Due to my meeting with the Goldsmiths of Dublin, we got away to Belfast rather late. We only had time to go to the Titanic Centre which houses a special display on the construction and disaster of the ship at the dock yards where it was built. The building houses a lift like a ski lift and as you ride along to view scenes from the making of this giant vessel. Extremely interesting. There were displays of the various cabins on board and a sectional view through the ship from engine room to the wheelhouse but you need all day to take it all in – the sectional view felt like you were a ghost on an elevator passing up through the ship from keel to wheelhouse. From inside the building you could see the dry dock in which the Titanic was constructed. But it was the photograph of the ships propellers that put it into perspective
We moved on to our lodging at Ballymena (everything around here commences with Bally) and the Adair Arms hotel (Trip advisor had great reviews particularly on their cooked breakfast of sausages). To Kerry’s surprise this is not a bush town with a dumpy hotel. Nicely appointed and very busy with business people. Ballymena is the base for Caterpillar in Northern Ireland and the town is a primary centre for all of the agriculture around it. The sausages were a disappointment. Nothing distinctive and pretty greasy.
glendon1954 