The Titanic story has moved many for more than 100 years. In 1997 sitting in theaters for the screening of James Cameron’s film Titanic, starring Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet, we felt like attending crying festivals.  

The sadness reemerged when we visited Titanic- The Artifact Exhibition in Melbourne  2 years ago and in Las Vegas the year after. The items on exhibition, recovered from the ocean floor, have emotional connections to those perished when the Titanic sank in North Atlantic, claiming 1517 lives.

Nothing, however, is more memorable than visiting Southampton in England, the place where RMS Titanic set sail for its maiden voyage to New York in 1912.

We rented a car in London; drove through M3 motorway and 90 minutes later arrived in green Southampton. The city is not promoted as a place where the maritime tragedy began and 549 of its residents on board the Titanic died. Rather, Visit Southampton regarded the city as the cruise capital of Northern Europe and a diverse city with a lot to offer in terms of world-class schools, shops, foods, arts and cultures.

Long before the Titanic, Southampton was already legendary as Pilgrim Fathers departed almost 400 years ago from London and stopped in Southampton for 14 days before it sailed to the new beginning in America.  A simple tall stone with a commanding aura stood next to the Mayflower Park in Western Esplanade, Outside Western Gate as a memorial to the historic voyage. Still, the Titanic is the primary interest for some people visiting Southampton.

The Sea City museum opened last year, a century after the tragedy, brings maritime history to life through an interactive experience designed for all ages.  At present the Sea City Museum, that costs 15 million GBP to build, has three main exhibitions: Southampton’s Titanic Story- how the disaster affected the city; Gateway to the city – lives and times of people in the city; Special Exhibition- Titanic the legend.

The Titanic Story was created to make visitors get the sense of Southampton in 1912, when it was home to more than 20 steamship companies. The White Star Dock, later known as Ocean Dock, opened in 1911. It was from there at Berth 44, that the Titanic left Southampton on 10 April 1912.

The Ocean Village marina provides information on Titanic Walking Tour of Southampton  pointing to places touched by the Titanic. It guided us to a white building with a dome, a restaurant called “Kuti’s Royal Thai Pier.” When the Titanic set sail in 1912, there was a pier there, opened in 1833 by Victoria, just before she became queen. 

The waterfront near the Thai pier is a popular place to hang out. When we visited the area in January, it was sunny but extremely cold, minus 2 Celsius in the late afternoon. Mr. Whippy ice cream truck was there, frequented by tourists. The ice cream man pointed to the East and informed us that the Titanic Memorial is only a kilometer away. He warned us it is usually off limit to visitors.

A friendly guard who manned the entrance to Dock 4 let us in and cautioned us not to venture away from the Titanic Memorial. Amid the sound of big trucks and trailers passing by we tried to figure out where Berth 44 is from afar. Dock 4 is still a working dock; hence it is quite dangerous for those not familiar with such condition. We stood in silence reading a plaque, breathing the air in the space where Titanic victims climbed aboard the ill-fated liner.

Came dinner time, we went back to Kuti’s Royal Thai Pier and enjoyed first the mixed starter, a selection of spring rolls, barbecued chicken wings, chicken satays, prawn toasts and fish cakes, served with peanut sauce, sweet chili sauce and cucumber salsa. Som tam, a spicy papaya salad is always our choice when ordering Thai food. We also ordered phad thai, fried Thai noodles, and ghai pad gra phao, wok-sautéed chicken with garlic and chili flavored with basil leaves.

It was a delicious meal, but our mind kept returning to the Titanic, remembering news of a few months earlier that two Titanic menus sold at UK auction for more than 100,000 GBP . Among the dishes listed on the first class menu were grilled muttonchops, round of spice beef and galantine of chicken. Trying hard to be in the present, we made a promise to return to Southampton for its other offers. On our next visit we should explore Southampton’s cultural and culinary scene, with respect to those who keep the Titanic memory alive.

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Images: John Whiles/Freedigitalphotos.net; BasPhoto/Shutterstock, Sea City Museum, Visit Southampton, Omar Niode Foundation