Brom and the sinking ship

Coocoo

Remember the party I went to on Tuesday evening? Well, it lasted through the night and into the morning and me and Mouse really weren't in a fit state to go anywhere. So, Mara and Gera left us behind while they went on their big day out and she will have to tell you all about it.

The only way to eat that scrumptious pavlova

Thank you Brom, hope you feel better now 😃. Indeed, me and my sister went on our big day out. Usually when I visit my sister or my sister visits me, we don't do outings every day, but one or two during the visit. 

The tender called Nomadic

Since my sister, despite having lived in Northern Ireland for 12 years (exactly, today!!) had never visited the Titanic Experience, we decided to do that. By the time we got there though, we were quite peckish and decided to have lunch first. Quiche and pavlova. Double yum! 

One of the first class areas on the tender

After that we visited the only tender left that was built by Harland & Wolff shipyards. All the others had perished over the years. It was used in Cherbourg (France) to ferry people from the quay-side to the big ocean liners waiting for them, because the water was too shallow for the big ships to come all the way in. And one of the ships it served was in fact the Titanic!

My sister trying her hand at the telegraph spelling CQD (the fore-runner of SOS)

Next we went back into the main Experience building to see the Titanic exhibition. It was fairly dear, but my goodness, it was worth every single penny! The few attendants we talked to knew what they were talking about and gave good and clear information. There was a small ride that again was very informative in how the ship was built. 

You can see a faint outline of the ship on the left. 

We saw the actual site the Titanic and one of its two sister ships (Olympic) was built, we saw some examples how some of the cabins looked like, first, second and third class. I feel even the third class cabins and accommodation in general would still stand up today as decent. 

An example of a double third class cabin, with sink

Last but not least there was of course the section about how and where the ship went down. Stories about survivors and about some of those who didn't make it. But also a section about the eventual discovery of the wreck and how it looked and what they found. All in all a very informative visit.

After a short visit and dinner to/at Ikea we made our way into Belfast itself. Our first stop there was a pub that was run by the National Trust. It was beautiful and I would have loved to take some more photos than I actually did, but just enjoying the atmosphere and our drink was good as well. It was however just a little stop-off before the main event: the theatre!

Recent research has shown that the fire in one of the coal storages (known about at the time) probably contributed heavily to the eventual sinking.

You may remember that I got a ticket to see 'The Importance of Being Earnest' for Christmas and last night was the night it was going to happen! At first it was a bit strange not to see Colin Firth and Rupert Everett on stage (I love that version), but the actors on stage did such a good job that they were soon forgotten. I loved the performance and it was a fantastic ending to a great day.