Belfast and the Isle of Man

 We found some nice free places to camp outside Belfast and a commercial campground where we could dump and catch up on laundry etc.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperating and it was very windy and rainy. The planned 2 days exploring Belfast shrank to one and luckily the wind died and the sun came out a little.

The big thing for me at least was the Titanic Experience. We have followed the Titanic story for many years. Back when the kids were younger we joined RAP which is the Residents Associates Program for the Smithsonian Institution on Washington DC.

Designed to represent a star from above for the White Star Line and the bow of the ship from street level

They held lots of events for kids and once a year on the weekend closest to April 14^th they would hold a “Titanic Dinner”.

A gentleman named Graham Maxton Smith who has written several books about the great liners would give a lecture about the Titanic and the tragedy whilst they served select items from the 1^st Class menu on the night the ship went down. A very educational and enjoyable evening.

When we were in Nova Scotia several years ago we visited the graves of some of the victims in Halifax’s Titanic Cemetery

https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2016/09/halifax.html

In Cobh we visited the White Star offices that are now the Titanic Experience and the Castletown Experience.

https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2022/06/first-steps-into-ireland.html

The Belfast Titanic Experience seems to be the closing touch.

The exhibition itself leads you thru the growth of the linen trade which allowed Belfast to grow into and industrial town and then on to the founding of Harland and Wolf who eventually built the Titanic and many other big liners for Cunard, White Star and other passenger ship operators.

I almost laughed when we came to the section where you “Toured” the shipyard and a roller coaster type car came for you to step into! I never saw any of those in the many shipyards I worked in over the years!

The Shipyard "Tour" by roller coaster car!

It finished naturally with the sinking and inquiries into the sinking, but also included the cemeteries including the one in Halifax and the many Titanic memorials around the world.

A pretty good exhibition, which we followed by a visit to Nomadic. This vessel was the tender in Cherbourg that carried passengers and mail out to the ships anchored out from the port including Titanic. In Paris it had been a floating restaurant up until the 70’s before it was rescued, restored and brought to Belfast.

Nomadic in dry dock

After lunch and a few drinks in one of Belfast's many pubs we spent the rest of the day on the Hop on Hop off bus seeing the rest of the city.

Belfast City Hall

Due to ferry time tables we drove back into Southern Ireland to Dublin which is only 100 miles away, all motorway, where we had started a month previously. The next morning caught the fast ferry Manannan across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man.

Up the ramp to the ferry

Inside on the car deck

This island roughly 35 miles long and 13 miles wide is one of our favorite places in the world.

Glendown Farm Campground

Spectacular view from the campground

Not a fabulous beach resort or exotic destination, its a place with a certain aura. It exudes peace and tranquility except for a couple of weeks a year when it is home to the TT motorcycle races and high speed and downright lunacy reign. Motorcycles compete on public roads on a track that is 37 miles in length. They top 200mph on narrow twisty roads thru little towns and villages. Naturally the roads are closed to regular traffic at the time!

Peel Castle

Peel Harbor

Motorcyclists the world over have heard of “The Island” and dream of visiting during TT Week. We have been fortunate to have done so 3 times over the years and we had all the reservations made to come 2 years ago before Covid meant it was canceled.

Vintage and Veteran cars on the streets

Although we are a month late for the TT and a couple of weeks early for another race they have, called the Southern 100, we are still thrilled to be here and we have rented a car to be able to get around while we leave the motorhome parked at the campground.

Inside the castle

Looking down at the mouth of the harbor

First stop was the town of Peel and the castle which was built in the 1100’s on a site which has been occupied for at least 3000 years. The castle has defended again Vikings, Irish raiders, Scottish raids, English civil war invasions and was improved for the Napoleonic wars, WW1 and WW2! Some history there!

Peel Castle

One of the things you learn about the Island is that the people (Called Manx, like the cat with no tail which comes from here) are very superstitious. They believe in fairies both good and bad and have some very strange little beliefs that hail back to the Norse and Gaelic occupations of the place thousands of years ago.

As well as cats they have a unique breed of sheep the Loaghtan

Be warned though that to laugh at the fairies is courting their displeasure. Along the road from Douglas the capital to Port Erin where we have been staying is the Fairy Bridge. Failure to wish the fairies “Good Morning Fairies” or “Good Afternoon Fairies” is sure to bring rain down on you for the day.

We dutifully wished them well and were rewarded by nice weather.