, it took back its original name, which does actually mean cove in Gaelic. Its claim to fame is that Annie Moore and her two brothers, who sailed to NYC from here, were the first to be processed at Ellis Island. It is also where the Germans torpedoed the Lusitania. The people of Cobh saved the survivors.

Since we had been to Cobh twice before, Roscoe and I decided to take the train to Cork, which was a 25 minute train ride. The station was right next to the ship and we got the geezers’ rates of less than 6€ per person, round trip. When we left, I had on 4 layers; but it actually turned into a warm sunny afternoon. We arrived in Cork, walked around for a couple of hours, ran into Syd and Anna, had lunch and then went to the movies to see “Mission Impossible, Dead Reckoning part one”. Yes I’m sure that’s what all Americans do when in Ireland. At least we didn’t have to have subtitles. We enjoyed the movie, caught the 5pm train back to Cobh and went straight to dinner.

We are still in port and we could go out to a pub, but we’ve had enough excitement for one day. Tomorrow is a day at sea….stay tuned for pictures of me coloring my roots! And then we dock in Dover. About 500 people are getting off the ship so we will see new faces. I will be sure and take pictures of the white cliffs. Whether we see any bluebirds is still yet to be determined. If you don’t understand that line, you’re not up on WWII music.

The train leaves every 30 minutes.

Annie and her siblings. She ended up married and the mother of 9 children.

It’s smaller than the west side market. Had 4 aisles.

Scenery on the way to Cork.

Shouldn’t it say Guinness?

Cork is the 3rd largest town in all of Ireland. 127,000 people. Third to Belfast and Dublin.

We missed the first train by one minute.

We actually had a club sandwich for lunch and I forgot to take a picture. But here’s our almond croissant and “long black”/ Americano. The barista on the ship swears they’re the same thing. In Wales I was told that an Americano has more hot water… all I know is we drink tons of decaf coffee. The guys at the International Cafe start making them when they see me coming.