We are on the move today. After breakfast, we said goodbye to the Hampton by Hilton Dublin City Centre. It was only a five minute walk to the Ormond Quay Upper bus stop where we picked up Dublin Express’ return trip to the airport. We had to go back because we needed to pick up our rental car. Yes … we are going to drive in Ireland. There were some delays but we finally got to Alamo and picked up our 2023 Mazda 2 with an automatic transmission. Karen was the brave soul and she jumped into the driver’s seat and we were on our way by 11:30am.
Two hours later, we arrived in Belfast. We parked the car at the Titanic Belfast attraction because we were going to pick up Belfast City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off tour and then do the exhibit. Once again we got a better deal if you book the combo (41.50 pounds instead of 24.95 pounds for Titanic Belfast, 20.00 pounds for hop-on hop-off). We grabbed a couple of sandwiches and then headed outside to wait for the bus.
We started at Stop #5 and spent the next hour touring through Belfast. Once again it was information overload by our guide Lisa. We learned about The Troubles also known as the Northern Ireland Conflict. We also saw murals that illustrate the history of Belfast. I wish I could remember everything that we learned. Belfast is a city with a complicated past.
We rode the bus all the way back to Stop #1 which was Belfast City Hall. It was now 3:10pm and we were told that buses would be leaving at 3:30pm and 4:00pm. We decided to walk around, explore the area and then catch the 4:00pm bus. It was only about a thirty minute ride back to Titanic Belfast.
The first thing you notice is that the building is huge. It is the same height as the Titanic, one hundred and twenty-seven feet. The shape of it is supposed to represent the bow of a ship. The locals think it looks like an iceberg.
We spent the next hour and a half learning all that there is to know about the Titanic. From what Belfast was like at the start of the 20th century to how the ship was built. We saw re-creations of what the staterooms looked like. We even heard stories from actual survivors. What struck me the most was a very large wall that listed the names of the 713 people who were saved and the 1512 people who were lost.
It was a twenty minute ride to our Airbnb ($185.93 CAD including taxes and fees) for tonight. Our hosts Pamela and Dermot were there to greet us with a warm welcome. They gave us a quick tour of the apartment and a restaurant recommendation (Haratio Todd’s Bar & Restaurant) which was close by. Pro tip … if a restaurant has a two course menu, you can actually order an entree and dessert as your two courses.
After making a quick stop at Tesco Express to pick up a few provisions, it was back to the apartment to unwind from another busy day. I want to give a shout out to Karen who at her first time driving on the other side of the road did awesome.
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