This morning we have tickets for the Titanic Exhibition which is about a 30 min walk from the hotel. Another grey, drizzly day.
This bar dates back to 1711 which makes it Belfast's oldest building.
The Salmon of Knowledge again
The River Lagan
This art installation is the SoundYard, a series of large, vertical, metallic pipes designed to create an immersive sound experience. I had to smile when I ran it through Google for info it added "The person in the image is a non-celebrity individual enjoying the public art installation"
Situated just outside the museum, this sculpture featuring a section of the Titanic's hull is designed to resemble a plastic frame (sprue) that holds model kit parts together. Various other components, such as propellers and lifeboats, are also depicted within the frame.
Built on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard it is a fabulous museum; really well put together and loads of fascinating information, firsthand accounts and salvaged artefacts. One section involved an immersive ride through the construction area, with sounds of riveting and people talking. I’m never a fan of museums but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Photography inside was only permitted without flash so there really wasn't much point as it was mostly very dark. We did succumb to the obligatory "prow" shot, even though I've still never actually seen the film.
Looking through the window out across the old slipways.
We then braved the elements and walked down for a decent view of the building, which looks strangely out of shape!)
I wonder how this tradition of hanging locks on bridges started and why. I know of some places in Venice where they've caused serious damage because of the increased weight.
Next to the Titanic Museum is the SS Nomadic, now a museum ship
and restored to its original 1911 appearance. It's the last remaining
vessel of the White Star Line and was built by Harland & Wolff to
tender passengers to the RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic.
A very interesting morning, now to walk back to our hotel to collect our cases and then catch the bus back to the airport to pick up a hire car, where we discovered that for Ian to be added as second driver he needed to prove good health (doctor's letter) and driving history (insurance company letter). We're staying overnight in (London)derry as we'd planned to pop over the border into the Republic as I'd never been, but when we picked the car up it turned out we had to have special insurance. The drive took a couple of hours and it was almost dark when we arrived at the Everglades Hotel so we gave up on our plan to drive around the town and instead had a very average meal in their restaurant which was one of those vast ballrooms where they cram the few diners they have all together in a corner.