Colorful Cobh

Today our ship docked in the last port the Titanic saw - Cobh, Ireland. This was a day with no planned tour - we were just going to wander about town. So we got to sleep in late and get a later start for our day. We got off the ship around 11 am and made the very short walk out of the terminal shops building (no buying for us). There was a young woman playing Irish music on the the violin behind the building. So I dropped a couple of coins in her violin case. I liked the music but we didn't hang around to listen. We took pictures on the way into town, stopping whenever the mood hit us.

Since it was close to lunch we decided to find a local restaurant for lunch. After checking out a couple of possibles, we decided on Gilberts. We had a very nice lunch and were happy it wasn't crowded with our shipmates - just locals. 

The town has a tiny harbor of working fishing boats. CJ loves colorful little boats and these were the closest we had found so we spent some time trying to get the right pictures. We had also heard about the deck houses - a row of identical houses side by side on a steep hill. Just think of a deck of cards spread out on a table. The houses were painted different colors to make it easier to tell them apart. 

Cobh houses and cathedral

Midway up a hill, above the first level of houses, but below the top level, sat a beautiful cathedral dominating the landscape. After lunch we went up there to look around. The inside was better looking than the outside. To reach the deck houses we had to go up and over two blocks but it was well worth it. The houses were great and people had made efforts to individualize some of them with flowers and vases. 

We stopped for a postcard to remind us of the town. I went into the shop to buy the card and found a red Titanic golf shirt too. Altogether we had a excellent time and loved the town.

Cobh park and city