Adventures of Beth and Dan: Grew the iceberg too...

Another early morning to get up and be ready for a full day on a private excursion in Belfast, Ireland. Our excursion was titled “Giants Causeway and Titanic Visitor Center”. We loaded on to a large comfortable bus which carried about 30 of us. McCombs Bus Tours were waiting for us at 8 am. We had a great driver who explained how our day would go. First we would have time to experience the Titanic Visitor Center for several hours. There was so much information in the museum that a few hours really didn’t do it justice. They had it well laid out making for an easy flow. They devoted a lot of space to explain the building of the ship and the stocking of the ship including linens, foods, beds, furniture and the dry dock area that was in charge of the beginning to end process of getting her ready. It was such an emotional experience but also one of the best museums I have ever experienced. I won’t be able to share most of the photos and information that I took in but will say that if you come to Belfast this should be on your bucket list! At the time the Titanic was built Belfast was a booming city. There were several interactive exhibits which allowed you to get a real feel for the physical energy and manpower that went into getting the Titanic built. You could explore the ship from the boiler room to the staircase and go on up to the bridge through 3D photography...it allowed you to discover the cabin layouts, hear the music of the Wallace Hartly Band, view an actual ticket for the sailing, met some of the ships characters and see what life was like onboard. Then to the sinking on April 14th , 1912 at 11:40 pm “grew the iceberg too” a quote from Thomas Hardy from “Lines on the loss of Titanic” noting that as the “smart ship grew in stature, grace and hue in the shadowy silent distance grew the iceberg too” . The aftermath which showed a replica of the lifeboats, noted the testimonies of witnesses on the actual sinking of the vessel and see the investigative inquiry by the British into the tragedy.

Next was on to the Giants Causeway which was a bit of a drive. Basically it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site also. On our way there we stopped by a small town for a bathroom break. We passed a place called Ballycastle. There was a very nice golf course there. He told us that the golf course had a rigid requirement when you golfed there. Ballycastle requires all golfers to wear two pair of socks when they play the course... the reason being “in case you get a hole in one”!!!

The driver dropped us off at the visitor center where most of us took the 20 minute downhill walk to the area of the Causeway which is a product of volcanic uplifting where when the lava cooled it formed unusual columns with six to eight sides rising 30-40 ft along the shoreline of Northern Ireland. The disappointing part for us was that the columns and pillars were covered with people! Instead of preserving the unique aspect of these formations they allowed visitors to climb them and have picnics! You could pay a few Euros and take a trolley down and back up but we opted for the walk. We spent a little time in the gift shop and interpretive center and then back on the bus we went.

Belfast has a rich and at the same time sad heritage. It is the largest city in Northern Ireland. The area it covers had been occupied since the Bronze Age and the remains of ancient diets such as the 5,000 year old he he Giants Ring can be found nearby. By the 17th century it became a thriving city. Today it serves as an industrial center and hub for the arts and higher education. It is etched in history as the “ birthplace “ of the ill fated Titanic. You can visit the shipyards of Harland and Eilff where it was designed and built.

Their music scene is year round here with nearly every pub hosting live entertainment and amazing new bands. Belfast also dress visitors to see Albert Clock which was called Ireland’s Leaning Tower of Pisa until recently.

A Typical summer day in Belfast would be around 67 degrees. They boast a population of 550,000 people. The Viking settlements were here before the English Crown took over from 1400-1800. The Plague hit in 1650 taking half of Ireland’s population.

1759 Guiness stout was brewed and today still holds a prominent place in every pub. Belfast is part of the United Kingdom. Arts, business, law and ship building still are important industries for this city. There have been i ntense political experiences through hundreds of years here which are referred to as The conflict or “the troubles”.

Fights between Catholic and Protestants were a violent campaign for hundreds of years and both sides of Ireland now want and work toward Peace. Peacewalls were built in 1968 and were to be temporary but still exist and have been expanded. You can move freely between the north and south with no “hard border” . The plan for the peace wall is that they want to remove the wall by 2023. They have had peace now for 20 years and most want to see it continue with no more bloodshed.

Last year 117 cruise ships stopped here in Belfast. Titanic meant “gigantic “. Interesting that basically we have two Giants here, in the ship and the Causeway.

We were all aboard at 4:30 amidst a cool and cloudy day. We enjoyed a hot meal with friends in the Lido and by 7:30 we were back in our cabin and ready to call it a night. Our next day was a sea day with temperatures around 60 degrees and cloudy. We set our clocks back an hour which the staff love!

Rope was manufactured from flax seed of which the ship needed thousands of feet of rope .