在貝爾法斯特尋找鐵達尼號的羅曼 Finding the Romance of Titanic at Belfast

愛爾蘭環島遊(第1天) Round Tour in Ireland (1st Day) - 北愛爾蘭‧貝爾法斯特 Belfast at Northern Ireland

隨著國泰航空開展飛往曼徹斯特的航線，它們推出了優惠價4千幾港元並可免費轉機往貝爾法斯特，剛巧這陣子朋友正在討論往愛爾蘭旅遊，就這樣我們共四人就成行。從曼徹斯特，我們乘坐Flybe航機到達貝爾法斯特機場，由於是從曼徹斯特轉機到來，不是國際航線，所以是降落在貝爾法斯特城市機場而不是它的國際機場，這倒更方便快捷前往市區。
Following CX's launch of direct flight to Manchester, there was a promotion of HK$4,xxx for air ticket to Manchester, with free additional flight to Belfast.  Meanwhile, friends were discussing about visiting Ireland and hence, we, four of us, took advantage of the promotion and started the journey to Ireland.  After arriving Manchester, we transfer to Belfast via Flybe.  As this was domestic flight from Manchester, we were landing at the George Best Belfast City Airport instead of the International Airport.  This was actually more convenient and faster to reach the city centre.

在機上看到的貝爾法斯特市
Belfast City - viewed from the plane

城市機場較近市區，規模較小，我們沿梯級下機後，自行步往只有一層的入境大樓。頗快便可以取到行李，有安檢人員查問我們有沒有帶食物，並查看行李，一般食品(如零食)都沒問題，只是我們帶的一些有中藥成份的成藥，他們就看得比較仔細，主要是看清楚成份有什麼，看過後一切無問題，我們便可以離開。
The City Airport was closer to downtown, smaller than International Airport.  We came down the flight of stairs from the plane and walk directly to the single-storey arrival hall.  The luggage was available for pick-up quite soon.  There were security staff asking whether we have brought any food and have a look at our luggage.  For most of the food, eg. snacks, it was no problem.  They were more alert to the Chinese medicine that we have brought.  After reading through the list of ingredients on the packaging, they were fine with it and let us go accordingly.

Apple Apartments in Belfast

在機場，我們先到租車公司取車，並確認在都柏林還車的手續，然後便驅車前往租住的Apple Apartment，車程只需要幾分鐘。從機場經A2高速公路轉入M3公路不久便可看見這屹立Lagan河邊的玻璃大廈。我們預訂了一兩睡房的寓所，由於是提早一個月之前預訂，且5月底還未算旺季(6月起是旺季)，是次房租只是129英鎊，寓所很潔淨寬敞，有兩個洗手間/淋浴間，廚房設備齊全，無線網絡速度也不錯，供4人住挺舒適。它的地庫有停車場，可以10英鎊泊24小時(不限出入次數)，相比附近的停車場，這收費好合理。
We first proceeded to the car rental counter to pick up the keys for our rented car and confirmed the procedures of returning the car at Dublin Airport subsequently.  Then, we drove to the Apple Apartment which could be reached in a few minutes.  We took the highway A2.  Soon after changing to highway M3, the Apple Apartment in the glass building which sat at the river bank of Lagan could be recognized easily.  We have booked a two-bedroom apartment.  As booking was made more than one month in advance and end May was not considered peak season yet (Peak season would start from Jun), we had got a good rental rate at £129.  The apartment was clean and spacious with two toilets/shower rooms, a fully-equipped kitchen while the speed of the free wifi was good.  The apartment was good for 4 persons to stay comfortably.  Car parks were available at basement at £10 for 24hours (unlimited in & out) which was reasonable priced when comparing to the car parks nearby.

從寓所可以望到貝爾法斯特的地標之一: Titanic Belfast博物館。安頓行李之後，我們先上網預訂這博物館的入場劵，費用是15.5英鎊，但上網預訂可享有5%折扣，我們訂了半小時後的入場劵，然後便出發前往。
From the apartment, we could see one of the landmarks in Belfast - Titanic Belfast museum. After settling down, we access the museum website to purchase admission tickets online. The ticket was £15.5 each with 5% discount for pre-booking online.  We booked the tickets for admission 30mins afterwards and then, headed off to the museum.

Titanic Belfast博物館的外型Exterior of Titanic Belfast

Titanic Belfast博物館的外型新穎，角邊婉如郵輪的船頭，牆身鋪有波浪型的條紋，以配合其主題。
The exterior of Titanic Belfast was novel and unique.  The edges resembled the front of cruise liner.  Walls were laid with wave stripes; all echoing the theme of the museum.

其實，Titanic Belfast博物館並不只是關於鐵達尼號，它有介紹早期在貝爾法斯特的生活及主要工業，包括釀酒(威士忌)、織布等等。
In fact, Titanic Belfast was not only about Titanic.  It introduced about the lives at Belfast in the past as well as other main industries at that time, eg. wine (whisky) making, linen weaving, etc.


當然，亦會介紹對貝爾法斯特非常重要的做船業，貝爾法斯特是一沿海城市，天然的環境加上人為的努力，做就了做船工業在貝爾法斯特的偉大發展。
Certainly, it also introduced about the ship building industry which was a very important industry for Belfast.  As a coastal city, the natural advantage with efforts that people had put in, ship building became Belfast's leading developed industry.

整個展覽館都以很多不同的有趣的形式呈現給參觀者，增加趣味性及參與。除了靜態的展覽品外，有一些設有按鈕的模型讓大家嘗試把組件放入從而了解做船的困難，亦有幾部電報機，備有指引讓大家嘗試打摩斯密碼，在不同區域都有投影來說明做船的工序和難處。有兩部像船塢內的升降機，接載我們到上層，到達另一有趣的體驗 - shipyard ride，我們跳上電動小卡車，它帶我們走進漆黑的船倉，以特殊效果(如熱火)和動畫，以展現百多年前做船工業的現實，工人是怎樣在又黑又熱的環境下完成工作。
The whole exhibition in the museum was set in various interesting ways to attract audience's interest and interactions.  Besides the static display of exhibits, there were buttons for you to try inserting parts into the ship skeleton to understand the difficulty of building a ship.  There were telegraph machines with guidance for audience to try practising Morse codes.  Projections exist at various spots to help you understand the ship building process.  Taking the dockyard lift to the upper floor, we arrived an interesting part which was the shipyard ride.  We got on to a cart which led us to go into different compartments in a dark shipyard, through special effects (eg. hot fire) and animations to understand how the reality of shipbuilding and how workers built the ship in a dark and hot condition in 1900s.

奧林匹克級郵輪-鐵達尼號在1911年5月31日舉行下水禮，此郵輪的規模之大，是當時的一大盛事，大概十萬人前來觀看。她於1912年4月2日啟航，但誰也沒想到，華麗背後卻是詭運，首次航行就是她最後一次旅程，然後長眠於大西洋海底。

Olympic Class ocean liner, Titanic was launched on 31 May 1911.  Due to its large capacity, the launching was a momentous occasion, attracting about 100,000 people to come to watch.  Her maiden voyage was started on 2 April 1912.  However, bad fate behind the elegance brought the liner to sink in the Atlantic Ocean, making it both the first and the last voyage for Titanic.

鐵達尼號是一艘超級豪華大郵輪，展覽館更有很多關於船上各種陣設的复制，加上投影動畫，讓當時船上的生活能活現眼前。其中，有一處利用三幅牆的投影，製造立體的效果，展示鐵達尼號船上各層的景象，如站於這三幅牆中間注視投影，便可隨著影像的變動，尤如置身船中，打從底層機房、各級客房及餐廳、以至華麗舞會大廳，游走於各層之間。

Titanic was a luxurious, giantic and prestigious ocean liner.  There were a lot of replica of the fit-out on the liner. Projected animation helped to illustrate the living on the cruise.  There was a corner with three walls for projections to create a 3D effect, showing the scenes of every deck on the cruise.  Standing in the middle and concentrate on the projections, we were like visiting every deck in person, from the base deck where it was boilers and engines, to the cabins and restaurants as well as the grand ballroom.

只航行了十幾天的鐵達尼號撞倒冰山，並開始沉沒，曾發電報求救，展館把當時電報的訊息順序列了出來，讓我們更了解那危急的情況。

After sailing for more than 10days, Titanic collided with the iceberg and started to sink.  She telegraphed message to seek for help.  The telegraphic messages in chronological order were listed for us to understand the critical moments.

由於沉於冰冷的深海，鐵達尼號的殘骸到1985年才被發現。因她位於四千米深的海床，暗無天日，要出動無人駕駛的深海攝影機才可看到殘骸的情況。展館內的影院，便把深海攝影機拍到的狀況播出，有些當時在船上的物品，如餐具、盒子甚至皮鞋也可見到。那深海攝影機也展覽於館內。
As Titanic sank into the very deep and cold ocean, she was found only until 1985.  Due to the fact that she lied at 4000m below sea level without any light, remote auto video camera was sent to shoot at the wreck.  The theatre inside the museum showed us the footages taken by the camera, reviewing a lot of items on the cruise, eg. tableware, box and even shoes.  The video camera was also displayed in the museum.

看完展覽後，我們在地下的餐廳稍作休息並吃點東西。還選了兩款啤酒試試：Root Beer & Ginger Beer.  我自己就較喜歡薑啤Ginger Beer.  然後，我們便起程往其他景點了。

After we had walked through the museum, we had a short rest and a quick bite at the Bistro on the ground floor.  We had tried two types of beer there - Root Beer and Ginger Beer.  Personally, I preferred Ginger Beer.  After this, we headed off for the next visiting place.





有用網址 Useful websites:
George Best Belfast City Airport - http://www.belfastcityairport.com/
Apple Apartment - http://www.appleapartments.co.uk/belfast
Titanic Belfast - http://www.titanicbelfast.com/


.....待續 to be continued.....