Our day trip to Cobh was enlightening from the start - first off it's pronounced "Cove"! Of course this makes sense when you think about the woman's name Siobhan (Shi-vorn) - as the Irish language doesn't have a letter "V". Which begs the question - would my name be spelled Bhibhienne? Cobh is a fascinating spot and as with most fascinating spots, its prices are astronomical - so we limited ourself to one paid attraction for which we'd found a miserly 10% discount - "The Titanic Experience" and a jolly good look around.

We freely admit that prior to visiting Ireland we weren't aware that Cobh was the Titanic's last stop and over 120 people joined the ill fated voyage from this port. Having just rewatched 'the' Titanic movie, we realise it's because the Irish stop is glossed over in one line about 15 minutes in to the movie. Now that we have been educated, in the ticket office of the White Star Line itself, we know so much better - in fact standing in the footsteps of the departing passengers was incredibly moving - as was being allocated a name on your boarding pass (and finding out at the end if you survived or not). I survived the Titanic (but died 7 years later in New York). James didn't make it. Such was the fate of most of the passengers joining in Cobh - 95% of whom were in 3rd class/steerage.

Next stop was our picnic lunch on the promenade looking out over the harbour and the rotting pier where the passengers joining the Titanic boarded the tenders with stars in their eyes for their new life in America. The day was overcast but the drizzle held off and the harbour and islands were in soft focus. We proceeded to Cobh's old railway station, now devoted to another Titanic themed exhibition and tourist shops selling top end tat and the ubiquitous Titanic postcards. We were particularly impressed with a crystal shop that was advertising postage anywhere in the world for unlimited items for only €30. Visions of strolling in with massive overweight suitcase and asking if it could be included!

We finished in town after a walk around the shops (repeat after me: don't need hand woven rugs, hand knitted sweaters, hand cut crystal, celtic jewellery etc... though did give in and get a Titanic post card.) We'd been avoiding thinking about it since we walked downhill from the car park via the massive Cobh Cathedral. 'It' being of course the eventual walk back up the hill (cliff? mountain?) to return to the car. We went via one of Cobh's major architectural features - The Deck of Cards. It's past it's prime but this 1850s Victorian terrace is super impressive - not least because it appears that each house is supported by the next (like a fanned deck of cards), but mainly because they've not collapsed at the bottom of the hill. We, on the other hand, were close to collapse by the top of the hill!

The drive out of Cobh continued to fascinate as we visited the ancient Old Church cemetery on the outskirts of town. Not surprisingly there are the ruins of an old church. As one of the main cemeteries in the area it was interesting to see it's oldest gravestone. It's dated 1698 and belongs to Stephen Towse, a customs man working in Cobh during the 1600s. It's also the site of 3 mass graves (and 20 private plots) for 169 of the 1198 people killed in the Lusitania disaster. She was torpedoed on 7 May 1915 by the German submarine U20 when sailing from New York to Liverpool. On approach to Cobh harbour she was hit and sank within 18 minutes. Of the 1962 people on board the 764 survivors were landed in Cobh (along with 269 of the dead). Quite a thought-provoking spot... mainly thinking we should never, ever be on a ship leaving from or sailing close to Cobh. It doesn't end well.