Working, Living & Travelling In Ireland

Category: Co. Antrim

  • Visit tot the W5 science and discovery centre at Odyssey in Belfast and Fat Dad

    Visit tot the W5 science and discovery centre at Odyssey in Belfast and Fat Dad

    Hi all,

    I hope you are enjoying your Sunday Evening! It’s been a very sunny day here in Galway, and we went for a walk in Coole Park! I took a newly found French friend of mine for the walk, as I wanted to show her Coole Park. It’s one of my all time favourite parks, and I don’t think she was disappointed! Pity the restaurant isn’t open yet, I saw a sign that it will open next weekend:)
    We were up North last weekend, to attend a funeral, and decided to stay a few days days longer. It’s a long drive from Galway ( 5 hours) so it makes sense to take in some sights. 

    We had been to the W5 museum before, and thought we’d go again, as you never have enough time to see all the floors. The great thing about going there is that the kids can try and explore, so no need to run after them to tell them they can’t touch. It starts as you enter, where you can simulate how to make steam.

    There was a light show, which explained about light, the power of light, the rainbow and much more.

    There were a number of new displays or activities. Suffice it to say I did NOT climb to the top of this climbing structure called Climbit. The kids did and they loved it!

    Rueben had great fun standing in a virtual goal, and Alex tried flying a plane with the flight simulator!
    Definitely worth a visit if you are in Northern Ireland. Across from the W5 is the Titanic Museum, also very much worth a visit. 
    A word of advise, book your ticket ahead, as they get so busy, you may be refused entrance if you turn up without a booking!
    So what about Fat Dad? When we got home, the boys were saying there is a way to remember all the 6 counties in Northern Ireland, and it’s by the two words of FAT DAD.
    F: Fermanagh
    A: Antrim
    T: Tyrone
    D: Derry ( previously Londonderry)
    A:Armagh
    D: Down 
    More next week:)
    Katleen

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  • Titanic disaster, 100 years have passed & Opening of Titanic Quarters in Belfast

    Dear Readers,

    As the Easter break draws to an end ( and the sunshine has returned!) , the media here in Ireland is full of Titanic reports, as it’s 100 years ago  that R.M.S. Titanic sunk. A Titanic memorial was unveiled in Belfast today. The names of the dead, from all classes on the doomed liner, are engraved in alphabetical order on five bronze plaques.
     
    There was a great documentary yesterday, where the film maker James Cameron sat down with a variety of naval engineers, to analyse how realistic the film was in relation to what supposedly happened 100 years ago. 
    There was some debate about the angle  that Titanic rose to before it broke in two, it seems that in the movie the top part of the main part  broke at a  higher angle than in reality. ( You can read a thorough discussion here ), and some discrepancy on the colour of the of firework( in the movie it was bright white). Some of the unused recovered fireworks all had colours near the top of the canisters, so that was another difference. However, he commented he would not be remaking the movie because of those differences! Another discepancy, like what stars were visible when Kate Winslet is hanging on driftwood has been changed in the newly released 3D version.
    Titanic was equipped with a Marconi Wireless installation, that enabled Titanic to communicate /send messages to other ships/outside world and ultimately helped to save the survivors.
     It was only when I was reading about Marconi, I realise that he was born to an Italian father and an Irish  mother! He was a real entrepreneur, but when he was unable to get funding for his very new ideas on wireless communication, he moved to England and subsequently to the USA.
    You can listen to an interpretation of the morse code here that was created by the BBC.
    As I wrote in one of my posts last year , Things to do in Belfast, they were busy building the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. This has been completed now, and is a great attraction to visit in Northern Ireland.
    The newly opened Titanic Belfast® is an unmissable visit in any tour of
    Northern Ireland. It is located in the heart of Belfast, on the slipways
    where RMS Titanic was built. Inside this iconic building, visitors will re-live the entire Titanic story from her birth in Belfast to the fateful maiden voyage and her eventual discovery on the seabed.
    I strongly recommend  you book your tickets on line,  as there has been in influx of visitors and there have been days they were booked out . If you click here, you’ll get a 5% discount( not sure if this will last).
    Here is just a selection of  some other  Titanic resources:
    http://www.titanic1.org/ – the oldest Titanic Historical Society

    Have a nice evening!
    Katleen

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