In the last few posts, I’ve
talked about Belfast (in Northern Ireland) and I’ve talked about Ireland. So, how do you get between the two places?
The Irish are very serious
about their train travel. The trains are clean, easy to understand, and, if you
buy online, pretty cheap.
I took a lot of trains in Italy.
Except for the high speeds, the bathrooms smelled completely undesirable. In
Ireland, however, I didn't hesitate to use the facilities.
Also in Italy, we went so far
as to get on the wrong train, that's how poorly things are marked. In
Ireland, your ticket shows a train car and a seat
It's very easy to see we were seated in D28.
When you look at the train,
you can determine exactly where to sit because the train doors are so clearly
marked.
And if for some reason you
get confused, your name is actually on the seat.
If you purchase your train
tickets online, you'll also find travel buy rails to be inexpensive. On a 3.5
hour ride from Westport to Dublin, we paid only €21.99 online. However, we paid
€38 for the same train ride when we arrived in the Emerald Isle (disclaimer: I
was on a lot of Ativan at this point and was not really in the business of
being economical).
The trains are also on time,
which the Irish appear to pride themselves on.
You'll also find wifi on all
the trains.
Here, Frank rocks out to some Pandora
The trams throughout Ireland
are just as amazing. Dublin has two main train stations: Heuston and Connelly.
For whatever reason, they don't connect, even though, if you want to go from
the west coast to Belfast, you'll need to go through both.If you take a tram, you’ll pay only
€1.60.Taking a taxi will set you back
€25.
Westport to Dublin: €21.99
Dublin to Belfast: €15.99
Tram Between Dublin train
stations: €1.60
Total Cost: €39.58 ($53.41)Best Deal: Taking a tram between the two Dublin train stations instead of a taxi
The Louvre has the Mona
Lisa, the Vatican Museum has the Sistine Chapel, Titanic Belfast in
Northern Ireland has… well, actually pretty much nothing in the way of art or
even artifacts. But this museum will
knock your socks off.
A little disappointed Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio
aren't greeting me at the door, but whatever
Before the 1997 blockbuster, before the ship sank in the
middle of the Atlantic Ocean that cold night in April in 1912, Titanic was built in Belfast. This museum, located it what is now known as
the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, pays homage to not only the ship, but the
city that constructed what was then known as the “ship of dreams” (or was that
just something that Rose said?).
This is the last known picture of Titanic
Titanic Belfast takes you through nine galleries that explore this historic ship. We start with…
Gallery 1: Boomtown
Belfast
What was Belfast like before Titanic? It was a city known
for making linen from the flax seed.
Don’t know what flax seed is?
Most people don’t, so I took a picture of it.
Most people also don’t find flax seed, or linen, to be very
interesting, but the creators of Titanic Belfast realized that. They made it a point to include pictures from
the era…
Recreations of
important features…
This represents the gates to Harland and Wolff, the company
that built Titanic
And most notably, interactive components to keep even the
littlest tyke entertained.
I was pretty amused by this: an interactive
floor. Just stand where it reads, "Stand here,"
and information pops up on the screen. It helped
me learn all about the tools that helped make a
ship as large as Titanic.
Gallery 2: The Arrol
Gantry and Shipyard Ride
The Arrol Gantry was the gigantic framework constructed to
help build Titanic. You took an elevator to get to the top.
A recreation of what the Arrol Gantry
would have looked like
Once there, a museum worker informed you that you were about
to go on world’s slowest roller coaster.
He used “roller coaster” very loosely, as this ride topped out at MAYBE
one mile per hour, but I guess some people aren’t interested in riding. Too bad, because it takes you through the
Arrol Gantry, complete with the sounds and information of what went on in the
shipyard.
After the ride, you saw some of the pictures of people
building Titanic.
The caption said, "Workers fitting Titanic's
starboard tail shaft. The rudder behind them
has just been fitted, 1911." I was super
impressed with the scale of the rudder
to the worker!
The guy overseeing this whole process? Thomas Andrews. You know, this guy:
Not his exact words, but you get the point.
Gallery 3: The Launch
Each gallery is clearly marked
This gallery was not
the launch where Jack quickly boarded after narrowly winning his tickets to
sail on Titanic in a card game. That was in Southampton, England. This is just the launch to make sure Titanic could float in Belfast. It could.
Gallery 4: The
Fit-Out
Okay, now that the ship can float, it’s time to put some
stuff on it. Titanic Belfast recreated
what a first-class, second-class, and third-class room would have looked like.
A typical guest who would have stayed in the room was super-imposed - how cool!
Then, it’s time to Bon Voyage!
Gallery 5: The Maiden
Voyage
This is where Jack
quickly boards after narrowly winning his tickets to sail on Titanic in a card game. What the movie doesn’t show you is how the
ship really set out for its maiden
voyage. It left Belfast with just crew
members on board. Then it sailed to
Southampton, England (where Jack and Rose would have gotten on board), then to
Cherbourg, France, then to Queenstown, Ireland, before it finally set sail into
the Atlantic.
Gallery 6: The
Sinking
So much for being the unsinkable ship. This gallery recounts the telegraphs sent
between Titanic and other ships in
the area.
The most interesting: one sent from the Californian to Titanic at about 9:05, about an hour
before the ship struck the iceberg, according to “Titanic Inquiry Project.”
Californian: We
are stopped and surrounded by ice. Titanic: Shut
up. I am busy.
By 1:39am, some of the last transmissions from Titanic.
"Cannot last much longer" was one of the
final messages Titanic sent out before
sinking into the ocean
You can read more about the final telegraphs from this article.
Gallery 7: The
Aftermath
Before cell phones, heck, before telephones really, it was
hard to spread the word through any other medium besides the newspaper. Sometimes two editions a day would come
out. The day after Titanic sank, many of the first editions reported that everyone on
board the ship had survived.
By the second edition, many people knew the tragic truth.
Gallery 8: Myths and
Legends
This gallery was very small and no one would let me take
pictures because I had already moved at a snail’s pace through all the other
rooms. It did show fact and fiction for the
movie Titanic though, as well as what
is considered the most historically accurate movie based on the ship, A Night to Remember.
Gallery 9: Titanic
Beneath
This gallery was, perhaps, the most impressive. Again, no art, or artifacts, but the interactive
let you explore the ocean floor, to see what this maritime disaster left behind.
You could even stand on a recreation of the ocean floor showing
the remnants of this wreck beneath.
Even though I have been to museums paying tribute to the Titanic that showed actual pieces from the
ship, these cool interactive activities made this room well worth it.
As we departed Titanic Belfast, we could see clothing worn
in the actual movie – the only REAL “artifacts” on display.
I'll never let go, Jack.
I'll never let go.
But real artifacts or not, this museum was one of the best I’ve
been too.
Total Cost: £13.50 each ($21.96) Best Deal: Here’s the not best deal: buying tickets
online. I bought three tickets too many
and the tickets were non-refundable. The
museum did extend them for 30 days, but the rest of my group wasn’t going to
make it, even then.
The Belfast of today is a far cry from the Belfast of 20
years ago, when this city was known forp political and religious strife as British
Protestants and Irish Catholics went head to head in the streets. Now, Belfast,
being part of Northern Ireland,
is rated as one of the top budget destinations of 2013, according to this article.
We spent two of the last three days of 2012 in this so-called budget country,
and I can verify – it was economical.
First of all, Northern Ireland is an entirely separate country from Ireland,
though they are both on the same island. Though Belfast has oodles of things to
see and do, this city is most known for the almost 30 year time-span known as
the "The Troubles," when rioting over religious differences ran
rampant. Now, those living in Belfast seem to love a good bomb-throwing and protest still,
but, much to our dismay, all was quiet on this front. Our 24 hours in Belfast
were jam-packed and pretty easy on the wallet.
Arriving in Belfast: There is an international airport in Belfast, about 30
minutes away. We, however, arrived by train from Dublin. It cost €15.99 (that’s about $21), but you can get
fares even cheaper if you have enough foresight to book a few days in advance.
Once in the city, we were ready to begin.
10:00am – Titanic Museum
Belfast is divided into several different quarters and this
museum is in, you guessed it, Titanic Quarter.
A full report on this museum can be found here, but everywhere I read
said it's best to book tickets in advance and arrive when the museum opens. I
did book tickets online and ended up getting screwed, since almost half of my
group couldn't make it. Tickets for the Titanic Museum are non-refundable.
Anyway, I would allocate at least three hours for this museum, maybe more if
you’re a dork like me.
12:00pm - Lunch
Back in the center of Belfast, we found a great, quick, and
cheap restaurant called The Bridge House.
This place was very vegetarian friendly, with even far-out dishes like “lentil,
mushroom, mozzarella and pumpkin seed roast.” I got a veggie burger.
It's nothing luxurious, but it tasted good and the price was right!
Prices were as low as £3.99 ($6.30) for a meal with a drink. Unfortunately, we couldn’t order our beer
until 12:30pm because it was Sunday.
A new cider, well worth the wait!
1:00pm – City Hall
After lunch, take a walk around the central part of the city,
also called Cathedral Quarter. Everything
is quite close together in Belfast and it’s easy to get around on foot. Start at the City Hall on Donegall Square,
which shows some pretty architecture, which is actually even more awesome when
it’s lit up at night for Christmas.
1:30pm – Shopping
From City Hall, you can make your way to Victoria Square,
stopping at shops along the way on pedestrian only streets.
You'll also see some pretty cool architecture
Victoria Square is a huge outdoor shopping mall with more
than 50 stores, including TGIFridays (I was
unaware this chain was in Belfast, but I wouldn’t go there in the U.S., let
along across the pond).
You can even go up into the dome atop Victoria Square to see
an aerial view of the city of Belfast.
We did not do this though because Frank was more interested in the next
stop which was the…
4:00pm – Historic Bars
The area around Victoria Square has some pretty unique bars
that date back more than a century. Though
the Kitchen Bar is fairly new (the old
Kitchen Bar dated back to 1859, but was torn down to make way for Victoria Square), it still retains an ol’ timey feel.
The coolest bar in all of Belfast, though, was Bittles Bar,
just around the corner from Kitchen Bar.
Outside, the bar looks just like it’s from 1861, which it
is, complete with an antique car out front (the car was just coincidentally
parked there). Inside, the bar features
random artwork featuring everything from the Muppets to notable figures in the United
Kingdom. The bar also had a great
selection of ciders.
I had never heard of this cider before, it was delicious!
7:00pm - Dinner
Along with historic bars, you’ll also find historic restaurants
in this area.
This restaurant also had scrumptious food. Though I’m not a meat-eater myself, the
restaurant touted awards for the best cuts of steak. I stuck with a seafood selection.
Frank got Pork and Leek Sausage, I had Battered Haddock
We paid about £25 for our meal and two drinks (equivalent to
$40).
8:00pm – Enjoy the
night
We found one of the best things to do in Belfast was just observe.
We did this plenty on the streets, as we hopped from bar to bar.
The Jaffe Fountain was created in 1874.
After a hiatus in another part of Belfast,
it's back outside of Victoria Square, hoping
to be what the Trevi Fountain is to Rome,
according to this article. It's not, but it's
still pretty.
Since we were there during the holiday season, it was entertaining
to see how this city celebrated Christmas.
We took advantage of the decorations to have more than one photo shoot.
10:00pm – Holiday Inn
The Holiday Inn on Ormeau Avenue in Belfast had a lot more
going on than you would think. I’m not
sure if it was a gypsy wedding or prom or funeral, but it was definitely gypsies that we saw partying
their barely-clad booties off. Besides
that though, I thought the Holiday Inn was a pretty decent accommodation.
It was clean, from the bedroom, right down to the bathroom.
A fire alarm did go off about five times during our stay. I’m attributing that to the gypsy
wedding/prom/funeral. But, at £85 a
night ($134), the price was right. We
could rest easy knowing we didn’t spend an arm and a leg as we explored a new
country.
Titanic Museum: £13.50 each (£27 for both of us)
Lunch: £3.99 each (almost £8 for two)
Drinking: Approximately £4 each beer (let’s say we had two
per person, so that’s £16 total)
Dinner: £25
Hotel: £85
Total Cost: £161 (that’s $254) Best Deal: Everything seems so much cheaper in Belfast
because they use the pound! Right now, £1
is equivalent to $1.58. So, you think
you’re only paying $3.99 for a meal and a drink (at lunch), but it’s really
$6.30. So, EVERYTHING seems like a really good deal!
