Galway to Belfast Friday and Saturday

 April 26th

It's a long travel day so there's not much to report.

The Galway train & bus station is...

...being expanded.

At Connolly train station in Dublin...

...and elsewhere, there are reminders 
of the pandemic.

We had two hours before boarding

for Belfast.

The waiting room started out empty
and ended up packed with commuters.

We didn't have seat reservations (longish story
about why) so we were eager to be near the front
of the line so we could find open seats.

You get a sense of boarding anxiety...

...and here's why. Standing room only.

Kelly's Cellars pours the best Guinness in Belfast.

That's what our host at Ibis reception said.

It's Friday night and all of Belfast was
here blowing off steam.

Took a walk up the street searching for where we
meet the Giant's Causeway tour bus Sunday.

Queen's University, founded by Queen Victoria in
1845 is two blocks from Ibis.

Headquarters for the Presbyterian Church of Ireland.

Belfast—April 27th

It's Saturday and we have tickets for the Titanic Experience. This is our first outing of the three we have planned. We spent hours moving through the museum on the audio tour and man-alive was it worth it! This museum and the walk along the original spillway/dry dock—the scale of it all—is really impressive.

The atrium is massive, as is the entire
museum, but there are lots of red vest
staffers eager to answer any question.

The organization of the museum rivals
Disneyland or Ikea when it comes to 
moving people efficiently through all
the exhibits. 

Before entering the first exhibit this
wall shows the names of all the ships
Harland and Wolff built.

Remember, you can enlarge and read it.

The telegraph made the world a little smaller. This
map shows one of the first telegrams sent from
Cobn (pronounced Cove), the last harbor where
passengers boarded the Titanic.

This is an interesting read.

The detail these draftsmen attended to
was staggering.

May 31, 1911

Looking out over the slips/dry docks where several ships
were built side-by-side.

Looking down 8 stories to the compass rose on the
atrium ground floor from the Launch exhibit room.

Everything about the Titanic is gargantuan, and the 
exhibits truly emphasize the scale of the project.

First class passengers enjoyed the finest china.

Last lunch menu.

These displays represent dominoes, where each one 

explains one of the small mistakes/coincidences

that led to so many passengers drowning

Maritime safety rules instituted after the Titanic sank are still in effect today.

The story about this hip flask is worth
reading too.

Deck chair above with this star stamp indicates it was the property
of the White Star Line.

This video shows a model of the Titanic after being struck by the iceberg. The video in the background is shown on a 270 degree surround screen.

From the balcony in the surround theater a plexiglass display below shows actual video from Argo, the submersible camera Ballard invented and the U.S. Navy funded. Both had their own reasons for needing this advanced technology. Their secret collaboration was made public after the Titanic's discovery 12,000 feet below the ocean surface.

The museum was designed to resemble the hull of 4 ships prows projecting from the side of the jagged glass cube that forms the museum’s atrium. Each “hull” soars almost 60 feet into the air, roughly the same height as the hull of the Titanic from its waterline to the deck.

This "Game of Thrones" stained glass window stands
at the end of the middle slip in line with the museum.

Belfast Harbor is still a major maritime hub.

Harland and Wolff cranes Sampson '74 and Goliath '69.

A tender was one of the ships that ferried passengers
to the Titanic where it was anchored, because harbors
were not large enough to accommodate it.

The model of SS Nomadic inside the tender.

The SS Nomadic and other tenders were lavishly
kitted out, a kind of miniature of what passengers
could expect once they boarded the Titanic.

The same care about decorative details
were a hallmark of the White Star Line.

Typical first class passenger's luggage.

Stairwell to the lower 2nd class deck.

Note the star on the porthole cover. You
are on a White Star Line vessel.

Value Cabs has free direct
phone lines to dispatch. Just
pick up the phone and give
them your name and a cab
arrives shortly after and takes
you to your destination. It's
a brilliant system.

Mural a block from our hotel.

After resting a bit back at our Ibis room, we walked
the two blocks back to Kelly's Cellars to get a picture
before the crowds overwhelmed it. Note the pub was
established in 1720. No wonder they pour the best
Guinness in Belfast; they've had plenty of practice.