Started the day out with a great breakfast at the
hotel. Again, Wade’s Irish Sausages - although he explained that they are not
native to Ireland, because England has them too – must just be a UK thing – but
the breakfast was good and we began our adventure.
You realize how far north you are when it is 9:00 am and the
sun is barely up. We began walking to
the Titanic Belfast. The hotel desk
clerk said that it is just a “piece over that way” – HAHA! Not really, in Iowa terms it is about 3
miles.
We began our walk and saw some amazing things along the way and while waiting for the museum to open.
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| Saw this building and thought - isn't that cool? |
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Then realized it was a Pub and definitely knew it was cool! Wish it was open at 10:00 am!
Don't they realize I am on vacation? |
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| Not superman Curtis? Just faking it since he knew I was taking a picture -- Nice sport Joan! |
Joan and I just had this discussion yesterday because I told her that the crowds when we were traveling were not because of Thanksgiving because they don't have Thanksgiving. Then we saw this sculpture which is in celebration of their Thanksgiving. So.....I was wrong. I just thought it was a pilgrim thing, but I learned something new. I am sure that is one of many things I will learn this week.
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| Overlooking the river leading to the sea |
Our walking path was along the river (BRRR.....) and we saw many boats and shipping cranes.
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| H & W Shipping company's original building - the designers and builders of the Titanic |
Any way, what is the Titanic Belfast? Well the first question – Who knew the
Titanic was built in Belfast? I didn’t
until today. So the “Titanic Belfast” is
a museum dedicated to all information about the ship from its conception until
that fateful date with an iceberg.
This place was amazing. The building alone looks like a ship.
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| You can imagine that we tried to recreate this live, but didn't want to get arrested. |
It was multi-level and was very interactive with video, audio, exhibits, etc.
At one point, you rode in a car and it was a simulated display of what it would have been like during the construction of the ship. Very cool.
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| Chandelier in the middle of the musuem |
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| A recreation of a first class stateroom with a cool hologram of passenger and porter |
The whole experience ended with a large screen (IMAXish) of the discovery of the wreckage and then a glass floor looking down into what looks like the sea floor where it lies.
After about 2 ½ hours there, we hopped aboard an open-air
tour bus and began touring the city with a tour guide, etc. I usually enjoy these particularly when you
have a tour guide that interjects their local spin and she did. Another aspect I didn’t think about when we
jumped aboard was the fact that it is winter in Belfast right now. I could have stayed down below where there
was heat, however, the photographer in me decided to brave the wind chill and
get some good pictures that didn’t look like they were through a dirty window. And BOY did I!
I LOVE (and a bit obsessed with) church architecture. And Belfast delivers.
One of our stops on the tour was at Parliament. This is a very impressive building. And you will notice the flag poles at the top that are empty. Northern Ireland does not have a unified flag so until they come up with one, the flag poles stay empty. A bit of symbolism there.
This stop was very historical and the space was beautiful.
One of the most moving parts for me was when we drove into
the part of town that you can tell has had bomb blasts, houses blown up and is
blocked off by a wall that separates the nationalist from the loyalist. It hit me as we are driving by and I am
snapping 100s of pictures that we are entering a post-war ravaged
community. People died behind those
doors; children lost parents and mothers lost sons. The wall that separates the two has been
there longer than the Berlin wall stood.
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| Bombed out government building across the street from the prison that held dissidents |
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| Boarded up windows and burns all over the building in contrast to the amazing architecture that was present |
There are murals painted on walls all over this part of the city that commemorate those that have died and the sacrifices that others have made for their cause. As well as the wall that divided the two parts of the city. It was pretty humbling.
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| First of the murals in tribute to those that have died. |
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| The gates that close in the evening and on the weekends separating the two |
This reminded me of pictures of the Berlin wall that separated East and West Germany. The paintings went on and on and on............
The tour guide did a great job explaining
that they have had an extended time of peace, however there are still wounds
and lots of negotiation to do and the wall is still there along with gates and
barbed wire.
And you can tell because there is a Union Jack flying in the middle of a Catholic neighborhood - so old thoughts prevail, but I met many young people that say it isn't a problem any more and they are working hard to get along.
We are so incredibly lucky
to live in the United States and we take it for granted. By the Grace of God go I!
After the amazing bus tour, I was FROZEN SOLID…….couldn’t
feel my fingers and we were hungry.
Stopped at a pub for some lunch and a LARGE IRISH COFFEE! Now, I have had what was a knock off many
times in the states, but THIS ONE!
YUMMO!
After hanging out at the pub for a couple hours, Wade and
Curtis ventured back to the hotel and Joanie and I headed for shopping. Found a couple places, but of course most of
my time was at a bookstore and made a purchase there.
They are having a Christmas Carnival (glorified Farmer’s
Market) on the City Hall Square. Lots of
food and wares that it was a bit overwhelming – however I think we may have
found our space for food tomorrow night.
Any way the City Hall inside is amazing and we were able to
take a few pictures of their LIVE Christmas tree.
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