Cobh, Ireland 01 May 2009

   We made it!  Docked right on time.  We had a delightful day in Ireland despite the rain when we disembarked.  It cleared up by our first stop and we didn't have any further rain the rest of the day.  To say Ireland is green and lush is an understatement!   

   We booked a tour with Butler Buses eCoach as recommended on the Meet & Mingle group from Cruise Critic.  It was a fabulous trip with a wonderful local guide and driver.  They were prompt to pick us up right as we got off the ship.  Though it was a "big bus" tour it was much less expensive than the ones from the ship.  We paid E$40. for both of us, that is a little less than US$56. Others in the group had a "small bus" and that would definitely be our choice next time as with the big bus there are always stragglers who cause delay.  The ship tour was at least twice that much.  Our tour included:  Blarney Castle (we paid our own admission of E$8. each), the town of Kinsale and nearby view of Fort Charles, sites in and about Cork City, and Cobh.  Cork was the final departure point for the Titanic before meeting its watery grave, also the Lusitania!  There are trails for the Titanic and a museum for both but we didn't have time to visit that too.  Anyway, I am sure it is sad but we would have walked through there if we had time.  Of interest 8 million people lived in Ireland before the great famine.  Many died and 1.5 million+ immigrated leaving about 4 million in Ireland.  To date there are 4.5 million people in Ireland.  If you have relatives who immigrated they more than likely left from Cobh/Cork as that was the departure port.  Incidentally, they seem to use Cobh and Cork interchangeably though they are actually two different locations very close together.  Cork is also a "county" and when they say they are from Cork they could mean the city of Cork or the county.  We very much enjoyed what we did see and should we return one day there is a rich history and great beauty to explore.  In Blarney we had two hours to roam around.  We chose not to stand in line the entire time to climb 100 stairs and kiss the filthy Blarney Stone!  We did walk to the castle and all around the grounds, particularly enjoying the lovely garden called the Rock.  Near the castle parking area there are shops of all sorts.  The "famous" one is the Blarney Woolen Mill.  John got a hat, the sort he used to wear, and we got a Guinness shirt for Jeff.  It was a very refreshing stop.  From there we drove to Fort Charles, a huge place and we only took photos and headed to Kinsale, which we had the opportunity to view from Fort Charles.  We had 1.5 hours there to have lunch and roam about.  We had authentic fish and chips at Dinos.  We happened to bump into Becky and Mau from the ship and shared the table.  Unfortunately they did not serve Guinness at Dinos, which we heard so much about and wanted to try!  From there we decided to find an ATM to get Euros at a good exchange.  That was a snap once we found the machine.  Unfortunately we received them in denomination of 50's.  Next stop was a store I saw down the street with a lot of locals buying things.  We bought a Guinness to try, just one can, and after one taste we knew it was not for us~but we tried it and received change at the same time! So that was very successful.  Heading back to Cork and Cobh now, what a lovely drive.  There was a prolific plant with yellow flowers growing everywhere.  Actually the guide explained it is a weed, a scourge in fact.  It spreads and though it looks lovely at this moment it spreads rapidly and is very hard to get rid of.  Despite that, the hills, houses, cattle, horses, and fields are beautiful.  Into the city and the guide told us so many things I really can't recall much.  A brief stop at Cobh Cathedral, the largest in this section of Ireland, and back to the ship.  We decided to skip the meal to enjoy the departure.  It was quite interesting as we had four local pilots on board.  As we headed out of the harbor a kayak and a couple of jet skis began to head for the ship.  The kayak pulled away very soon but the jet skis persisted in circling the ship and playing "cat and mouse" with the pilot boat.  The pilot boat went after them a couple of times but eventually they backed off.  More interesting was removing the four pilots from the ship in the rough waters but they did that with what seemed like "ease" eventually.  Now we are headed south to Cherbourg, France.  We are skipping the show tonight and checking email and trying to post this blog.  After we are off the ship my regular cell phone will no longer work.  We also don't exactly know when we will have email.  I am not really checking the JSEash@aol.com email as it is so difficult on the ship, just the EashTravel@aol.com.

Temperature:  3*C 7am (40*?), 57*F 8pm

Wind:  Force 7 near gale.

Sea:  Slight 1.5 to 4 feet

Nautical miles from Galveston 5025, from Cork 46.5, to Cherbourg 295.