Cobh

10:30, Sunday morning, coffee at the railway station. What the hell has happened to the plan to sleep late? Well, I'm on my way to Cobh and I really wish to maximize the time spent there.

St Colman Cathedral in Cobh

To begin the story with a short introduction to Cobh: former name of the city is Queenstown and the city is well known for 2 incidents, neither of them pleasant. Firstly, Cobh was the last harbor Titanic visited on her first and last voyage to America. Secondly, Cobh is the city where victims of RMS Lusitania accident were buried after the ship sunk, being struck by a German torpedo during WWI. I'm not going to quote Google any longer, so so don't worry. It's time I described the trip itself.

Cruisers keep visiting the harbor despite its sad reputation

Traveling to Cobh from Cork is easy enough, all you need to do is to get to the railway station and buy a ticket. Return ticket costs around 9 euros and there are several connections a day, so no worries if you happen to miss your train. When you finally get to Cobh, probably the best way to start the day there is to visit Titanic Experience, which happens to be very close to the railway station. Titanic Experience Museum is located in the original ticket office of White Star Lines, where (and in vicinity of which) the passengers about to board Titanic were waiting for the ship to take them to better future. The entrance ticket to the museum looks like the authentic ticket of the passengers. Even the information on meal times is included. (See picture below). During the guided tour you will hear the story of Titanic in short, see the pier where the passengers said goodbye to their lives in the old world and even experience the evacuation to life boats when Titanic started to sink, women and children first. (At least this time it was beneficial to be a woman).

Bridget Mary O'Sullivan's third class one-way ticket to an early grave

While in Cobh it's easy to visit Spike Island, an island that has served e.g. as a fortress and a prison. The island made it to the news in 1985 when a riot broke out in the prison. Prison was closed in 2004 as it was not deemed suitable for the purpose anymore.

If we ever run out of money and can't afford the rent anymore..

Instructions for those with a sad lack of common sense

A visit to a prison is a very interesting experience but I was relieved to know my sentence was only a couple of hours. It was time to board the boat that took us back to the city and continue to the old cemetery where the victims of Lusitania rest. (Mind you, the road to the graveyard is not easy and most of it goes uphill). 

Lusitania memorial

And here is a tombstone providing me my daily fix of black humor. The symbol on it does look like a dollar sign, right?

Here lyeth the rich, hit by a drastic inflation

All in all, if you are interested in the history, visiting Cobh will be worth your while. Do check the weather forecast before planning your trip as most of the sights are outdoors. Now I'm officially tired of writing so I'll close the business for the day. See you next time!

Cobh

Klo 10:30 aamukahvit juna-asemalla ja saa itsekin ihmetellä, miten voi olla sunnuntai-aamuna niin aikasin liikkeellä. Selitys löytyy kaupungista nimeltä Cobh ja kunnianhimoisesta suunnitelmasta maksimoida siellä vietetty aika.

St Colmanin katedraali ja kaupunkimaisemaa

Jos nyt otetaan lyhyt esittely kaupungista tähän alkuun, niin Cobh kulki aiemmin nimellä Queenstown ja se on tunnettu kahdestakin tapauksesta, joista kumpikaan ei ole kovin mukava. Elikkäs Cobh oli viimeinen paikka, jossa Titanic pysähtyi ensimmäisellä ja viimeisellä Atlantin ylityksellään. Toisekseen Cobh on kaupunki, johon RMS Lusitanian uhrit tuotiin, kun laiva upposi saksalaisen torpedon myötävaikutuksella toisen maailmansodan aikana. Tämän enempää en aio kaveriani Googlea lainata, vaan kuten entiset kollegani tapasivat sanoa, keskustellaan asiasta ennemmin (jos luette tämän, itsepähän tiedätte, keitä olette)

Sataman surullinen maine ei risteilijöitä pelota

Corkista Cobhiin menee junia useamman kerran päivässä, ja matka kestää vain abauttiarallaa puoli tuntia. Aikuisen meno-paluulippu keventää kukkaroa noin 9 euroa. Perillä voi reissun aloittaa vaikka Titanic Experience-museosta, Museo on olemassa White Star Linen alkuperäisessä lipputoimistossa, jossa (ja jonka ympärillä) Titanicin matkustajat odottelivat pääsyä laivalle ja kohti parempaa elämää.
Museon pääsylippu jäljittelee uskollisesti matkustajien matkalippuja ateriatietoineen päivineen, kuten alla näkyy. Opastetulla kierroksella pääsee kuulemaan Titanicin tarinan lyhykäisyydessään, katselemaan laituria, jolla matkustajat hyvästelivät entisen elämänsä, ja jopa evakuoitumaan "pelastusveneisiin", naiset ja lapset ensin, kuten tapana on. (Kerrankin kannatti olla nainen.)

Bridget Mary O'Sullivanin kolmannen luokan menolippu aikaiseen hautaan

Cobhista pääsee pikkulaivalla Spike Islandille, joka on historiansa aikana ollut kaikkea linnoituksesta vankilasaareen. 1985 Spike Island pääsi uutisiin vankilakapinan merkeissä, josta huolimatta toiminta jatkui vuoteen 2004, jolloin vankila lakkautettiin.

Jos meiltä koskaan loppuu rahat, eikä ole varaa asua omassa kotona, niin majoitus on sitten tässä

Ohjeita niille, joille terve järki ei enää kerro kaikkea

Vankilareissu oli jännittävä kokemus, mutta olin siitä huolimatta onnellinen, kun pääsin pois vaan muutaman tunnin tuomiolla. Laiva vei takaisin maihin, ja matka jatkui (järkyttävän ylämäen kautta) vanhalle hautausmaalle, jonne Lusitania-onnettomuuden uhrit on haudattu.

Lusitanian muistomerkki

Päivän mustahuumoriannoksen tarjosi alla oleva hautakivi, jonka symbolia voisi erehtyä pitämään dollarin merkkinä, vai?

Tässä me rikkaat lepäämme, inflaation loppuun kuluttamina..

Kaiken kaikkiaan jos historia kiinnostaa, niin Cobhista sitä löytyy, joskin suositeltavaa on varmistaa, että päivän sää on siedettävä, sillä suurin osa nähtävyyksistä vaatii ulkoilmassa oleskelua. En nyt jaksa tehtailla tähän enää mitään pikkunäppärää, joten palataanhan asiaan seuraavalla kerralla.

Come rain or shine- most likely rain

If you happen to be made of sugar and are afraid of melting in the rain, don't come to Ireland. As a matter of fact, steer clear of the British Islands. You'll understand what I mean after reading through a typical day in our live:

Around six o'clock in the morning you are cruelly awakened from a pleasant slumber by the persistent alarm clock. It doesn't matter so much, however, as you notice that it's sunny outside. You are feeling great and energetic and run downstairs to get your clothes from the drying rack, only to notice that your jeans are still damp. Hmmm that's funny since you did the laundry three days ago.. Well, anyway, you've never let small things depress yourself. Instead of worrying about the clothes you decide to eat breakfast, greedily grabbing the bread.. that is green because of mold. Never mind, you've always preferred yogurt anyway, so you finish your breakfast and run for the bus. In a hurry you forget your umbrella, but it doesn't matter since it's going to be a sunny day.

Forgetting the umbrella starts to get on your nerves when you walk to the bus and the first shower catches you unprepared. Well then, this is Ireland, it's supposed to be rainy, so no worries. At least you won't get rained on in the bus.

The next shower catches you when you walk from the bus stop to work. Never mind, you have the entire day to dry your rags at work. You feel lucky because you can sit inside and watch the rain fall every fifteen minutes, hoping that your bus will arrive during the non-rainy 15 minutes. It's your lucky day so you get home relatively dry.

Evening walk a moment before the rain

The beautiful sunset tempts you outdoors. You locate your sneakers and .. it's raining again. You wait for a couple of minutes and the rain recedes. You decide to run in order to maximize your exercise. All in all the day has been a success. You are going to bed but decide on a shower first. You are not even surprised to notice that the towel is still damp from yesterday's shower.

From Ireland with love, Cathy