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Published: September 16th 2019
A new day and onwards to Northern Ireland and the city of Belfast. Train windows frame the beautifully kept homes, fertile fields, and miles of dry stone walls.
The Titanic was built in Belfast, and so one must visit the multi-senses Titanic Experience. A rotating ride takes visitors through the shipyard where you feel the heat of the welding, and hear the rivets being installed. As you walk, there are constant vibrations in the floor, and it is like walking within a ship. Then you experience a 3-D tour of each floor, and the sounds of the Hartley band playing. As well, after the ship hits the iceberg, the temperature drops, and darkness falls. Amazing that it took a year to build the Titanic, and it was only three days before it sank. An enormous tragedy.
Today has us travelling in a taxi, ferry, bus, train, and taxi, and brings us from Belfast to Glasgow, SCOTLAND. On the ferry were 300 pre-school children celebrating Pirate’s Day with a giant party of pirates and princesses. We find a quiet space on the boat to relax.
Next, boarding the bus, the driver takes us past Trump Turnberry golf course, and
the hotel is immense. It is said that Trump put in $200 million to update this golfing complex.
There are many blue buildings along the way without windows that house Chivas Regal barrels of whiskey. Offshore from Girvan, is Ailsa Island, a granite mountain that is mined and used to build curling rocks. It is only one of two places in the world that has granite for curling rocks,the other being in Wales.
Sunday, a day of rest. We use the time to decompress, and walk all around downtown. This brings us to the House of Fraser, and I purchase a bit of linen from the Remnant King on the second floor. The Willow Tea Room is modelled from the early 1900’s and decorated with the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was a Scottish architect and artist influenced by the Art Nouveau movement. Later, we peek into an alley and discover the lighthouse that Mackintosh designed which has been turned into the Scotland Center for Design and Architecture.
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Brigitte Red
non-member comment
What an exciting journey
Cathy and Chris, you look like you are having a wonderful time and meeting some very interesting people and seeing very interesting places. Your blog certainly gives me a sense of what you are experiencing. Stay safe and I look forward to watching as you continue your journey!!