Belfast Titanic and Botanical Gardens

Good Morning to you; we are back home and it feels so good! We loved our adventure, but this girl was ready to get back to our Rocky Mountains. Our time in Belfast was hectic to say the least; it was very crowded and there was a huge bike race going on. We headed to the Titanic Museum, only to find that the routes were closed and we needed to get there a different way. Also, one thing we didn't realize or think of was that the parking lot would only take Pounds, not Euros or credit cards. Thankfully, we had chatted with one of the first bikers to finish and he told us that it was free parking-great, until another fellow told us the police had told him no, they would still ticket cars. We had no Pounds, so hubby ran back to the biker, to see if we could trade him Euros for some change and he did the nicest thing-just gave us the money for the parking meter. The museum was very nice, most of the info we already knew, but it was fun to see where the Titanic was built and hear the history of Belfast during that time.  A drawing of the liner and each section.

A photo of the structure around the building of the liner.

This is actually where the liner was, you could see the size of it it on the concrete.

A photo of the actual liner.

The museum has a very unusual shape-it was fun.  Let me tell you though that the traffic leaving was horrid.  I was pretty stressed as we tried to get out and it took us 1 hr to go about a mile.

Belfast's Bontanical Garden-so nice.

Loved this Coleus tree-haven't see the deep red before and it was stunning.

The rose garden, taking in honor of our girls and granddaughters.

Yesterday was a long day, as you can imagine. Both of United's planes were delayed.  The flights went well and even though the pilot on the flight from Chicago warned us that it would be bumpy, we felt the one from Dublin to Chicago was much rougher.  We saw both families for a short time last night and went to bed at our normal time. Our sil, who travels to Denmark on a regular basis, warned us that we would wake up at 3:00 a.m.; I wasn't sure until we both work up promptly at 3:00 am.  We both went back to sleep and I got up around 5:40, started coffee for hubby, laundry and organizing before he got up.  We've been on a walk and now have to go get groceries.  It is raining lightly and there is a warm wind blowing-reminds me of the Islands.  I'm ready to stay put, until we drive out to Ca. later in the summer.  I am hoping to get back into my routine and start visiting you all more. 
Sending love your way!
Noreen and Hunter, who's happy to be home.