Post card from belfast in northern ireland

[Doc Vernon]

​Yes, I've caught up with my Scribblings. But it is really much too much to read -- well, maybe you can finish between now and, say, Christmas! But we are in Belfast today -- and of course the spectacular Titanic Museum, which is shaped like both the bow of a ship and an iceberg. The tragic sinking of that great ship (now some 104 years ago) remains both fascinating and appealing to many. The Museum here (photo below) is brilliantly done and in fact booming.


Wed Jul 6th Brooklyn (New York): Hail to the Queen! Yes, I just landed last Friday after an 8-night crossing on the Queen Mary 2, but we were "summoned" to lunch by the Queen, Cunard. Some 400 came to pay homage (press, travel agents, suppliers, port officials, investors in the parent Carnival Corporation, etc) – and there were guided tours, a Champagne welcome and a three-course luncheon in the grand Britannia Dining Room. Handshaking, chatter, picture-taking and – yes – everyone seemed pleased. Mickey Arison, chairman of mighty Carnival Corp, was aboard as well and would be crossing to Southampton (later that afternoon and then to Holland to dedicate a Carnival-built maritime training school). Actually, it would be his first crossing on a Cunarder since he was five, in 1954, when the Arison family sailed for New York on the Mauretania. Father Ted later founded Carnival Cruise Lines (1971) and the rest, as they say, is history. As we waved good-bye in the sizzling mid-afternoon summer heat, the Queen Mary 2 was gleaming, glowing, true maritime royalty.Thu Jul 7th New York City: The rattle of workmen's hammers! Aside from the great ocean liners, one of my other great fascinations is with skyscrapers, especially ones in Manhattan and especially the Art Deco ones. News today that several Downtown office towers are being progressively redeveloped as luxury residences. Rentals & sales are reportedly going well. My favorite, 70 Pine St, built in 1932 for Cities Services (an oil company) and once the 3rd tallest building in the world, is currently undergoing a $625 million conversion to residential and hotel spaces. Sample tabs: $2,800 monthly for a studio; $9,800 for a three-bedroom. And a swank restaurant on 62nd-66th floors will be opening next year. The 1926-built Barclay-Vesey Bldg, once the home of New York Telephone and later heavily damaged in the horrific 9/11 attacks, has a price list offering the likes of $1 million to buy a 16th floor studio while a 4-bedroom, 4-bath will go for $9 1/2 million. Meanwhile, the classic Woolworth Building, dating from 1913, will boast a multi-floor penthouse up near the 55th floor at $100 million. And then there's 1 Wall St, the 50-story former Irving Trust Company headquarters, and 101 Wall St, just across from the banks of the East River; both are also now being converted as well. The latter two are both vintage 1930. Fri Jul 8th Bayonne (New Jersey): My backyard! New York harbor is still busy – today, the biggest container ship yet to call at New York – at over 100,000 tons and carrying up to 12,000 40-ft containers full of freight – put into the big Global Marine Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey. Otherwise, work is progressing on the heightening of the roadway of the 1932-built Bayonne Bridge. The finished project will allow far larger, taller container ships to berth over in Elizabeth and Newark. Wed Jul 13th Bridgehampton (Long Island, New York): Paint brushes!Born in Rome, Giancarlo Impiglia is a brilliant, highly successful artist. His unique works can be seen almost everywhere: Manhattan towers, restaurants, the homes of the rich & famous and aboard the three Cunard Queens.Today, we visited Giancarlo & his lovely wife Nina in their home in the fancy Hampt0ns, on the far end of Long Island. Alone, the art-filled, 3,000-sq ft house was spectacular: grand dining room, splendid swimming pool & adjacent twin-story, well-lit studio. The decor was spectacular; the furniture often in carved Italian woods set against high '90s moderne. And just in case, the couple might need that quick cup of sugar, Madonna is a nearby neighbor while down the road -- yes, just a few steps -- are the likes of Isabella Rossellini, Martha Stewart, Kristie Brinkley & a handful of assorted billionaire tycoons. Lunch was straight off the pages of some gourmet magazine: gorgeously cooked pasta in a thick, baby tomato-based sauce topped by fresh Parmigiano cheese followed by a lettuce salad, cheeses & accompanied by the freshest of breads and then, for dessert, platters of fresh fruit: chilled, seedless watermelon, raspberries, strawberries & figs (and even a fig paste in a glass jar). And yes, Lemon cake & sweet cookies too. And it was all washed down with the nicest, finest of wines. Indeed, it was grand yet thoughtfully unpretentious dining on a summer's afternoon. Afterward, it was soft Italian melodies around the pool & then a late afternoon guided tour by car of tree & hedge lined country lanes, seemingly endless beaches & the high charm of quaint Sag Harbor.It was a stunningly memorable day -- yes, stunningly is a proper descriptive word.Mon Jul 25th: New York City: Sixty years tonight, there was a maritime tragedy. The ramming (on July 25^th) and then sinking of the Andrea Doria remains one of the most famous maritime disasters of the 20^th century. Myself, I well remember the television newscasts and newspaper headlines on the morning of 26^th July. The Doria had been rammed the night before by another liner, Sweden's Stockholm. It all seemed too sad, tragic, almost incomprehensible. Even I was in disbelief. How could the Andrea Doria sink? Perhaps, it was all a mistake. Still a schoolboy but already a devoted follower and observer of the great liners, I was puzzled. I asked a special favor of my father: Would he take me by car a day later, the 27^th, from Hoboken to the cliffs of nearby Weehawken to make absolutely sure that the Andrea Doria had not arrived. She was due at Pier 84, at the foot of West 44^th Street in midtown Manhattan and just across from Weehawken, on the morning of the 26^th. Soon after we arrived, I looked across, even in the fading light of a summer's evening, and the berth at Pier 84 was indeed empty. The Andrea Doria had not arrived as scheduled. Yes, she had sunk – the news reports were correct. Some thirteen New York City blocks north, the smallish, all-white Stockholm was in port. She had returned after having made an 11:30 am departure two days before, on Wednesday, the 25th. She was again at Swedish American Line's terminal, Pier 97 at the foot of West 57^th Street. She had not been due back in New York harbor for another month, until late August. The Stockholm was never one of the big, more imposing Atlantic liners – she was actually more of a passenger-cargo ship. But she seemed especially small on that July evening. Like a bad child, she almost seemed to be hiding, in disgrace, fearing punishment. To most, she was already the villain, the less important, little ship that sank the very important flagship of the entire Italian merchant marine and one of the post-Second World War's era finest new ocean liners. Tue Jul 26th New York City: It has been dark for eight years, a sort of cavity up front. 70 Pine Street in Lower Manhattan, possibly my top favorite skyscraper and very, very Deco (it dates from 1932), has been undergoing a $700,000,000 transformation into condos & a hotel. 66 floors made over. Well, the change is almost complete and tonight – with the flick of a switch – the Captain Video style upper tower was relighted. Cheers!Fri Jul 29th Secaucus (New Jersey): I was asked to write a foreword for a new book on the iconic QE2. It's time again to celebrate: She was launched almost 50 years ago, in September 1967. My reflections:The Queen Elizabeth 2 has to be among my favorite liners – and one that I made something close to 50 trips aboard: trans-Atlantic as well as cruises to Bermuda, Norway, Eastern Canada, the Caribbean and trans-Panama Canal.My very first trip was nearly fifty years ago, in November 1970. The ship was returning from her very first long cruise, Europe-Africa-South America, and I joined for the last 5 days, coming north from the Caribbean to New York. The ship was still quite new and therefore exciting – and the voyage itself was done in high style. I recall Gone With the Wind being shown in the theater in two parts. I also recall that, despite being the new $80 million Cunard flagship, the Company had obviously found a supply of red plastic swizzle sticks to be used in the bars. They all read Cunard-White Star, a title not used since 1950. On that voyage, in the Columbia Dining Room, I was seated close to two rather grand ladies – they were the mothers of Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.I gave many, many talks (beginning in 1980) aboard the QE2. She had the finest shipboard lecture program of her time. I once recall Meryl Streep being aboard and she followed me in the ship's theater. The list of others is very long. And as for the passengers, there was often someone recognizable strolling about. And the staff was pure Cunard – the great captains, hotel managers, stewards and restaurant waiters. I recall barman George Coleman, who served aboard Cunard ships for 51 years beginning with the Berengaria in 1936. Others dated from the Forties and of course so many had served on the earlier Queens – and many had great stories. In August 1988, I had just returned home (to New Jersey) from Japan. I would be returning to my job, as a middle school teacher in Hoboken, in a week's time. Suddenly, Cunard phoned – could I come to London and join the QE2. A film was being made. Well, I half-jokingly responded: "Well, if you send me on Concorde!" And to my great surprise they did – I had the unique opportunity to experience that extraordinary aircraft and what was then said to be the last Atlantic as well as the last big ocean liner. I have left out other things, I am sure, but variously I "launched" several new books in the Ocean Bookshop, had my 50th birthday luncheon in the Princess Grill and was aboard the QE2 for the very first tandem crossing (with the Queen Mary 2) in April 2004. And, with some sadness, I was aboard QE2's "Farewell to the British Isles" cruise in October 2008 followed by her final westbound crossing to New York. Yes, there are many connections -- I still miss the QE2!Sat Jul 30th Fort Schuyler (New York): A large, enthusiastic and very interested crowd gathered at SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, New York (just northeast of Manhattan itself) to commemorate 60 years since the sinking of the legendary Andrea Doria. There were a hundred or so in all -- divers, survivors, relatives of survivors, assorted maritime gurus, school staff and of course a good dose of ocean liner buffs. There was even two ladies and who spoke who were aboard an important rescue ship, the legendary Ile de France. And there were other speakers, exhibits of salvaged items(from brass fittings from the Doria to delicate tea cups), other assorted memorabilia from the ship and the Italian Line, a luncheon, a tour of the school's superb model & artifacts collection and then, like good sailors from Genoa itself, some of us went back to sea, well sort of, for a short ride in recovered Lifeboat #1 from the Doria. The 26-ft long boat has just been fully restored and now is all but spanking new. And rather appropriately, I launched my new book, Number 101, entitled Andrea Doria & Other Recent Ocean Liner Disasters. Yes, a great day was had by all! PS: The lifeboat itself will soon make its way to Detroit, traveling overland by truck, for the premier of a brand new docudrama on the Doria-Stockholm collision all those 60 years ago.Tue Aug 2nd New York City: Fancy dining!Back in my boyhood, I followed & watched all of the great skyscrapers (almost as much as the great ocean liners) of New York City. There were far fewer then, in the 1950s, and quite easily I knew almost all of them by name. On the East Side and north of 59^th Street, there were just three – the Sherry Netherland Hotel, the Pierre Hotel & the Carlyle Hotel. Today, as part of the City's Restaurant Week, we dined (for lunch) in the very fancy, 47-story Hotel Pierre, located along Fifth Avenue at 61^st Street. Thu Aug 4^th Union City (New Jersey): Memory lane: dinner tonight with Claire Stickel, 87 and looking very well. And an amazing memory! Claire was my high school typing teacher in 1963, some 53 yrs ago.Thu Aug 18^th New York City: A lemon-colored setting sun over New Jersey! Evening cruise with the Working Harbor Organization – a full crowd, I did the narration & icing on the cake: the most perfect weather. The bluest skies, Southwest style clouds & the Cityscape at its most seductive – absolutely radiant! Fri Aug 26^th Secaucus: Long lives! With a frown, she told me she's afraid her hearing might be starting to go. Ran into the delightful Connie today – always a bright light, so sharp, immaculate (flowery skirt & jeweled, white slippers). She's 102! (And ran into the former mayor of Secaucus days before. He's 103!)Mon Aug 29^th Secaucus: The shoe – or should I say the travel bag – was on the other foot! Just today, Michael flew off to London, Des left for Japan, my sister to the Dominican Republic and my two nearest neighbors are off as well (to the Jersey Shore & North Carolina). Yes, I was left at home!Sat Sep 3^rd Secaucus: Gray, showery day & so a turn to the TV. Fascinating, insightful documentaries on the end of the Second World War, in 1944-45. Myself, I always had a question: There has always been talk of the Nazi high command fleeing to Argentina as their sinister regime collapsed. There were no passenger ships running across the South Atlantic at time, however, and nor any long-distance aircraft. In the documentaries, however, it was finally revealed that the Nazis had built several large, powerful submarines. Proposals from the inner sanctums of Berlin were that Nazi leaders including Hitler himself might fly to Spain and these vessels would be waiting in ports in General Franco's cooperative dictatorship. The subs, with stops, would then secretly take the Nazi leaders to Juan Peron's Argentina. Another plan was to go to Antarctica by sub, then wait and later go somewhere in South America. Another was to sail around the Arctic and settle finally in Imperial Japan. For Hitler himself, there was yet another plan, near the very end, to secretly get him out of a Germany, then in ruins and very close to defeat in April 1945, and fly him to Nazi-occupied Norway, board a waiting sub and then sail around Britain and to the South Atlantic, to South America. Although Hitler did in fact die in his secret bunker in Berlin, in April 1945, there were lingering reports (and rumors) that "he" was "seen" in Buenos Aires throughout the 1950s and into the '60s. There were also reports that he lived on in deep disguise as a shepherd in Bavaria, a farmer in northern Spain and – perhaps most absurd – as a croupier in a Monte Carlo casino.Sun Sep 4^th Secaucus: Collecting! I have about 2,000 miniature ship models – and about 250 miniature skyscrapers & other structures. And I just read about a guy in the Mid East who had a collection of 32,000 little cars. Well, today, in a TV report, I came across the Washing Machine Collectors' Club – 3,000 members (since 1984 and all the way to Australia & Madagascar) and 95% male. The club president has 9 working machines in his own collection and has yearly meets, where other guys come (with dirty laundry in bags) and then sit around, load up, watch & listen. Together, they say they love the sound – "washer drain" is their favorite – and all while 1950s machines are their top favorites. The top member has 22 machines (all in working order, by the way) in his collection; another collects only turquoise models. But they all but swoon – and with cameras in hand – over a rounded 1938 Bendix. Afterward, it's lunch, a meeting & talk about, yes, washing machines!Tue Sep 6^th Southampton (England): Easy flight from Newark yesterday (plane only 50% full), overnight here & then afternoon boarding of the luxurious Silver Whisper. Wed Sep 7^th Fowey (Cornwall, England): Pure charm down in southwest England! A little harbor, fishing boats & crying sea birds, narrow streets & tiny cottages with painted doors. Perfectly, the settings here for many films & TV series (such as Ladies in Lavender, Poldark & Doc Martin). Otherwise, been to almost the ports on this itinerary & so not too much new or interesting to scribble about. But then of course being on hugely pampered, highly luxurious Silversea is a highlight in itself – pure shipboard fantasyland! Or as one woman said, "Mostly, I come just for the 'boat'! I just love cruising and being on a ship – and feeling the sense of a moving community."PS: Done this trip, all these ports, so less in these current Scribblings about ports & their highlights.
Thu Sep 8^th Cobh (Cork, Ireland): More charm!The historic port-city for millions who emigrated to America in the late 19^th & early 20^th century and, of course, the last stop (but then called Queenstown) for the ill-fated Titanic. Visit with our good friend Oliver Hawes (the local World Ship Society, etc). Drive out to the Old Head of Kinsale, southernmost tip of Ireland & coastline off where another infamous liner, the immortal Lusitania, was torpedoed & sunk in May 1915 (and with 1,198 lives lost). Small Lusitania museum with memorabilia. Fri Sep 9^th: Dublin (Ireland) Hustle'n bustle!Busy, vibrant, always welcoming capital city. Ireland's economy has revived – such that even the old harbor dockyard is being dismantled & made over as luxury housing.Sat Sep 10^th Belfast (Northern Ireland): Noted maritime city, especially for the Harland & Wolff shipyard, builders of the infamous Titanic & many other passenger ships. Visit & lunch with another good friend, Roy Larmour (ex-BBC News and frequent shipmate).