Belfast, Northern Ireland

On this Day 103 of our 120 Day Odyssey (meaning: a long, adventurous journey or wandering, often marked by many changes. . .), my excursion of choice was Panoramic Belfast & Titanic, which consisted of a coach tour of the City, then off to The Titanic Museum. I'm telling you, these people are obsessed with the building of this fateful ship. In minute detail, they discuss it as if it happened yesterday. Okay, to be fair, I did literally buy into it, didn't I? I could just as easily have chosen "The Famous Pubs of Belfast", but no, I chose the Titanic Museum, a three or four story city block sized building dedicated to the building, staffing, sinking and discovery of its remains. Also, let us not forget the movie, or as they say here "fill 'em". Yes, you or I would say film. Not here. Prior to its sinking, ship building WAS the economy in Belfast, no question. The firm chosen to build this "unsinkable" ship was THE premier ship builder in all of Ireland. They built it within the contracted time, according to the specifications given them, presumably on budget. They never claimed it was unsinkable. Were they proud of their achievement? Without a doubt! Did they believe its sinking to be their fault? Absolutely not! Did they go out of business as a result of its sinking? Yes, indeed. "Not fair! Not fair! Not fair!" says our guide! Across the street from this huge museum is the Titanic "Fill em" Studio... Still cashing in on the tragedy, eh?

The museum covers every facet of ship building including a cable car ride in, around, over and through a work in progress. Interesting. But to me the most interesting were the SOS calls and responses to them. However, the closest ship to them, which no doubt could have saved some of the unfortunate fifteen hundred plus persons, never received their cry for help. The radio operator had turned off the radio and gone to bed. Several other ships did hear their plea and were able to rescue 706 people. Most of the crew and third class passengers were lost. Too few lifeboats. Too haphazardly loading and lowering of those few boats. Too reckless a Captain. These were some of the findings of the many and varied investigations into the tragedy. As a result of these and other findings, the much maligned

lifeboat drill MUST take place before any ship can leave the harbor. Radio operators MUST man their post 24/7. There MUST be lifeboat capacity equal to the number of passengers and crew. Small comfort to the families of those who lost their life that fateful night.

There was also some info on the discovery of its remains. The leader of the expedition was quoted, "We were all shouting and jumping for joy until we realized that was improper on the graves of so many..."

On a lighter note, just before the exit was a replica of the site where Leonardo lifted Kate into the air. Lacking a Leonardo, Sandy took this shot of me in that pose.

On the way back to the Vista, our guide said if we were too worried about getting on a ship after our afternoon of reliving that great tragedy, we could just stay awhile... Tempting suggestion were it not for all my loved ones on the other side of the Atlantic. One cannot deny that this countryside certainly deserves the nickname, "Emerald," but if this is their idea of summer, I'd never survive the winters!

Today is Someday! Embrace Life!