About two years ago now, I was at the tail end of my time living in Galway, Ireland. During my time there I was able to go visit several different European travel destinations as if you’re in Europe, you might as well make the most of your time. For me, the most memorable trip I made was to Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was my third time visiting this fantastic city (where my Dad was born) but easily my favorite trip. A big part of this was my visit to the harbor where the Titanic was built, over 100 years ago now. It was incredible!

I took a tour of several important spots, such as the offices where it was designed, I had a look at a lot of the machinery involved and saw the very spot where it sat in the wet dock while it was being built. It was very cool. In the picture I posted you can see the very spot where Titanic began.

One funny story I remember: While they were building they would fill and empty the dock with sea water as needed. At one point, as they opened up the back gate they got an unexpected visitor, a seal! The dock workers spent a lot of time trying to usher the little guy out of the docking area once it was dry again. Picture several grown men running around after a seal. Eventually they called animal services (or the equivalent for 1912) who promised to come in the morning. So everyone left for the day except for the janitorial staff who were working in the same area and within half an hour of the dock staff leaving, someone saw the seal hop up the full flight of stairs with no trouble and jump back into the water. Clever guy!

The entire experience really made me feel a little closer to the Titanic story, as if being where part of the story happened, made me a small part of her history. I’m still learning a lot about the Titanic now, but this trip really got me excited again to learn as much as I can about Titanic.