We finally made it to Cork, Ireland after a few mishaps. The first night out to sea from the Azores we had a medical emergency on board and had to turn the ship around and have a woman med- evacuated, her appendix burst. They made an announcement throughout the ship saying that there was an emergency and a plane would be flying over the ship. Then they cleared the decks and a helicopter hovered over the ship above our room and they got the lady and her husband off. We later heard she was going to be ok. So of course we were behind and going as fast as we could to make up time, but the weather was bad (very windy and rainy) so that put us behind too. But we made it without any further mishaps, just a little late.
We had hired a van for the day for 12 people. The first place they took us was into Cobn (pronounced Cove). This is the place we should of docked, but because of the change of plans there was another ship there that had this berth. Cobn is a very nice port town. We saw some of the town and the church there.
Then we stopped at the cemetery when a lot of the passengers from the Lusitania were buried. The Lusitania was a passenger ship that was sunk during WWI.
From there it was on to Blarney Castle. The gardens there were beautiful. It was very rainy and cold.
We stood in line for about an hour, climbing to the top of the tower where the Blarney Stone was.
(Some views from the tower)
Just as we made it to the top the sun came out.
Tim, Ron and Patty “kissed” the stone, (I didn’t, you had to lay down and hang over the side of the tower to kiss it, NO thanks lol)
Found this tree stump with a vine growing up it and mushrooms at the top.
The driver then dropped us off in Cork for a few hours. We walked around a bit, then found a pub to get something to eat and check internet. We talked to the owner and learned that 4 generations of his family has owned and worked there.
He also told us some of the history of the area and how it had flooded really bad about 50 years ago. He even let us go behind the bar and took a picture for us.
Then it was time to head back to the ship.
Next stop, Dublin, Ireland
Linda
Coffee, Crafts and Conversation 