Ireland: Day 3

Our third day in Ireland was spent at Titanic Belfast, a museum dedicated to the history of Belfast's linen and shipbuilding industry. There is so much to do at the museum, we signed up for the White Star Premium Pass and didn't schedule anything else that day.

The Premium Pass includes a walk through of the museum (if you take your time and read all of the info, it alone could take you all day!), a guided tour, and entrance to explore the SS Nomadic. 

Front entrance to Titanic Belfast.

I should also mention there is a ride included! I was not expecting a ride and got a little panicky about how terrifying exciting it would be. Turns out it was very mild. Hanging cars take you slowly up and down, as if you are part of the building crew for Titanic. It was a hard life! It took workers 30 minutes to climb up the scaffolding for work every day. There was an elevator, but the men were too wary of it to use it. The men were given two 10 minute restroom breaks per shift, but as it took so long to go up and down the scaffolding, you can imagine what they ended up doing. I videotaped the ride, so you can experience it too!

I did take multiple pictures in the museum, but the lighting was bad and most of them were blurry. 

At the center of the building is a compass. Each of the 4 doorways are lined up directly with North, South, East and West. Also, the floor I am on is how high the life boats holding passengers were dropped to the water.

Actual size of one of the Titanic life boats.

Surrounding the building is a world map. Can you see the pixelated (upside-down) lands of England and Ireland? The white line is the planned route of Titanic.

On the left is the slipway for Titanic. The patches of grass on the right represent the people on Titanic. The first patch of grass is the amount of First Class passengers, 2nd - Second Class, 3rd - Third Class, and 4th - the crew.

Scale model of the dock where Titanic was built and the modern day museum. The height of the four "corners" of the building were built the same height as Titanic.

The picture isn't great, but this is a model of a 1st Class Cabin. Pretty snazzy, especially for the time!

Model of a 3rd Class Cabin. 

Samples of the carpet on Titanic. Notice the sign? Two whole bathrooms for all of Third Class!

There were many stories of the passengers, both survivors and casualties.

There was also a short video in a small theater that was about finding the Titanic wreck. I remember how big a discovery it was when I was in 5th grade. I remember the Captain's safe was recovered and they opened it on live television. I was glued to the TV! It was a bust, though. Just some papers securely locked up. After the video, we explored an interactive virtual debris field. It was so interesting! (All the pics were blurry.)

These machines were at the end of the tour. Aren't they cool?

After the guided tour, we headed over to the SS Nomadic. It is now in dry dock and has been refurbished to it's original condition.

The brick building is the original business office of Harland & Wolff, the company that built Titanic.

"Pierre," the virtual First Class barman ready to serve us.

Tourists taking the "Jack and Rose" picture. (Just so you know, I have never seen the "Titanic" movie, so I had to Google their names.)

After all of our exploring, we were famished! We didn't want to waste time finding a place for dinner, so we ate at the restaurant on-site. There is also a cafe, for light snacks.

I had the roast chicken with root veg, fried potato and potato mash. Gotta love the Irish. Why don't we have fried potatoes AND mashed potatoes together as sides? I am positive I got my love of potatoes from my Irish ancestors. I also had Victoria sponge for dessert. It was FAB-U-LOUS!

I saw this while walking around outside. I did a double take! It is not a naked person standing in a window. Just a mannequin.

On our way out of town, I noticed this building cut in half. This is why I always needed my camera at the ready!

We had a fun, long day at Titanic Belfast! Next up, Giant's Causeway!