Day #12 - St. Patrick's Cathedral, Drive to Belfast, Titanic Experience

The next day after breakfast, Rich caught an 8am cab back to the airport to pick up our rental car before returning to pick us up at 9:30am. 

We immediately drove a mile and a half as quickly as Siri would guide us through traffic so that we could make our 10am entry tickets to St. Patrick's Cathedral. We pulled up at roughly 10:01am (still on time!) only stand in a line to get in. 

The line and admission were both well worth it- we loved the arched ceilings and stained glass windows, and spent over an hour just walking around listening to the history of the cathedral. Interestingly, it was steps away from another large cathedral (Christchurch). There's a detailed history of how/why a city is host to two 'main' Church of Ireland churches, but it definitely did not imprint in my guppy brain.

When you enter the cathedral and turn to your left, you can see the history of St. Patrick's life in something like 36 different scenes. I recall he was at one point a slave (after being captured), and that he became close to God during that period of his life. He later returned to Ireland to save the masses.

Perhaps the best part of the visit was about 15 minutes after we got there, the choir started practicing, and we were able to hear them as we slowly circled the cathedral. I love it when this happens- creates such ambiance!

Since we'd rushed in, we checked out the exterior before hopping back in the car and heading north to Belfast.

After 3-4 days of driving the narrow, winding, wet roads of Scotland and about 38298732 roundabouts, I was very excited (and that is not an exaggeration) to be on the slightly wider/straight highway leading to Belfast.

We were once again rushing/under the gun to speed up there, as we hoped to hit a few things before nightfall. The drive is only about 103 miles, or two-hours away. Crossing from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland was very anticlimactic- there is only a very tiny sign (that does not stand out, and if you blink, you'll miss it). Mostly you can tell as you go from kilometers (Rep of Ireland) to miles (N. Ireland) on roadside signs.

The drive itself is scenic (lots of green pastureland/farms), but nothing stands out.

Our first stop there was the much hyped St. George's Market, described by my Lonely Planet guidebook and other webpages as the oldest covered market in Belfast- offering some of the best foods/crafts/antiques in all of the the UK. It's bustling, and stall owners are friendly...a wonderful place to shop! I was hopeful I would find souvenirs for friends and family there, but...it was...not...so...hot...to me.

I think there were about four rows of booths, each one about 75 yards long. But other than a few vibrant booths selling uniquely Irish foods/crafts...most could have been a booth at nearly any marketplace in a European first world country- jams, soaps, scarves, wool art, coffee, chocolates, etc. I wasn't impressed. The one booth I tried to buy something at (cannoli) was already sold out, as we were not there early enough to get the 'good stuff.' We had been worried we'd only have 60 min there before having to leave, but it was about 30 min more than we needed. I would say it's definitely more of a foodie's haven than a shoppers.

We took off and headed for the waterfront, where we had tickets to Belfast's #1 attraction- the Titanic Experience. I didn't know the Titanic had been constructed in Belfast, at a bustling shipping yard on the port. It's building is hard to miss- a gleaming, shiny star-shaped building that seems to also look like the bow of a ship.

The self-guided tour (nearly all tours were self guided, due to COVID) took us about 2 solid hours, and I felt like we were rushing it (as it closed in two hours around 5:30pm, and we had entry at 3:30).

The first few rooms walked us through what life was like in Belfast at that time- which was largely the physically grueling work of building some of the largest ships in the world.

Ryan practicing his Morse code transmission

There is even a short 'ride' through what is built to feel/smell/sound like a shipyard

The museum's second floor overlooks the water, and oddly enough, a race car track (we saw a race car burning out). It leads toward an exhibit of the three levels of classes for travel first, second and third class. At the time, first class (below) as as fine as any hotel in the land...

One of the more interesting high tech exhibits was a room with three large screen TVs in front and to the sides of you, and 'flew' you around the ship so you can see every level/room of its inner workings. There was another room showing you the outer conditions on the open sea (below).

It's important to note that this museum had nearly zero artifacts...and was all modern, immersive large multi media screens/sounds making you feel as though you were there. I suppose, my first visit to a modern museum?

Once you go through that period of time Belfast, the shipyard building, the ship once it had sailed and it's inner workings...you get to the somber room of desperate Morse code messages being sent. You definitely feel the desperation of the situation in the messages, even though the messages communicated to the crew/guests were quite mixed, and often downplayed- "Nothing to see hear! Enjoy your evening, head back to your room!"

A recreated lifeboat..which were filled with primarily women, children, and in one situation, a wealthy family who may have bribed the crew to have a less filled boat.

One of the last rooms you enter is a massive room where you can sit and experience a virtual submarine ride down into the wreckage. Always sad stuff to see...silverware. Shoes. 

Our last stop that evening was to the Titanic Hotel right next to the museum, which sought to recreate the ambiance of the Titanic itself. I had been unable to get a room for two nights while we were there, which was a disappointment, but walking through the 3-4 dining areas of the lobby definitely helped me still enjoy the experience!