Headed out of Dublin and I felt relief. We drove through miles and miles of farmland. Trees, green hills, sheep, cows. Two hours later, we pulled into Belfast. I was a little anxious. I really didn’t want to have that same heavy feeling here that I had in Dublin. Stepped off of the bus and immediately felt different! The vibe and energy here felt so much better than in Dublin, and I breathed a sigh of relief! It was a 1.5 mile walk to my airbnb- with that stupid 15 kg pack. That’s a lot on an old woman! 🙂 It was a little after 11:30, it was going to take me about 45 minutes to walk with rest breaks, and I couldn’t check in until 1- so I thought what the hell, I’ll go sit down and have lunch <insert gasp>. I went a little less than halfway, and came to a shopping center area called CastleCourt. I didn’t want to eat in the mall (I don’t even like to go into malls!), but I figured there must be something on the little sides streets. I didn’t want to go too far searching, because the pack was killer. Then, I saw a sign for a place called Biddy Farrelly’s. Followed the arrow and ended up in a little local cafe by myself. Which meant the waiter was bored, so he came over to have a chat! I ordered a chicken and bacon sandwich, garlic chips (fries), and water. $11, not too shabby. He whole heartedly agreed with my choice of garlic chips, and said the chef didn’t like them. I told him garlic goes with everything, except maybe ice cream, and that got a chuckle! While I waited on my food, we talked about all kinds of things. My travels, this cafe (which has been open for about 8 months and he seems very proud and happy to work there!), the Giant’s Causeway (he’s never been- I almost invited him to come along with me!), and politics. It’s amazing how much conversational ground one can cover in 10-15 minutes!! He did tell me that the two sides here are the Unionists (think Union Jack- they want to remain a part of the UK- mainly Protestant) and the Nationalists (they want to be a part of the nation of Ireland- mainly Catholic). We talked about the murals around town, the “troubles” as they call the time period when Belfast was basically a war zone in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. It’s so strange…you think of war zone areas in like Bosnia or Syria or something. Not in a western European country in the modern era.

Had my meal (very good!) and bid Michael a fond farewell. As I walked out, I realized I made a major faux pas…I tipped him with a $2 euro coin! They do pounds here! I’m back in the UK again! Whoopsy…. Walked to the bnb and checked in. It’s in an old brick Victorian row house (I don’t know if that’s the right word- all of the houses are connected). He was telling me how when this was built it didn’t have indoor plumbing. It’s 4 stories, the ceilings are soaring, and my room is just perfect! Today’s agenda was work. I had neglected it for the past few days in Dublin, and really needed to catch up. But damn my brain was tired! I took a 2 hour nap, then worked. 🙂  Walked to Tesco about a half mile away and got the necessities to get me through the next few days. I saw some murals as I walked along, and tried to understand their meaning. It was pretty obvious that I was in a Nationalist neighborhood. And, I was pretty proud of that!

No Dr. Pepper at this Tesco. 🙁  I’m seeing a pattern. When I’ve found Dr. Pepper, it tends to be near universities. Not available in the working class areas, and this was definitely working class. Headed back, and worked some more until bedtime.

Day 6: Titanic Museum day!! I had been looking forward to this! It was a 2.5 mile walk to the museum from the house. Anything 3 miles and under is doable on foot, plus I wanted to see the city more up close and personal, so I packed my day pack with lunch and water and headed out. Still that same lighter feeling I had yesterday, and I realized I had the spring back in my step and that little smile I carry when I’m off on a new adventure. Felt soooo nice!! I came to a mega street crossing…I will say, that Dublin does street crossings much better than Belfast!! Handy little “look left” “look right” signs on the street so you know which way to look for traffic, and easy to decipher pedestrian lights. Belfast, not so much. I saw a tunnel, and figured it must be the passage under this mega street crossing. Yep. And when I got inside, that’s when I said out loud, “I like Belfast!”

On the other side of the tunnel is what I think is called Queen’s Square. A lovely little square with water fountains. I didn’t have to walk much further, and then I saw one of the things I was excited to see….<cue dramatic music>…THE SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE (that should be said with an echo-y kind of tone!). If you remember that craptastic Leprechaun Museum from Dublin, that’s where I first heard the story about the salmon. Quick version….A man named Finnegas was very wise, and a boy named Fionn (super famous in Irish mythology!!) was sent to learn from him. They lived together. Every day, Finnegas would fish for a salmon. But not any old salmon- the <cue dramatic music and echo-y tone> SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE!! Apparently this salmon had eaten some hazelnuts that had all of the world’s knowledge in them (I only get fat from eating nuts, not wise, but whatevz…). Whoever would eat the salmon, would then have all of that knowledge passed to them! Day after day, Finnegas fished, until one day, he caught it! He gave it to Fionn to cook, with a strict warning not to eat any of it! Finnegas wanted that wisdom!! So Fionn is cooking it, and it comes time to turn it over. He burns his fingers, and quickly puts his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain. And BLAM-O! The wisdom is imparted to Fionn. Finnegas knows there is nothing more to teach Fionn, so he sends him off. And Fionn becomes one of the greatest warriors and mythological figures in Ireland. The end. 🙂 I touched the salmon, but fearing some heinous germ, didn’t stick my finger in my mouth! 😉 I crossed a long bridge over the River Lagan, and walked along it toward the museum.

The museum was gorgeous and imposing! I was one of the first ones in. I knew this was something I wanted to record for class, so I took pictures of every sign and several videos. The way the information was presented was STUNNING!! This is a world-class museum, no joke. An absolute perfect mix of reading, videos, and interactive screens. The story flowed and made sense throughout. One of my favorite museums now! It started out with how Belfast became such a center for industry and ship building, then worked it’s way into how the ship was built. Oh, just to clarify, Belfast is where Titanic was born- drawn and built here! After you got through the main museum part of that section, you had to go up an elevator. There was an employee there, telling everyone “hi” and “good morning” and such. I replied back “good morning” when it was my turn. He kind of stopped me. He said that he had been in security for an IT firm, and specialized in studying body language. He could tell as I walked toward him that I walked with confidence, and then when I greeted him, I looked him right in the eye- a sign of trust. He said so many people just look away, or if they do talk to him, look slightly to the left or right, avoiding eye contact. I told him, “Well, when you’re traveling alone you have to be confident!”. He then told me about his sister, who back in the 70s traveled the world on her own, a time when such things were practically unheard of. He said she was such an inspiration to him. That she was wise and gave him good advice. And that she was more like a mother to him. He told me he was from a ship building family and asked me how many kids did I think there were. I guessed 13. He said I was very close- 15!! His father was an alcoholic (he added “like many Belfast men”) and his mother was overwhelmed. So the older children pretty much raised the younger ones. We talked about street smarts vs. academics, and how having one can be detrimental, and having both is rare and makes for a well rounded person. He told me he grew up the smallest boy in one of the roughest schools in Belfast, and he was picked on a lot. He had to get street smarts. But he also got his master’s degree. We had the loveliest conversation! He said at one point, “But I don’t want to keep you from your day.” I told him, “You are a part of my day.” And I meant it. I think he stopped me because I reminded him of his sister. That was the feeling I got, anyway. Soon it was time for him to get back to work and me to be off. I reached out to shake his hand and told him my name was Mary (he said that was a good Irish name!) and it was a pleasure to meet him. He said his name was Keith, but people called him Pip (his middle name is Phillip, but people called him Pip because he has “Great Expectations”!). You can learn a lot in 5 minutes if you stop to listen…

After my conversation with Pip, I headed up the elevator. There was a RIDE in this museum!! I kid you not! I got into a little suspended car and it took me through the ship building yard, telling you all of the different parts. So unexpected and fun! Then you go into the area where it talks about the launch, then all of the furnishings and different classes of rooms, and then something I never knew. The Titanic didn’t just leave port and sail for New York. It picked up passengers at 4 ports- Belfast, Southampton, England , Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland. Loved to learn that! And it would have significance later in the day… After that, it discussed being on board, and then what you knew was coming…the fateful night. After that, it went to modern times and talked about the discovery of the Titanic and all of the technology used. This museum is fascinating and amazing. There’s so much more to the story than “Huge ship hits iceberg and sinks, becoming infamous in history”….

With your ticket to the Titanic Museum, you also get a ticket to tour the Nomadic (now do you see where the blog title comes from?! I’m so clever!! 😝). I showed the guy my ticket and entered with a couple. We went over to the person who would give us the “history run down” of the ship, then send us on our way for a self guided tour. OH MY GOD. THIS SHIP IS FASCINATING!! The museum is awesome, no doubt. But you’re reading about history. Here, you are ON history!! And I was captivated! Then, about 3/4 of the way through the guide’s speech, the lady in the couple pipes up and says, “Stop! Too much information for me.” Um, exsqueeze me, bitch, but the world doesn’t revolve around your brain’s inability to process information. Some of us would like to hear the rest of the story. But no, the lady then asked a couple of super stupid questions that had already been answered if she had been paying attention (I so wanted to step in and answer them with a smart ass sarcastic tone!!), and that was the end of it. Fucking tourists.

With that off my chest, let me introduce the Nomadic. You can feel the history on her!! I love her so much!! She is the last of the surviving White Star vessels!! Not only that, but she was the tender ship for Titanic (and other super liners of the day, but we’re here for Titanic!). So what’s a tender ship, you may be asking (because I didn’t know either). As you know, huge ships have huge drafts, meaning they have to dock in really deep water. Back in 1911, not all ports had water deep enough for these massive ocean liners that were being built. So Nomadic was built right alongside the Titanic, except it only took about 5 months to build her. And her job was to ferry the 1st and 2nd class passengers from the shore to Titanic- who could be anchored up to 2 miles off shore!! A smaller sister tender ship was also built- the Traffic. She carried 3rd class passengers, luggage, and supplies. Remember that map from before about all of the ports Titanic picked up passengers from? Well, the Nomadic was assigned to Cherbourg, France. That’s why she flies a French flag- which I noticed and wondered about as I walked to the museum earlier.

Like I said, Nomadic’s job was to handle the 1st and 2nd class passengers. And the ship was basically separated in half for each class! Just like on Titanic, the classes were not allowed to intermingle. There was actually a gate mid-ship to keep the 2nd class passengers from getting to the 1st class side. And all they were doing was being shuttled from shore to the Titanic! White Star wanted their tender ship to be just as luxurious as Titanic, so the passengers (at least 1st class!) would have a taste of what to expect. The detail on the paneling, so finely carved (I only have video, no pics 🙁 ), it’s just “fancy” looking. When you go to the 2nd class side, there are still some artsy details, but absolutely no where near as elaborate as on the 1st class side. So interesting!

On April 10, 1912, 172 1st and 2nd class passengers boarded the Nomadic. 63 of them would drown 4 days later.

The Nomadic continued to serve as a tender ship out of Cherbourg for other White Star and Cunard liners. Then, it was used in WW1 and WW2 to transfer troops and sweep the ocean for land mines. After the war, she returned to tendering, for huge ships such as the Queen Mary (which is now docked where I live in Los Angeles and now I have to go take a tour of her, too!). She was retired in 1968, and was saved from being scrapped when a private investor bought  her and turned her into a restaurant in Paris, moored on the Seine River across from the Eiffel Tower. When the owner fell on hard times, the ship was seized by the French Government in 2002. By this time, she was 91 years old and not in very good condition. There were plans to scrap her if no one wanted her. Fortunately, the people of Ireland heard of her plight, and wanted to bring her back home- to Belfast! So money was raised, and the Northern Ireland government bought her at auction for 250,001 pounds. The minimum bid was 250,000. Had they not saved her, she’d be scrapped by now. 🙁 She was in such bad condition that they couldn’t even tow her to Belfast. They had to put her on a barge. Once she was home, renovations were begun! Fortunately, a lot of the original decor was still there! But it was in bad condition. They lovingly restored her to her 1911 glory, and today this 107 year old beauty flies her White Star flag on her bow, overlooking the Titanic museum, and the French flag on her stern. GO TO THIS. DO IT. NOW. I have so much love and respect for this little ship and all she’s been through. I can’t wait to teach my students about her!!

When I was finished with Nomadic, it was time to go to my last port o’ call for the day- Titantic’s dry dock!! And I was a little concerned. Because their website wasn’t working and I couldn’t order my tickets in advance. This was one thing I knew I didn’t want to miss!! It was a half mile walk from the museum to the dry dock. I saw the entrance for the HMS Caroline, and it said that the dry dock was the next door down. I went in and…it was just a cafe. I didn’t see a sign for Titanic anywhere. It was pretty busy, but I went up to the front and asked where do I buy my ticket for the dry dock? The guy said right here, 3 pounds (which is like $4 and the best deal in the ENTIRE UK!!). Handed me a self guided map and sent me through a door on the other side of the cafe, which me and my obliviousness to my surroundings had missed…

I walked through the door and realized it wasn’t just a door. It was a time portal to 1911. I found myself in the pump room. It was filthy, covered in dust and flaked paint and pigeon shit. This wasn’t some slick, manufactured history for the masses. This was the real deal. And when I got over the awe of that, I realized that I was all alone. No one else was in here.

Amazing, isn’t it?! THIS IS TITANIC’S FOOTPRINT ON LAND!! I swear, I could have squealed with delight at the wondrousness of it all! And to be able to experience it without another soul around. People…people…I can’t express it. Once I made my way to the other end of the dry dock, there was a “bridge” you could walk out on. It’s that white cement wall to the right of this picture, just on the other side of that wooden walkway you see. At this point, it started coming together for me. Ok, here is what I was able to decipher…and if anyone has facts that dispute my interpretation, please comment and let me know. That white wall that I was able to walk on is new. It’s kind of a retaining wall of sorts, to keep the ocean at bay (no pun intended!). Between that white wall and the old looking “wall” is dry space, so no water is against the old “wall”. That’s because, well, it’s old. How old? IT IS THE ORIGINAL GATE THAT TITANIC SAILED THROUGH IN 1911 OLD!! Ok. Let that sink in for a moment. (It literally took me a lot of moments for the reality and importance of that to truly sink in as I stood there.).

I descended six flights of stairs to the bottom of the dry dock, and this is where I almost lost it. The emotions of the history of this place overwhelmed me. The knowledge that I was in this place, alone, experiencing this without any distractions from tourists, overwhelmed me. Tears came to my eyes. I touched this gate- the very one Titanic sailed through- and I let the energy of that history flow into me. I can’t describe it. I don’t have the words.

Down here, there was just me and these cut outs of people who were innovators in shipping through the ages. And I learned more about how this place worked. Under each set of stairs was a culvert of sorts with a gate on it. So here’s what would happen. The gate would be closed. The two culverts would be opened. The ocean would rush in through the culverts, and fill this place in about 3 hours. How much water is that? 21 MILLION GALLONS. Once it was full, the gate would be opened and the ship could be placed in position. In the case of Titanic, her hull was built on slips here in Belfast, and then she was maneuvered into position in the dry dock. Once she was in, the gate would be closed behind her. Now, the dry dock had to be emptied. That’s where the pump house came into play!! I understood it all now! That pump house could empty the water, all 21 MILLION gallons in about an hour and a half!! Amazing!! And they could control the flow- drain it quickly at first, but then go slower as the hull was about to rest on the keel blocks- those are those things down the middle of the dry dock that the ship sits on. It lifts it up above the floor of the dry dock so workers can put the finishing touches on the hull and install the propellers. When she was finished, the culvert doors were opened, the dry dock would fill, the gate would open, and Titanic would sail out. Amazing. Simply freaking amazing.

As I climbed out of that hole, my respect and admiration for the people who built the world’s largest movable man made structure at the time was off the charts. Oh! How they must have felt when they learned of her fate and the fate of so many of her passengers! I can’t imagine the anguish. I’ve always heard the story of Titanic. We all have. But today, that story was brought to life for me in a way history rarely can be. Today, I didn’t just learn more about Titanic, I felt her. I took so much video for my students. I want them to feel her, too.

I was now 3 miles from my airbnb. It was HOT out. Ireland is in the middle of it’s worst heat wave since the last ice age or something. I was out of water, tired, and frankly just didn’t want to walk anymore. I’m old, dammit! But I’m also a cheap ass. But old won out and I walked the 1/2 mile back to the museum and ordered an Uber for $8. When the driver realized where I was going, he asked if I had seen the murals yet. I said I had seen a few on my way to the store and in town. He then took it upon himself to drive me to see where the major murals are- just a stone’s throw from where I’m staying! Apparently, my neighborhood was a serious flashpoint during what they call “the troubles”. My area is very Nationalist. He showed me an area where IRA members were tortured. He said they were waterboarded. Blindfolded and dropped from helicopters- just a few feet, but they didn’t know that at the time. This divide is still very much on the minds of the people I have encountered here in Belfast. They all openly talk about it. I plan on heading out in a couple of days to get up close and personal with the murals. But for now, today was about Titanic. I had spent over 5 hours at the museum, Nomadic, and the dry dock. And it was a damn fine day.