The start of our tour

 

We finished our tour of the pubs OOPS I mean the tourist spots in Kilkenny and packed up for our next destination.

Tramore is near Waterford and Waterford is famous for the Crystalware they make.

Newport CG, Tramore. Excuse the finger in the picture1

The campground was very nice, just a short walk to the cove. (A walk we never took!) We only had 2 nights and one full day and unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperating, being windy and rainy.

Waterford Harbor

Reginals tower in the "Viking Triangle" Waterford

We did take a day to explore the harbor at Waterford and do the factory tour. We got a cab into town and the driver had worked at the factory for 25 years as a master cutter. His tales of management incompetence and the selling out of the company for the trademarks was very different from the one told during the tour. It was interesting to compare the two sides.

Cinderellas coach in crystal

Skilled crystal cutter at work

We had made reservations for 3 nights near Cork. What’s near Cork? The village of Blarney, home of Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone. A very pretty but very busy village laid out around a square park. We walked the mile and a bit down steep narrow roads from the campground and walked some more exploring the area.

Nice pub in Blarney we had lunch here for the same price as kissing the Blarney Stone.

We resisted the Blarney Stone completely, being unwilling to pay 15 Euro’s each to get into the grounds. Instead we spent the money on a nice lunch and a few drinks in the pub.

We finished the day walking to the supermarket then getting a taxi back to the campground, using the steep hill and a bag of shopping as an excuse not to walk any more than we had to.

The second day we got another taxi into Cork itself and outdid ourselves walking all over the town. Up steep hills and down again, we covered it all. It’s not a big place.

The English Market, a superb old fashioned marketplace.

Parliament bridge over the River Lee

Good to see the family is in Real Estate here!

A Victorian mail box converted to Irish Mail by painting it green!

We especially liked the big English Market which sold every kind of meat, poultry, fish and cheese plus lots more. It was a very full day and we were well pleased by how well our legs and feet did, but to make sure we didn’t get aching muscles we rested in a nice old pub on the way back!

One of those great old Irish pubs we dreamt of finding

Cobh at is the entrance to Cork harbor and we found a nice Aire to stay the night. It was right on the water overlooking a marina and just ½ mile from the center of the town.

The aire at Cobh.

Colorful buildings and palm trees in Cobh!

A nice pub, maybe a painting here?

Cobh's history

We really liked Cobh, a very colorful and cheery place. It was once called Queenstown after Queen Victoria made a visit, but has reverted to its real name.

Cobh was once the major Irish port for emigration. All the major shipping lines stopped here on the way to and from the new world. White Star and Cunard both had offices on the harbor.

Cobh's Cunard Line offices and pier

Titanic called here, it was the last stop before she left for her final destiny.

As a result the very White Star office that her last 123 passenger passed thru is now the “Titanic Experience” a virtual tour of the vessel. With recreated staterooms and video re-enactments of the event, it was entertaining and educational.

We also saw the “Queenstown Experience” which was in the old railroad station where the millions of emigrants passed thru on the way to the ships. With a long, but not too boring, trip thru the history of forced migrations from England and Ireland to the future US, Canada and Australia. Then on-wards thru the great famines of Ireland thru to the great days of the ocean liners.

There were two such liners both called Mauritania. One was built in the shipyard I was apprenticed at (But long before my time there!), so it was both poignant and apt that there was a pub opposite called the “Mauritania Bar”. Naturally we had to visit it for old time’s sake!

We have discovered Aires here. They are simple but sufficient places to camp in a motorhome. Usually in or close to a town center. The one in Cobh was pretty so we tried one in Bantry for our next stop and it was even better! Right on the water again, overlooking the marina and the head of Bantry Bay. A pleasant short walk to all kinds of bars and restaurants.

The aire at Bantry

Across Bantry harbor

We chose a pub then moved on to O’Connors Seafood Restaurant. What a lucky choice! The starter was mussels in cream and white wine sauce followed by John Dory fish. I had never heard of it before but it turned out to be a very nice kind of flat fish. Served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Yummy!

John Dory on a bed of mash potatoes

Wild mussels in cream and white wine sauce

So now we are at the South Westernmost point in our tour although not at the South Westernmost point of Ireland. We considered finding that and going to it. It’s probably Mizen Head, but looking at the maps and the small roads out to it we decided that doubling back wasn’t worth it and began to head North.

Bantry