June 3- Cobh, Ireland

We are in port in the small town of Cobh. Arrival was active and a bit loud, but I was already up watching and Jim slept right along. Our destination is Cork, Ireland’s second largest city- running a distant second to Dublin.

Cork, with 119,400 people, is roughly 1/10^th the size of Dublin. The city received a boast in 2005 when the EU named it a Capital of Culture. Much development followed-including the redesign of the city center.

As to the question about Leprechauns….we have not seen any but the Irish folks we ask say just keep looking.

Our guide Kay began with a Gaelic

sentence meaning "100,000 welcomes" and then to comments about the weather she said, "Any day in Ireland that is NOT raining is a great day." The town where we are has about 12,000 residents and is a natural harbor which she compared to Sydney Harbor in size.

natural harbor. This is the home of the Irish Navy whose job is enforcing fishing rights and chasing drug smugglers. There was a 2 car Commuter Train that ran every 30 minutes into the town of Cork.

Kay talked about the high unemployment in Ireland- about 14% which 2 years ago was only 4%.

We departed the pier in Cobh and drove to West Cork via the Lee Tunnel costing 130 million Euros. It is an underwater tunnel constructed on the land and then sunk to be used as a tunnel. A grant from the EU paid for 80% of the tunnel. Of the many road grants that Ireland receives from the EU, 1% of each grant must be used for sculptures along the road.

Kay said there is an Irish saying about the weather, "Don't shed a cloth until May is out." That means it could still be chilly in May...and actually it was even in June. We saw the golf course called the Head of Kinsale where it costs 1,200 Euros to play a round of golf. Can't imagine!

During the drive we made a photo stop will be made at Charles Fort built in 1678 and used until 1922, which commands panoramic views of the town and beautiful Kinsale Harbor. This fort is one of Europe’s best-preserved “star forts” enclosing some 12 cliff-top acres. We continued on to Kinsale, a charming town that earned the European prize for Tourism and the Environment, as well as Entente Floreale, National Tidy Town and Gourmet Capital awards. Kay explained that the Tidy Town awards are based on size and population and are largely a volunteer effort. Nestled between the hills and the valley, Kinsale is safely sheltered by the rounded contours of a beautiful harbor. Believed to have been founded by the Anglo-Normans around 1177, Kinsale was a magnificent naval base in the 17th and 18th centuries, and enjoyed a degree of prosperity uncommon in Ireland. Kinsale has maintained European ties for centuries and

became the first town to be awarded the Flag of the Council of Europe in 1966.

William Penn was born here and sailed from Cobh to America...and the rest is important history for those folks with Pennsylvania connections.

Farming,tourism,pharmaceuticals, and computers are the sources of income and employment in Ireland. Over and over we saw beautiful scenes of the 40 shades of green for which Ireland is famous.

Kinsale owes its unique character to the fact that it was a garrison town and port of consequence for over 300 years; hence the magnificent Georgian homes and Dutch influence of its architecture. At one time, Kinsale was also the natural landfall for all the great sailing ships from the continent and the Americas. Foodies flock to Kinsale for fine dining in many of the small restaurants dotting the harbor.

We drove along the banks of the harbor, enjoyed spectacular views and passed through the town of Innishannon. We had a majestic view of the Bandon River before arriving back to the pier in Cobh.

Cork does have a reputation, or so they told us. For rebelliousness dating back to the town’s support of the English Pretender Perkin Warbeck in 1491 following the War of the Roses, and as a result of this Cork County has the nickname of “the Rebel County.” Corkonians often refer to Cork as the “real capital of Ireland” and themselves as “Rebels.”

We are glad we did this tour. There was a Dance Folkloric aboard the Voyager but our tour was such that we missed it. We debated not touring but we are glad we did.

As we sailed away a brass bank played an interesting assortment of music from "Memories" to "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to "Danny Boy" to "Loch Lomond."

Ireland is as green and beautiful as we remembered……. And the people are so wonderfully friendly and funny. What a wonderful visit!