ORLANDO, Fla. -- The first interviews of survivors – and the first impressions of people across the world – of the ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise liner that ran aground and tipped over in Italy are yielding predictable comparisons to another tragedy.
"Have you seen `Titanic'? That's exactly what it was," said Valeria Ananias, a 31-year-old Los Angeles schoolteacher aboard the ship who crawled along nearly vertical hallways and stairwells in a desperate attempt to reach rescue boats.
Are such comparisons to a 100-year-old tragedy fair? Accurate? It seems that the world views the Concordia through a prism of fact, myth and fantasy that surrounds the Titanic, largely because of the popular movie that came out in 1997 and is being re-released in 3D this year.
Just ask the handful of people visiting "Titanic the Experience," a tour through recovered artifacts and replicas of the famed ship in Orlando.
"When I saw the Concordia on the news this morning, this is what I thought about," said Tom Keill, a Pennsylvania tourist who took the Titanic tour Sunday morning. He and his family shuffled past rooms that recreated first-class cabins, past the lavish replica staircase, past an actual deck chair that once sat on the vessel. (The restrooms in the museum are described by staff as being "through the gift shop, behind the wall and past the iceberg.")
Keill, like virtually everyone who has seen the movie, has thought about what they would have done during such a disaster – and now the Concordia allows us to update and refresh those thoughts. The vessel hit a reef or rock just off the coast of Italy, leaving five people dead and sending hundreds more searching for a way to escape as the boat tipped. Authorities said 15 people remain unaccounted for.
"It looked like it was sheer panic on the Concordia," said Keill, whose two young sons are "really into" Titanic history, which is why the family visited the exhibit while on vacation.
His son, 6-year-old Tyler Keill, was a bit more philosophical after walking past a piece of the Titanic's hull and a large piece of white frost meant to replicate the iceberg that the Titanic struck.
"It's really sad that the Titanic is history," Tyler said to his mom while in the gift shop that sells Titanic replica china, jewelry and 100th anniversary mugs. "But life goes on and we learn from our past."
Tags: Bieber, carlos santana, from justin, Justin, Justin Bieber, justin bieber baby, Justin Bieber Plays Piano, Let It Be, Perform, Piano, plays, Pop, Rhythmic, Rockin, Santana, Sings, Teen Pop,promo codes,kindle,promotional codes,lady ga ga,promotion codes,free downloads music,the latest songs,the grammys,latest new music,movies to watch,watch movies watch movies,how to watch movies online,stream movies,stream the movie,internet movies,the movie list,the grammys,top 100 songs,where to travel to,death at,at cases,latest news in la,at and t,the htc,at at phones,at cases,cell phones,latest news in la,recent news,current news,android phones,today news,news today,in the news today,news for today,the news today,international news,india news,current events,local news,news articles,to do application,current event,newspaper articles,national news,business news,my touch 4g,make a app,mytouch 4g,the 4g phone,4g phone,what is a 4g phone,get to new york,how to make a mobile,todays news,latest breaking news,how to make a tv,recent breaking news,news of georgia,via the phone,updated news,4g phones,at t 4g,current breaking news,samsung epic 4g,latest news india,nexus s 4g,4g att,att 4g,cases for the samsung galaxy,latest news online,latest headlines
Via: HuffingTonPost
