Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
yet, as it was on its way to Greece to pick up wounded soldiers. Most of those on-
boardweresaved(only30ofthealmost1,100crewandmedicalstaffdied).In1976,
French underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau found the wreck of the
Britannic
400
feet down and brought up a few of its artifacts.
Amazingly, a single human thread ties all three ships together. A stewardess and
nurse named Violet Jessop was aboard the
Olympic
when it collided with the HMS
Hawke
. She was also one of the lucky few to be rescued from the
Titanic
. And
yes, incredibly, she was again among those rescued from the sinking
Britannic
. Talk
about a buoyant personality...
Cost and Hours:
£14.75, £18.25 combo-ticket with Dry Dock and Pump-House
(described later), audioguide for infoholics-£3, daily April-Sept 9:00-19:00, Oct-March
10:00-17:00, located where the famous ship was built on Queen's Island, tel. 028/
9076-6399,
www.titanicbelfast.com
.
Crowd-Beating Tips:
This attraction drew 800,000 visitors in its first year (double
what was expected). Go early or late; big bus-tour crowds clog the exhibits from 10:00 to
14:00. Book ahead online to ensure the entry time you want.
Eating:
Thegroundfloorincludesasandwichcaféaswellasacarvery-stylerestaurant.
Getting There:
From Donegall Square, take bus #26 or #26B (both stop behind Belfast
Metropolitan College, a block away from Donegall Square; infrequent buses on Sun), or
gobytaxi(£6ride).TheTitanicQuartertrainstationisa10-minutewalktothesouthofthe
Titanic Belfast. The Dry Dock and Pump-House (described later) are another 10-minute
walk north of the Titanic Belfast.
Visiting the Titanic Belfast:
The spacey architecture of Titanic Belfast's new building
is already a landmark on the city's skyline. Six stories tall, it's clad in over 3,000 sun-re-
flecting aluminum panels. Its four corners represent the bows of the many ships that were
built in these yards during the golden age of Belfast.
Inside, nine galleries take you from booming 1900s Belfast, through the construction
and launch of the
Titanic,
and ultimately to a re-creation of its watery grave. A highlight
is the Shipyard Ride, which takes you through a mock-up of the ship while it was being
built. You'll learn how workers toughed out months of deafening and dangerous duty,
working in five-man teams to hammer in red-hot rivets (they were paid by the rivet, and
were frequently burnedbychips flying offthe metal). Forefficiency,left- andrighthanders
were assigned specific hammering positions. Young boys had the hot and hazardous job of
quickly catching the glowing rivets and placing them for the hammerers.
Other exhibits cover the wider story of the Harland and Wolff shipyards, including the
construction of
Titanic's
lesser-known and also ill-fated sister ships:
Olympic
and
Brit-
