A Titanic Experience

My sister Amila arrived from Canada just a couple of days before the end of classes, which was perfect timing for us to venture out around Ireland together! And so it was that our first destination was Belfast to pay a little visit to Aran and his family, as well as go to the newly opened Titanic Museum!

Despite mixed reviews, I have to say that Amila, Judith and I were all impressed at the vast amount of information on display throughout the museum. The first section, which is probably the less captivating of all of them, related a history of Belfast and the reasons for which it became an important shipyard. The development of the canals was quite striking as most of the waterways in existence today are man-made.

The most interesting portions of the tour, in my opinion, included the logistics behind building the ship, like the amount of bolts used; the four chimneys and their functions (the fourth chimney was used to ventilate the engine room); the lists of passengers, various backgrounds, and fates, which certainly put a number of faces to the tragedy; also the SOS messages sent out via morse code and the replies from surrounding vessels.

Overall, we spent a good 3.5 hours walking around and I feel like that was somewhat rushed. So, I would certainly recommend visiting the Titanic museum, but make sure you plan to be there for a whole afternoon!