The weather was overcast, but that didn’t dull the Irish town’s charisma or our optimism. After disembarking from the Majestic Princess on the fourth day of our British Isles cruise, we arrived at the Titanic Experience earlier than planned. With half an hour to spare, we went to the tourist information office to find out about going to Blarney Castle that afternoon. By public transport, it was over a two-hour trip there and back, and queues were likely to be an hour and a half to see/kiss the Blarney Stone due to crowds from our cruise ship; Mr Word Loft and I decided it wasn’t a practical option, and there was plenty to explore in Cobh (pronounced Cove).
We headed eagerly back to the attraction’s ticket office. All visitors become participants when handed a White Star Line replica boarding ticket of an original passenger travelling from Cobh on the 11th of April 1912. Later, we would learn whether that person survived.
My ticket was twenty-two-year-old Bridget Delia Bradley’s in third-class accommodation. Passengers entered the Titanic from different areas depending on their class status. It sent shivers through me as I gazed down at the rickety wooden pier where they left excitedly in tenders to the ship.
Mock-up rooms are realistic. Third-class cabins were tiny, and the guide told us that over seven hundred people shared two toilets. Inferior conditions compared to those travelling first-class, who had spacious, luxurious bedrooms and bathrooms.
After a guided tour and digital technological displays, the exhibition hall imparts fascinating details, from emotive personal accounts to a video showing the discovery of the wreck in 1985.
Last of all, I was pleased to find out that Bridget survived after being rescued from a lifeboat by the crew of RMS Carpathia, who responded to RMS Titanic’s Mayday call.
We needed sustenance after such an epic journey, so headed off to Casemate Square for lunch, where we found a bar bistro with the tastiest toasted sandwiches and the most refreshing soda drinks.
Revitalised with delicious food, and remembering the tourist information assistant’s advice, we marched uphill past houses known as ‘The Deck of Cards’, painted in rainbow colours with gabled roofs in a fairytale sort of way. We came across similar terraces throughout the afternoon, but these were the most impressive.
At the crest of West View Hill, we checked our map and were proceeding in the right direction for Colman’s Cathedral, French Neo-Gothic in style; it took over half a century to complete, and from its walkways, the vistas over the town and bay are astounding.
But we were hot on the Titanic Trail and wanted to pay our respects at the memorial garden, where an outstanding and poignant glass wall stands overlooking the waters where the renowned steamship was last anchored and sailed from.
It was a thought-provoking experience.
Until next time,
Sue. X