Day 7: Belfast

We had to get up bright and early to board the bus for Ireland. I chose a route that took us from Glasgow to Cairnryan, where we drove onto the ferry. The bus was with us all the way into Belfast, which I thought was a convenient way to travel! The ferry was massive, with many cars, lorries, and buses aboard.

We got lunch aboard the ferry, and I even caught a little snooze. When we were inside the boat, we could hardly tell we were moving at all. We did go out on the sun deck for a while, but it was foggy for a good part of the voyage. The foghorn bellowed every ninety seconds; visibility was so poor you could barely see from one end of the ship to the other.

Belfast is just another city. I’m quite ready to spend time in the country now! If all goes as planned, we’ll be in a rural area by tomorrow evening. But first, a little report on our afternoon.

We were hoping to visit the Titanic Museum, so we hoofed it from the bus station to our Airbnb to drop off luggage. It looked like the best way of getting to the museum was to call a taxi, so I booked an Uber. By the time we got out the door of our apartment, the driver was waiting for us! We got to the museum around 3:30, and it closes at 7:00, so we didn’t stop to read everything. Admission included a tour of the SS Nomadic, the last surviving White Star Line ship. We wanted to do that before 7:00, too. Even though we didn’t take long touring the museum, it was still worthwhile and touching. A couple of things that stuck with me: 97% of the female first-class passengers survived. In second and third class, passengers used public bathtubs, and third class had only two. There were a few original artifacts on view. The most stunning was the original violin that played “Nearer My God to Thee” as the ship sank.

Outside the Museum, you can see the dock where the Titanic was built. The outline of the ship is engraved in the concrete.

The SS Nomadic was just as interesting as the Titanic Museum. There were rooms set up to look as they would have in the early 1900’s, and hats and outfits the people of that time would have worn.

I needed to get back to our Airbnb to do our washing, so we picked a quick spot for supper. It was a no-frills pizza place, but definitely better than the last pizza we had! The washer and dryer are running very slowly. Till I get that all sorted, it will be another late night. We have a bus to catch for Dublin in the morning, where we’ll get our car and head to County Clare. Our next stay is three nights, and I’m ready for it! Packing up every few days and toting our suitcases all around the country makes me glad we’re traveling as light as we are. (But then there’s the washing).