It Was Called The Museum Of Dreams... And It Was, It Really Was!

Thar She Blows

 Let me take you on a figurative journey about a literal journey that I embarked upon with the first mate of my friendSHIP - Lesley Helen.  The theme of the trip was Titanic however, this is 2016 not 1912 and so our journey begins with a flight rather than an ocean voyage.  Well more accurately the journey began at a ludicrously early hour of the morning boarding a bus to the airport... shortly afterward followed by a flight.  The flight was with an airline that undoubtedly would have been the equivalent of  travelling third class with the steerage back in good old 1912 but I wont complain, the fight was fine, the best budget flight of my life thus far, with hardly any rats!  The flight was from good old Edinburgh to Belfast - the birth place of the ill fated ocean liner. 

Upon landing we took a brief minute to work out the bus system and then off we went engines cranked up to full speed ahead, what stood in the path between us and a long, warm, happy and healthy life (unlike the titanic) was not an iceberg and rather it was a man that to this day I am certain that his full time occupation was human trafficker.  Lesley thought he was more likely a full time junkie and tbh either guess was probably pretty spot on.  All we wanted was to get to our hotel, dispose of our bags and get straight to that Titanic museum and all he wanted was to ruin our lives through kidnap and or attempted befriending (neither of which we were interested it).  Luckily we managed to avoid our iceberg, after boarding the bus he headed straight to the back seats and we turned hard-a-starboard narrowly missing disaster and achieving a most enjoyable bus journey with 0 lives lost.  There was a short period of having to walk with him after departing from the bus at the Belfast bus station but we were soon riding solo again, Lesley and I.  I wont go into the morning much more because I know you are all dying to hear about the Titanic museum... suffice it say that we dropped off our bags, went out for breakfast, were offered caviar but turned it down because we never did like it much (lol joke it was a poor mans starbucks breakfast for two, in order to afford caviar we would have had to see our fine things sold at auction, our memories scattered to the wind ) and then it was off to the museum. 

I'm Flying Jack!

The excitement struck when we realised that the buses destination was literally Titanic Belfast, this city was definitely aware that Titanic was its biggest achievement (although is that really a good thing?) and they were going to milk it for everything they could.  We arrived in the Titanic quarter before we knew it and just like that Lesley and I were standing in the birthplace of our favorite doomed ship.  The first stop (after the ticket desk, which, yes, were designed to look like ship windows) was a photo op.  They had a green screen and an array of potential back drops to choose from, it was a no brainer for Les and I that we were going to pose on the bow of Titanic  in the most original way we could think of that we were 100% nobody else had ever done - we did the Jack and Rose "I'm Flying" pose!  The camera man was very impress with our quick thinking and originality.  I was Rose and Lesley was the dashing Mr Dawson.

To be honest I didn't even care how the rest of the day went, I was already super content knowing there was an incredible picture of my best girl and I on the ship of dreams.  However, I am pleased to report that the rest of the museum delivered!  Initially we found ourselves stuck between a group of older adults and a school group, it was all very claustrophobic and it make me kind of wish that the museum tour groups had been assigned according to class, assuring that it wasn't too crowded.  We managed to distance ourselves and this allowed us to take our time absorbing all of the facts and filling our brains to the brim with anything and everything of ship yards, ship building and pretty much anything else ship related.  After the first section of the museum I probably could have build myself my own ship, strong and true, to sail back to Edinburgh.  

If Titanic had been set in 2016

There was then a ride which is always enjoyable, there was even enough carriages for everyone in the museum which is more than can be said for life boats and the passengers of the titanic.  The ride took us on a journey through the process of ship building and although I had all the knowledge of how to build a good ship I realised I didn't have the manual labouring skills - especially with the equipment available to the workers way back in the days of Titanic.  Next we got to the part of the museum focus more on Titanic as a ship rather than the process of how she was built.

We saw models of the different types of accommodation available to passengers and I discovered that third class passengers traveled in rooms not overly smaller than my own bedroom in the flat back in Edinburgh.  We went on a virtual tour of the ship which was probably my favourite part of the museum, if one thing is for sure you can be blase about a lot of things but not about Titanic!  The next room moved us swiftly through the timeline of Titanic's journey, ending with the tragic sinking.  This lead to room where there were statements from survivors of the sinking and there was information on many of the passengers on board.

It was a dreadfully heavy thing, I only
wore it this once.

After this the next room was full of pictures/posters and videos from the many films and TV shows that were inspired by Titanic.  Lesley and I could hear Celine's voice belting out the song that has moved us to our very cores so many times before (music to drown to, now we knew we were in first class) and we spent a very long time watching the clips of Kate and Leo bringing to life the most amazing and heartbreaking fictional couple in the history of time.  We decided then and there that it was about time we watched Titanic again...

The final stage of the museum was a cinema style room where they were, unfortunately not playing James Cameron's Titanic, but were playing a very interesting video of divers exploring the ship wreck and debris.  The whole concept of the ship being at the bottom of the ocean is so strange to me.  In Lesley's words "What once held it up brought it down"  and I give her a lot of shit for this saying because she does bring it up an insane amount of times but she actually has a very good point .  It is curious that the ship was once afloat on top of the ocean and everything was fine but once the water gets inside it led to its downfall#WhenTitanicSankFromUnderUs...

 Anywayyyy.

There was actually one final stop in the museum... The gift shop!! Lesley wanted a mug and I wanted a cup.  Lesley got her mug but the cups were sold out so i considered getting socks or a fridge magnet or like a captains hat before settling on what was undoubtedly the best item in the store - the heart of the ocean key chain!  All I wanted was to purchase two so that I could throw one into the ocean, old rose style but, like Mr Dawson, I am not made of money so one unsinkable keychain it was!   We went to collect our photographs and ultimately they were pure gold as was anticipated so we bought 3 copies (1 each and 1 for luck, all life is a game of luck after all!), we carried those pics around with us all day because we like to take our pictures with us when we travel.  By this stage we were very hungry so Lesley and I decided to go out for some lamb, rare, with very little mint sauce (jk im a vegetarian).  

Take her to sea Mr Murdoch, let's stretch her
legs

The trip feels like it happened 84 years ago but its one I will never forget! I can still smell the fresh paint.  The china had never been used.  The sheets had never been slept in.  Titanicwas called the Ship of Dreams, and it was.  IT REALLY WAS!

P,S

WANNA GO TO A REAL PARTY?  Make it count and check back later for part 2 of the Belfast trip which includes Lesley and I getting very drunk at an Ellie Goulding concert, meeting Mr Andrews, VIP treatment, new found friends, up in the club and a hell of a hangover 

xoxo

Things I've Learned From My Favourite Movies

One thing you should probably know about me is that I absolutely love film and TV!  And anyone who knows me at all knows that I have a tendency to say that any film that I remotely like is my favourite!  Fun fact, my very favourite film ever is Titanic closely followed by Forrest Gump.  After these I have a small flurry of films that I would class as legit favourites - some of which include The Great Gatsby, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Clueless, Gone With The Wind and for course the 2011 cult classic  The Roommate. And then there are the favourites which are really just films I like and would probably watch several times - fun fact, I love re-watching the same films over and over again. 

Anyway, here is a short list of some of the things that my favourite films have taught me.

Titanic (1997)

Forever my fave movie couple

Rose taught me to think for myself and that no matter how sassy classy you are, deep down everyone wants to be drawn like a French girl.
Jack taught me that you can achieve anything that you put your mind to (except surviving the icy cold waters that hit you like a thousand knifes stabbing you all over your body - which to be fair would have probably been the most useful thing to be able to achieve).
And overall the film taught me that the heart does go on... and to never trust old ladies because the chances are they probably had the heart of the ocean in their pocket all along.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Bubba's impressive knowledge of shrimp

Forrest Gump taught me, once again, that no matter who you are or where you're from you can achieve anything you put your mind to (I'm sensing a theme here).  Forrest taught me that its okay to stop running when you get kinda tired, that you should treasure your best good friends because they aren't something that you can find just around the corner and that there is an infinitive amount of things you can do with Shrimp - boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it...

Clueless (1995)

"Ew get off of me!"

Clueless proved that all the best things to come out of the world happened in 1995.  Clueless taught me that everyone needs their own catch phrase, calling someone a Monet is probably one of the best insults ever and that it does not say RSVP on the state of liberty!



Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961)

Poor Cat! Poor slob! Poor slob without a name

This film taught me that some cat actors are better than people actors.  It reiterated the fact that Tiffany's is indeed far nicer than the library. It also introduced me to the song Moon River - a life changing song perfect for any situation.  

The Roommate (2011)

#RoommateGoalsSince2K11

Ahhh The Roommate, what a fine specimen of a film!  This movie answered the age old question: How many CW actors can you fit into one feature length film?  The answer is a lot.  The Roommate taught me that borrowing your friends clothes is A-OK but getting their deceased sister's name tattooed onto your chest is not - thanks for clearing that one up, I was never quite sure where people stood with that one.  it taught me to never trust someone if you are their only Facebook friend, that Billy Zane's career must have hit a low point during this time period (One minute you're playing Cal in Titanic and the next minute you're here, how did you get here Billy? And why, why Billy why!?)  Finally it taught me that I'll watch pretty much anything with Leighton Meester in it...

The Oranges (2011)

Giving Hugh the flirty eyes

This movie taught me that there is something extremely attractive about Hugh Laurie, it introduced me to the wonder that is Adam Brody and finally refer to the final lesson I learned from The Roommate.



The Life Of Pi (2012)

Magnificent

Whale, whale! Look at it!!! Yes whale!








Frozen (2013)

She does Anna just not with you!

Frozen taught me that princesses are irrelevant and everyone wants to be a queen now, it taught me that big sisters are kind of dicks - I mean all Anna wanted was to build a snowman with Elsa and Elsa continuously denied her and then when Elsa left the castle wanna guess what one of the first things she did was?  She built a snowman! Soz Anna #Rejection.


So there you have it.  Each one a masterpiece in it's own right, each one a solid 10/10 and each one also an educational journey!
Until next time
xoxo
Queen G