Even if I had to leave Cobh, last port of call of the Titanic, behind. My day in Cobh made for my first off-campus adventure since arriving in Cork. I took the bus to the city centre, walked to the Kent train station, and got a ticket for €7. The train ride was barely half an hour, and it took me
Cobh train station
past the industrial part of Cork and on toward the coast, stopping at several small stations along the way. The Cobh station was the end of the line, and it was decked out in Titanic-era décor – from brickwork to “First Class Area” signs.
Cobh (pronounced “Cove”) is a small town, and it is definitely intended as a hotspot for tourists. The city centre is the first and easiest destination for any such tourist, since it is the first and most accessible street from the train station! The Cobh museum stands on one end and restaurants, boutiques, and candy shoppes fill the rest, drawing the eye with brightly painted walls and flowers. On the backstreets, the colors fade to a more traditional grey, and the shops give way to houses.
St. Colman’s Cathedral dominates the horizon of the town with its graceful architecture and
St. Colman's Cathedral
statues. Erected in the mid-1800s, it is quite a labyrinth of carvings! As I stood gawking at the front door, the faithful began arriving for what I presume was evening mass (though I don’t know, not being a good Catholic myself). I wasn’t quite brave enough to go inside, alone, at a busy time of day.
Instead, I ate dinner at the Commodore Hotel Restaurant, a meal of vegetable harvest soup, fresh soda bread, and lamb
Harvest soup and soda bread
roast over mashed potatoes, with a side, of course, of the ubiquitous baked potatoes, not to mention a glass of Guinness. Yum!
Since it was getting dark and I had a sore throat heralding my impending bout of Fresher’s Flu, I headed back to the train station. At half seven in the evening, it was mostly deserted and very quiet. The station master had gone home, so no one charged me for a ticket. I got a free ride home, a perfect ending to a perfect day.
The lesson of the trip? If you want to survive a boat ride, don’t leave from Cobh! The town has connections with not only the Titanic but the Lusitania,
For the heroes of the wreck of the Lusitania
which – for those, like me, who know more ancient than modern history – was a British ocean liner torpedoed by the Germans in 1915, an act that helped draw the U.S. into World War I. Personally, I recommend leaving from Galway if you must go by sea!
Cobh skyline