Day 4 & 5: Sea Days
For the next two days, we sailed Southeast towards Ireland. While on the ship, Park West had Scott’s official art auction where they almost sold the entire collection! In the evenings after the auctions, Scott and I hosted dinner tables to get to know the wonderful collectors.
Day 6: Cobh, Ireland
We arrived into Cobh (Cobe) and immediately got off the ship to check out the town on the water. We didn’t know what to expect, but we quickly learned it was famous for being the last port the Titanic stopped at before it sunk in April 1912.
We found a restaurant to have brunch and I ordered a “Full Irish Breakfast”. I was curious as to what that entailed, but I quickly found out it meant eggs, a variety of meat, beans, and some weirdly delicious pudding patty.
Almost everything in town had something to do with the Titanic. Titanic Bar, Titanic This, Titanic That! It reminded me of Will Bill being Deadwood’s claim to fame. Every block was saturated with beautifully colorful buildings which meant I had my camera glued to my face most of the time.
After breakfast, we continued exploring and made our way to the church which was built in 1919. It seemed older than it was because of its intricate facade and stonework.
Later, we ventured farther down the streets towards the residential areas. The town was adorable even though it really wasn’t THAT small. The history of this harbor was still present and not covered up with new buildings which, in my opinion, takes away a town’s character.
On the way back to the ship, we bought tickets to a historic tour at the port where we learned about the Titanic and Cobh as a whole.
Not only did I learn that Cobh was the Titanic’s last port of call, I also learned that it was Ireland’s most important port during emigration between 1848 and 1950. Out of the 6 million people that emigrated out of Ireland, 2.5 million people left from Cobh’s port alone.
While I was reading the plaques, I was reflecting on how much our association with getting on a ship has changed. Back then, people got on a ship and were rarely ever seen again. They hopped aboard a vessel to take them to a new land and new life. Nowadays, a ship is a way to see the world for fun. It’s even a place some people vacation for months at a time!
After this short time for reflection, we boarded our ship for a couple hours to relax before getting off to find ourselves a cool pub! We chose a local bar that was farther away from the ship than the tourist stops I saw most people stopping at.
We each enjoyed a flight of local whiskeys. Writer’s Tears Irish Whiskey was our favorite, so we ordered a shot to sip on while we chatted with the bartender about plastic waste and being more environmentally conscious.
Feeling warm and fuzzy in our tummies, we made our way back to our floating hotel to make it in time for the All Aboard and another dinner with collectors.
Day 7: Dublin, Ireland
The ship arrived into port early in the morning. We got off in an industrial shipping yard and had to be taxi’d into the city. Dublin was a big city compared to anything we visited so far. There were massive amounts of development everywhere I looked. Our Taxi Driver told us that it was because of Brexit and lots of large corporations are moving to the area because Dublin offers them tax breaks.
If you know anything about me, you know that I dislike development that removes history and open land, so it was hard for me to view this part of the Ireland in the best light. We sat in traffic for twenty minutes until we decided to jump out of the cab and walk.
We found a delicious Farm to Table restaurant by accident. When we sat down at the table, Scott pointed to the award they received from Dublin for being the most conscious restaurant in the area. My dad knows what makes me happy. 🙂
After brunch, we walked towards the famous Temple Bar area. Most of the buildings were colorfully painted with beautiful flower boxes above almost every window.
Since we worked up SUCH an appetite perusing through the streets, we stopped and bought a donut. Yum!
We proceeded with donut-in-hand towards an Art Museum Scott wanted to check out. We walked through several exhibits before turning around to get ready for our evening in Dublin.
I was invited by two collectors, Ryan and Leah to join them for the Elton John concert! He wasn’t exactly someone I ever planned on seeing, but I thought about the chance I was being given to see a musical legend with good company, so I accepted.
The three of us met Sebelle, a Park West staff member that I’ve known for almost twenty years. We enjoyed some drinks before making our way to the venue to see The Rocket Man perform!
Day 8: Goodbye Dublin
This morning was the beginning of our trek back home. We grabbed a taxi with a few other cruisers to the airport. I sat next to the driver who was on the right side of the car, so strange for me. He told me about where he lived and gave me a brief history of Gaelic, their native language.
We had 24 hours of travel ahead of us, which is the hardest part about traveling to Europe, but it was worth it. I was able to spend quality time with my dad in new parts of the world and I got to meet people that make our travels and lifestyle possible.
Special Thanks To Our Collectors!
Here are a few wonderful people we got to meet.
Thank you for reading about our trip to Ireland!
-Olivia