It was an early start! Beautiful sunrise here in Belfast as were left the Fitz William hotel and headed to the Titanic Belfast.
Did you know the titanic was built in Ireland? “She was fine when she left here”, many Irish say!
We visited the exact grounds where the story of this famous ship began. A stunning hotel sits across the street from the visitor centre. Inside the hotel is the original office of Thomas Andrews, designer of the Titanic.
And inside the visitor centre- wow!
The information is never ending and the stories will give you goosebumps. Some of the highlights are the immersive video wall , the glass floor looking down at photos of the shipwreck and the replica of the staircase where Jack told Rose, “meet me at the clock.”
The morning here was well spent and for titanic lovers I’m sure you could spend all day here!
But we had another stop. We made the drive to Londonderry where we dove into the origin of Halloween- another thing unique to Ireland! The spooky festivals started here and now we celebrate Halloween all over the world.
First stop was with Chef Emmett McCourt. He’s going to be in a cooking contest at the Royal in Toronto next weekend… What are the chances …
He filled us in on the origin of Halloween. He mentioned it really kicked off the start of winter. And the original jack-o-lantern? Not a pumpkin, but a turnip! Way creepier !
He also showed us how to make traditional barmbrack. A spiced cake popular around Halloween.
Then came storyteller, visit Derry experts and the awakening of the Walls! This is a 3 day festival leading up to Halloween. It was stunning and spooky all at the same time. Derry is the only walled city in Ireland and it’s known for the greatest Halloween festival in the world.
The anticipation builds !
We will be back for that festival but tommorow holds a trip to a castle! Now I’m off to a pub. Another Guinness awaits. They say Guinness tastes better in ireland. It does.
RACHEL SCHOUTSEN 