The Boat and the Castle

     Our main tourist visit on Sunday was to the TitanicVisitors Experience in Belfast.  When I visited Belfast around 10 years ago, this site was nothing but barren dry dock in disrepair and I remember being amused when our tour guide said that a Titanic display was being planned. I thought they had missed the boat (haha) with that idea, since the Titanic movie was already several years old at that point and I figured interest had waned.
     Well, they did it anyway and I have to say, they did an outstanding job. I know I've been a big cynic about all these tourist attractions, but this one is awesome. The building itself is stunning and is scaled to mimic Titanic's hull. It is called a visitor 'experience' (vs. a museum) with good reason; it has been designed to be highly interactive so that visitors actually become part of the displays. Video is used in a variety of creative ways and to great effect. Somehow, they've managed to make you feel as if you're touring the actual ship when, of course, there is no ship for you to tour.  It the best museum-type experience I've encountered and I recommend it to visitors of all ages.  --  it is fascinating, and I can't imagine anyone being disappointed.
     After finishing up at Titanic, we had a short drive-through of Belfast which did not include any of the stuff I think is most interesting (the Shankill Road area, the Bobby Sands mural, etc) although we did make a short stop at the Europa Hotel which was bombed nearly 30 times during The Troubles.
     A few hours later, we arrived at Cabra Castle where we were greeted by the enormous Cabra Castle mascot dog, Oscar.  This is a real castle that has been restored into a hotel/event center. It was still cold and rainy, so instead of walking the beautiful grounds, we all decamped to the bar!  Later, we had dinner in the castle dining room, which was followed by a display of Irish dancing performed by two charming young ladies.  They answered questions for us as well, and cajoled a few of the group (not me) into  joining them on the dance floor for a short lesson.
     The castle is cool but not the overwhelming experience they play it up to be. The main building is a maze of passageways leading to a limited number of restored public rooms.  But, if you have your heart set on having your wedding party at a castle, this is the place.  Our group did not stay in the main building but rather in the courtyard rooms.  Mine was quite nice, spacious and comfortable and unhaunted (supposedly, a few rooms are).
     Monday is the last official day of our tour.  We're going to visit the Megalithic Tombs at Bru na Boinne, then spend the afternoon and night in Drogheda (DRO eh da).   Drogheda is just a short distance north of Dublin, and we will be driven from there to the airport on Tuesday morning.

Here are photos.