Cobh, Ireland.
I have been pronouncing this wrong for months, so hopefully I can get it right today... it is pronounced "cove".
We pulled in before we were all awake. I noticed in my sleepy state because last night we had a fair amount of movement on the ship. It wasn't rough seas, but it was definitely noticeable and probably had some people a bit uncomfortable. So when we were suddenly still, I figured we were in port.
We had found a simple tour we thought we might do in town this morning, then we had tickets to the Titanic Museum in the afternoon. But, we were moving slow. The guys ended up going to breakfast without us girls. And they closed breakfast as the boys put a plate together for us. So we were all able to munch a bit before we left the ship.
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| walking around the town |
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| Ooooo! another coffee machine. |
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| view back to the ship |
In the end, we left the ship more than an hour later than we thought we would...chalk it up to being day 15 of the trip. We got off the ship and started walking around town. We saw the Titanic Museum and decided to look for the tour we were thinking of. But after a few minutes of looking in the location where it was supposed to be and seeing no sign of anything resembling something tour related, we decided to move on. [Editor's Note: We learned later that they stop doing the tour on weekdays in September.] We wandered the town and popped into a few shops along the way. We were able to pick up a much needed glasses repair kit and a few souvenirs. Then we decided to walk through the Cobh Heritage Center. They gave us each a card representing someone who was on the Titanic or other ships of that era and we could find the story of that person in the exhibits. It was a nicely put together exhibit. Only two of the four of our persons from the past survived... but we all enjoyed the information.
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| Model that was made for the movie "Far and Away" |
By the time we finished here it was time for the Titanic Experience. We had a set time for this, as it's more tour than museum. Again we were each given the name of a passenger from the Titanic. This time, each person actually boarded the Titanic here in Cobh (then Queenstown) for that "fateful journey" (as our history buff young man would say). Our guide took us and a dozen or so others through the whole process that our characters went through. The Experience is actually housed in the same building - the old White Star Line building. So we literally walked in their footsteps. We stood on the balcony where the 2nd and 1st class passengers stood while they waited for the tender to the ship. Saw the old pier... which is now just supports, not usable, but also clearly they don't want to restore it... showing it as is, helps put the timeline together - I think.
The whole thing was good. And it ends with some exhibits to see artifacts etc. And lastly, a look at the roster and see if your historic person survived. All but one of us made it onto the lifeboats. In general I think this gave a nice mix of history and emotion to the basic story we all know.
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| fun with mirrors |
We headed back to our floating home for a late lunch (I know... it's just how we roll now). And the timing of seeing this exhibit literally the day we set sail across the Atlantic has floated about in my brain a few times today. My mom texted me with info about current hurricanes, but ultimately we aren't going that far south and just last night the captain said he is keeping an eye on things and isn't concerned about any of the current storms. Ok... enough of that!
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| in line to get back on the ship |
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| sights from our balcony |
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| Mural for the anniversary |
Lunch from Room Service was just what we all needed. I had some time to hit the coffee bar and blog before an early evening Mom and Daughter Pedicure. Hubby enjoyed the evening show and we enjoyed dinner at Lumiere's and relaxed until bedtime.
Looking forward to a few days at sea.
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