Hello and Goodbye:
A Titanic Journey
The Titanic was built to carry dreams: a shipbuilding company’s vision to build the largest ocean liner with the best in luxurious furnishings, suited for the wealthy and famous travelers, and the dreams of the many passengers who boarded the ship with their sights set on America to start a new life, a new beginning.
Karen Relates:
The Titanic Museum is in Belfast, at the same location where the Titanic was designed and built. Approaching the Titanic Museum for the first time, I was in awe of the design and size of the building. Not knowing anything about the museum, I speculated what it symbolized. At first glance, I saw an iceberg, its sharp angles jutting out of the sea. If you have visited the Titanic Museum, what was your first reaction to the building?
With no extensive knowledge of the Titanic unless you count the story of Jack and Rose, star-crossed lovers determined to beat the odds stacked against them only to end in tragedy, I went into the museum not expecting there to be much. The museum walks you through the entire timeline of the life of the Titanic, starting with the concept of the ship, the years it took to build, the maiden voyage, and more.
A very cool attraction is the Shipyard Ride, which makes you feel like you are flying through the bowels of the ship, allowing you to imagine just how big the ship was and see how dangerous many of the jobs were. Another exhibit walks you through the extensive work and research it took to ensure the highest quality of furnishings, flooring, chandeliers, and more were chosen when putting together the 1st class passenger floors.
As the museum leads you to the ultimate fate of the Titanic, you are reminded how many lives were lost. It is a very sobering exhibit, and I think it is here that you really understand the magnitude of this tragedy, including the low survival rate for 3rd class passengers compared to 1st.
Outside of the museum, there is more to see. While we did not explore it all, we did stop in the Titanic Drawing Offices, which is now part of the Titanic Hotel Belfast. Tall arched ceilings, and lots of natural light coming in through the windows; you can easily imagine this room once filled with tables and blueprints of the Titanic. There is a bar located in one of the rooms; the perfect place to stop in after your museum tour, to relax with a cup of tea and take in the beauty of the room.
The Titanic’s Last Call
Shannon Relates:
A tiny town full of goodbyes with promises of new hellos, Cobh has my heart on its sleeve. Famously known as the last port of call for the RMS Titanic, this scenic place blends a sad history with a charming present. James Cameron’s Titanic is my favorite movie of all time. I still own the dual video cassettes. While I have always been aware of James Cameron’s factual liberties in depicting such an iconic event, I cannot be swayed on how the movie still depicts love and loss in the most authentic way.
Standing at the place where 123 passengers boarded the ship cements a person in the bigger narrative of the collective story. You are a part of history when you get to see its parts. The Titanic’s stay in Queenstown (Cobh’s prior name from 1849 to 1920) was brief, with the ship departing at 1:30 pm on April 11, 1912. Of the 123 passengers that boarded in Queenstown, 44 survived. If you visit Cobh, you can learn the history of the passengers who boarded there through the Titanic Experience Tour. Visitors are assigned a passport when they arrive with a person’s story. At the end of the tour, they find out if the passenger survived or not.
What is it about death that sparks macabre, romantic stories? I blame it on eulogies. It is in this space that we romanticize the dead, often to a fault. Titanic stories of surviving communications from passengers are aplenty. There is a link to Cobh via 19-year-old Jeremiah Burke, a Cork resident whose message in a bottle proves we love a tragic tale. Washed ashore just miles from his childhood home in Ireland, Burke’s message arrived in a holy water bottle his mother gave to him before his ill-fated departure. The letter simply read: “From Titanic, goodbye all, Burke of Glanmire, Cork.” Speculations about authenticity and dates were dealt with by historians and locals, but all I can hear is writer Tim O’Brien’s words ringing in my head. Did you feel it in your gut? If so, it’s true.
I didn’t visit the original White Star Line building. I am sure it is great and deserves praise; I just can’t speak to it. What I can recommend is staying outside and taking a minute to see what locals have dubbed “Heartbreak Pier”—the place an estimated one million Irish emigrants bade farewell to loved ones as they left for America and other destinations. The place 123 passengers walked over on April 11th, like so many before them. Encounter and receive the place unfiltered. Just you. Just your place in the story.
It is true I saw Cobh before Belfast, experiencing the chronological journey of the Titanic out of order. It’s ok; I did it my way.
