Monday, January 22, 2018

"Feed the Birds" and Other Oratorical Opportunities

Hello!

We just returned from a weekend excursion in London. It was absolutely fantastic! It was a whirlwind 48 (ish) hours. 

The London Eye from Westminster Bridge

We took the bus into London, leaving Oxford at 8:10 am. It was an early morning, so most of us dozed all the way to London. We got off the bus at the Victoria bus stop and walked over to Buckingham Palace to read William Blake's "London" aloud. Surprise, it was the changing of the guard! There were huge crowds and two marching bands, so our professor thinks it was fancier than normal. Either way, it was fascinating! We read the poem aloud in sync with each other, which I'm sure looked totally crazy to anyone watching us. 

Our day continued with a tour of Westminster Abbey. We were unfortunately unable to take photos inside of the Abbey, but just believe me when I say it was amazing. My favorite part of the Abbey was the Lady Chapel. It is an incredibly intricately decorated section of the building designed to honor the Virgin Mary. The Tudor family, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and some of their extended family, and Oliver Cromwell are a few notable individuals buried there. I do have to chuckle at Oliver Cromwell though, for someone who despised the trappings of the monarchy he didn't seem to have any trouble taking them on himself. In the adjoining room, Elizabeth I and Mary I are buried together in addition to the bodies of the princes killed in the tower (Edward V and Richard, Duke of York). In the room to the right there are the tombs of Mary, Queen of Scots, Margaret Beaufort, and Margaret Dudley. I love the family connection present even in death. 

Westminster Abbey

The whole class outside Westminster Abbey.

After Westminster Abbey, we took the tube to Borough Market for a late lunch (it was 2:00 pm). Lunch was lovely, but the real excitement was the raspberry mouse tart I had for dessert. 

This is the tart. It was amazing.

After lunch we walked along the Thames towards the Millennium Bridge. We walked past the Golden Hinde and The Globe. Walking across the Millennium Bridge you head straight towards St. Paul's Cathedral. The sun was just beginning to set and the lighting was lovely. I also managed to refrain from singing "Feed the Birds" (so basically all those Mary Poppins rehearsals were a waste of time). We walked along Fleet Street to Trafalgar Square before heading to Seven Dials to drop our bags off at the hotel. After a brief 45 minute rest we were off to dinner and a play.

A different version of the Madeline outside the Globe picture than the one I got last year.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Trafalgar Square at sunset

We were able to see Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap; the longest running play in British history. The play has been running for 66 years which is incredible! It was a fantastic experience, and even though I don't like guessing the murderer I was kept on my toes the entire time. 

The next morning we started off at the British Museum for a 2 hour chunk of time. While there, we had to journal about our favorite room and sketch an object that spoke to us. The journaling I am okay with, the sketching I am not. This is the second time I have been to the British Museum, and it did not disappoint. My favorite exhibit was the section on Great Migrations in European History- I think there are a lot of parallels to the conditions in the world today. Another highlight was seeing Cleopatra's sarcophagus and mummy. 

After lunch at the museum we were set free for an hour and a half scavenger hunt throughout Bloomsbury. We were given a list of places to find and maps of London. It was pouring down rain, but it was one of my favorite experiences of the trip so far. My group didn't win, but it was still amazing. 

A statue of Gandhi in the rain. I was struck by the beauty and melancholy of this scene.

We ended our excursion in London with the British Library. We went to see the exhibit on the British Library Treasures. I could write a whole blog post about this, but I'll try to restrain myself. We weren't able to take pictures, but I have a lot of mental snapshots. My absolute favorite was one of Jane Austen's surviving notebooks. I probably stood and stared at it for a good 10 minutes (I'm sure the people around me though I was a little weird). We were also able to see the Magna Carta (!), Martin Luther's 95 theses (because PLU follows us everywhere), sketches from DaVinci and Michelangelo, the Gutenberg Bible, and a digitized version of Jane Austen's History of England. I could live in the British Library and never get tired of it. 

This is completely off topic, but here is a picture of 17 Boulter Street (aka me and my housemates)

To end this post I want to give a huge shoutout to Dr. Allinson. She managed to lead 12 people around London without ever outwardly appearing stressed. She was upbeat and helpful the entire time, and always made sure we were enjoying the experience and learning. Thank you Dr. Allinson!

Madeline

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