Voyage of the Vikings: Cobh

Today the Zuiderdam arrives in Cobh, Ireland and we’re taking a ship’s tour.

Cobh Morning

We were up at 5 am and went to the Lido for coffee. We had breakfast when it opened. I made a breakfast muffin by getting an egg, sausage patty and English muffin and putting them together. Couldn’t find a slice of cheese to add although I’m sure it was somewhere on the lines.

We were able to watch sail-in and it was so scenic. I saw a working lighthouse.

Then as we neared town we could see the scenic colorful houses.

You can also see the colorful homes in this photo of the St. Colman’s cathedral which is “only” a little over a 100 years old.

A fellow cruiser took this photo of them later from shore.

Back in our cabin, our laundry was delivered after 2 days. We were glad as I am running out of short-sleeved shirts (did I say I didn’t bring enough tops yet?) and Steve was short on underwear. I immediately got another bag ready to go that was stuffed to the gills. I can’t imagine not having unlimited laundry for this sailing.

We headed to the showroom shortly before 8 am for the excursion. For the first time this sailing we had to wait in a long line to get into the showroom.

Panoramic Cork & Jameson Whiskey Heritage Tour

Tour Description: Cork, Ireland’s second-largest city (or the “real capital” of Ireland, as the inhabitants like to call it) is your first destination today. Criss-crossing the city’s bridges, a panoramic drive takes you past St Fin Barre’s Gothic Cathedral, the medieval Old Town, the University, City Hall and Shandon Bells.

Then, journey outside the city to Midleton for a stop at the Jameson Experience. A guided tour of the Jameson Whiskey Distillery takes you to the heart of cherished whiskey-making tradition in a beautifully restored 18th-century industrial complex. Don’t miss the compelling audio-visual presentation and a tasting session where a few lucky volunteers get to taste and comment on the finished product. Relax in the atmosphere of a traditional Irish pub with your own glass of Ireland’s finest whiskey; then, visit the souvenir store for a little shopping.

Our tour was called about 8:15 and we easily got off and found our bus right by the ship.

Our guide is Margaret and the bus driver is John. We passed by the Annie Moore statue.

She was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island and she sailed from Cobh with her two little brothers to join her parents in America. We headed to Midleton where the Jameson Distillery is located. Along the way we drove through this scenic section of road.

This building, the Belvelly Castle, was built in the 14th or 15th century yet our guide didn’t say a word about it as we passed it on our way!

We passed the golf course where the Ryder cup is played.

Cork City

Then we got to Cork for our “panoramic city tour”. I could have done without this since we had no stop. We got caught up in traffic from a bike race, munster’s race, that was about to stop.

The Lord Mayor was there and is the gentleman with the gold cap at the far left. We passed Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral.

This is the Cork Courthouse.

Once we were in Midleton we passed the local church.

Jameson Distillery

We were dropped off at the distillery and told to be back at the bus at noon sharp.

Then walked to the courtyard where we could use the toilets while Margaret bought our tickets.

The entrance is being renovated ($32 million euro project) so not as scenic as usual but still very nice entrance. The walking guided tour takes 1 hour 15 minutes. Our guide was a young man named Finn — how Irish!

The buildings we walked through for the most part are no longer used. There is a nearby tall building that replaced them with modern machinery. The building below was the distillers home originally and was built in 1793.

It now houses archives. The mill wheel still works but isn’t milling anything.

The still pot below is the largest in the world.

I learned in order to be an Irish whiskey it must age at least 3 years. We did walk through this room with 800 barrels of 9 year old whiskey waiting for their release.

Then we had a whisky tasting of three types (Irish, Scottish and American) which are distilled three times, two times and once in that order.

I liked the Irish best; couldn’t even finish the last two. We learned about the barrels they use; they don’t make their own but buy barrels that previously housed other liquors. This barrel is a Kentucky oak one that housed American bourbon previously.

They reuse them 3 times. Then it’s as time for our complimentary drink. There was a voucher on our ticket to tear off. Steve got his straight while I had a Jameson, ginger and line cocktail.

Very good! It’s as raining while we enjoyed our beverage and then of course we had time to shop in the gift shop. I bought this souvenir that didn’t make it back to Boston.

Steve enjoyed the scenery.

Our bus had had to move so we all waited about 15 minutes for him to get through traffic and back to us from his parking spot. Then it’s as a quick ride back to teh ship. By this time Cobh was misty/rainy, very foggy and damp.

Cobh Afternoon and Evening

I decided to skip exploring Cobh and had lunch with Steveon board. It was chicken “stew”. This is a triple berry cupcake I remember from my last HAL cruise and it was just as good.