Our Last Day in Scotland- Ireleand Here We Come!

Pit stop approaching Cairnryan

The next morning we arose very early to our last day in Scotland. It was going to be another long day, as we were going to travel from Edinburgh to Belfast, Ireland, and eventually to our hotel in Dublin. We put our bags out at 0600, finished breakfast, and boarded our bus which has become an integral part of our tour, having spent the majority of our time riding around on it. We left Edinburgh at 0700 and headed through the Scottish lowlands on a southerly through Ayrshire until we reached the coast along the Irish Sea. As we traveled along the coast toward the port of Cairnryan, we encountered some very heavy winds and a lot of rain. Cairnryan has a new, modern ferry port, and we boarded our ferry which would take us to Belfast, Ireland, almost as immediately as we arrived. Our ferry was unlike any we had ever been on and was very modern with beautiful passenger lounge areas, restaurants, a gift shop and several bars. We had a delicious lunch aboard the ferry as it sped us across the Irish Sea to Belfast and everything made for an enjoyable trip.

Overlooking the Irish Sea

We disembarked in Belfast, boarded our bus (which came over with us), and were taken to the shipyard where the Titantic and her sister ships were built.

Jane says goodby to our bus driver

Group hug!

A museum is now the major focal point of the yard, and after some photos with our departing bus driver (he had worked the maximum number of days allowed) and fellow travelers, we toured the museum which is touted as being the largest Titantic museum in the world.

The Titantic Museum

The architecture of the museum follows the lines of the Titantic’s hull and is a beautiful site to see. The museum focused less on the ship’s disastrous sinking, as it did the engineering and construction of the Titantic, and modification of the shipyard necessary to build this class of ships. Very little was devoted to the actual sinking and human interest stories pertaining to this tragedy.

A Belfast memorial mural

An Ulster neighborhood

More murals

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An Irish Republic mural

Barricade separating the parties

Another barricade shot

We left Titantic Belfast and were driven through the districts of Belfast that experienced so much fighting and terrorism during the three-decade conflict between Ulster British loyalists, who were primarily protestants, and Irish Republicans who were predominantly Catholic. We saw many memorial murals dedicated to those who died for a cause, and even found a still-standing barricaded that separates Ulster and Irish Republic neighborhoods. We were told that, while some violence still erupts, a somewhat lasting peace was established on Good Friday, 1998.   As a result of this settlement, Northern Ireland has remained part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the rest of Ireland is now the Republic of Ireland. To the tourist there’s not much difference except the British pound is the medium of exchange in Northern Ireland, and the Euro in Ireland. We drove to the Royal Marine Hotel where we would be spending the next two nights. The hotel overlooks Dublin Bay and is a beautiful hotel and setting. We arrived around 1800 and were so tired that we elected not to go out that night, but had a light dinner and turned in for the evening.