Ireland

Cobh, Cork
Sun, July 7

What a fantastic day we had today in Cobh (pron. Cove)! The whole town came out with a special, warm welcome for us. The population is 2,500 so we doubled it today with the arrival of 2,200 passengers plus crew!

We started off the day with a Titanic Walking Tour around the harbour where we visited the very same pier from where passengers tragically set sail on the Titanic. It was interesting to find out that the Titanic did not actually come into port, but stayed at the mouth of the harbour. To save time, the passengers were taken from the pier by paddle steamer to the ship. We also saw the old office buildings of the White Star and Cunard Lines and the ornately detailed neo-Gothic St Coleman’s Cathedral. It has 49 bells, which play every 15 minutes and today they played (all 3 verses) of Advance Australia Fair.

Our walking tour ended with an Irish Coffee in a traditional pub. When we arrived the door was locked as it wasn’t quite opening time, but luckily our guide knew the “special knock”!!!

The rest of the day was spent exploring this very lovely town. There was a wealth of interesting information at the Cobh Heritage Centre, covering the Irish famine, emigration and two famous oceanliners, the Titanic and the Lusitania. Australian flags were out, there was a market set up, toy kangaroos in shop windows and a brass band entertained us, as well as some Irish dancers. I was lucky to catch a demonstration of etching on some world renowned Waterford crystal by a master craftsman which unfortunately is a dying art. Some people who went to the Waterford Crystal factory said it is all being done by machine now.

Down at the pier at the end of the day, the whole town assembled to wave us off, with the band playing a selection of Australian songs, and many shouts of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! We were so impressed and enjoyed our day very much.

The pier the Titanic passengers took on their journey, with Sea Princess behind

We enjoyed the Irish Coffee

Dublin
Mon, July 8

Once again we bought perfect weather with us for our visit to Dublin. The temperature only reached around 25oC but to the Irish it was a very warm day and after work everyone was out taking advantage of the sun, cycling, running or walking. Lots of people in summer clothes eating ice creams or sitting on their balconies. It was quite amusing to see so many sunbaking on any available bit of grass!

Anyway, back to our tour… we took the coach out of town to visit Powerscourt Gardens. The photos do not do justice to this beautiful mansion and estate in the mountains of County Wicklow. Built in the 18th century, it stands on what was once a 13th century medieval castle. I would highly recommend googling this one!

There were so many different themes in the gardens and they were all unique and special. I loved the walled garden with its profusion of roses but a place where I had to spend some extra time was the Pet’s Cemetery because of my love of animals. It is the resting place of the much loved pets of the Wingfield family dating from 1911 to the 1980’s of the current owners, the Slazenger family.

On our return to Dublin, we were given free time so we had a late lunch at an Irish pub – a ‘”shamrock”” pie and mash, washed down with some local Irish beer – so good! After a bit of shopping, we were collected and continued our tour around town. Dublin is a big, busy city but does have its little gems, especially the famous Georgian terrace houses with all the different coloured front doors. I also liked how they have retained their green spaces. The areas around Temple Bar looked old and interesting. It was a pity we did not have time to explore this part of town.

We finally arrived back at the ship in time to sail with the tide at 8.30pm.

Powerscourt

Pet Cemetery

Dublin

Portugal

Thurs, July 4

Although Lisbon possesses few outstanding wonders, it is a very pleasant city. The port is situated at the mouth of the Tagus River and we sailed underneath the 25th of April Bridge, passing the Cristo Rei Statue. The bridge employs the same engineering principles used to build the Golden Gate Bridge and is named for the date in 1974 when a bloodless revolution restored democracy by overthrowing the regime of Salazar.

After passing through the city’s financial district of Balxa, we made our way to the gorgeous beach resort of Estoril. This charming town is home to Estoril Casino, the largest casino in Europe. It is reputed to have been a clandestine meeting place for spies during WWII as well as the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond novel, Casino Royale.

The Monument to the Discoveries built in 1960 is surrounded by a tiled floor, forming an interesting optical illusion, either flat or going up and down, depending which way you look at it.

On our return to the capital, we spent the next few hours walking around the city admiring the architecture. Wehappened across a craft and flea market and then found the Military Museum. Rebuilt in 1760 following the great earthquake of 1755, apart from the extensive military collection it also houses one of the most valuable collections of historic paintings. The rooms were huge and beautifully decorated and opened out into a central internal courtyard, with walls covered in a Portuguese tile collection dating from past centuries. This courtyard housed the canon collection. (No cameras allowed!)

An interesting city, ancient – yet modern in its post-earthquake city planning, and it was very enjoyable to explore.

Disused aquaduct

Estoril

Belem Tower – 16th century

Museu Militar de Lisboa

Monument of the Discoveries

Sea Princess Lisbon Portugal 097 (800x530)

Sea Princess Lisbon Portugal 049 (800x530)

Cristo Rei Statue

April 25th Bridge

Spain

Mon, July 1

We were out and about early this morning to visit the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, which was also the Jewish Quarter. Very narrow streets where the buildings seemed to nearly meet overhead. One of the group actually got lost in the myriad of medieval streets and courtyards. Fortunately she was found before the tour had finished. Very easy to attach yourself to the wrong group, we nearly did it ourselves!

The old part of the city is really old – where you can stroll past medieval buildings and sites dating back 2,000 years.

Barcelona is a very clean city with a fascinating mixture of old and new. It was heavily bombed during the war and a lot of buildings were rebuilt in the 19th century. Lots of cafes and restaurants, museums and churches to explore. And of course they are very proud of the wonderful facilities which were built for the Olympic Games. We visited a vast food market where you can buy any type of food imaginable. If they don’t have it, they will get it in for you. All the produce looked so fresh! Beautiful dried fruits and nuts – lots more varieties than we see in Australia.

The people were friendly and welcoming to tourists and we would very much like to visit this lovely city again. Among our souvenirs we made sure we bought some sangria. Our one disappointment was that we could not fit in any tapas as much as we would have liked to – we have been too well fed on the ship! That will be something to look forward to next time…..

Olympic stadium

Wed, July 3

Last night we transited through the Strait of Gibraltar leaving the Mediterranean and entering the Atlantic and arrived in Cadiz where we picked up the local pilot to guide us up the narrow channel into the harbour.

Our coach took us to Seville, 134 km away from the port, where he left us to explore the cultural centre of southern Spain. We strolled through the old Jewish Quarter with its many outdoor cafes and gazed at the Cathedral of Seville, La Giralda which was a mosque and now is a Christian church built in 12th century, the Plaza de Espana (built for the 1988 Spanish Expo), the Royal Palace and the Plaza de Toros (bullring).

The guided tour started in the stands of the ring and moved on to the museum and art gallery, bullfighter’s chapel and horses courtyard and followed the history from its construction in 1761. It took more than a century to build. I was surprised when it was explained that this cruel practice is still carried on today, with about 35 events per year featuring 3 bullfighters and 6 bulls.

Finally, after about 4 hours of walking around Seville, we were very pleased to discover a nice restaurant for tapas and Spanish beer – excellent!