Bath, England

So we wake up the next morning and start to get ready for our 2 hour train ride to Bath. I was excited for this-- to see some more of the countryside and also to see the Roman Baths, which I've heard so much about.

Ann booked this FABULOUS bed and breakfast that is fancier than anything I've ever seen in the UK. I felt like lifestyles of the rich and famous. Not only was our little concierge guy incredibly accomodating (and cute) but they also served us tea in the garden upon our arrival. The view and garden of this Paradise Hotel was amazing. I'll post a picture of the garden here, but I knew as I snapped them that they would not do the place justice.

After a nice spot of tea, we decided to hit the city center and do some wandering around to get an idea of what we'd do the next day. We shopped for a bit. (I found a green skirt that's really cute for only £5. and a pair of earrings for 83p.) Then we had dinner at the Pump Room, which is attached to the Roman Baths. The squares had musicians galore and though there were tourists everywhere, it was lovely to just sit back, have a glass of wine and enjoy the scenery. The Bath Abbey is also in the square, and is a gorgeous church. Two of the spires have Jacob's Ladder on the front, and angels are scultped in to the stone as they climb their way to the top.

After dinner at the Pump Room, we started to walk home and I had a pint at the Lion and Lamb (which I thought was funny because it's also the name of a Christian bookstore back home). I met some great chaps who go to the uni there. We talked about all sorts of things, though this particular bartender was telling me HIS lifestory. From what I always gathered about stereotypical bar visits on television and elsewhere, I thought the PATRONS were supposed to unload THEIR life stories on the bartenders. Not this time. But still it was a great way to meet some locals and get a feel for what the Bath area is like. Obviously the smaller towns are incredibly different from metropolitan busy London. It's a nice getaway. Each time I visit a different town here I can't decide which I would prefer to live in. London always feels like home as I approach Waterloo station and walk down the Thames, but the smaller towns offer a lot for those who live there as well. Interesting to say the least.

I then went back to the room for a final cup of tea before bed. I was able to enjoy it in the bathtub in our room. THE BATHROOM THERE WAS GORGEOUS!!!! For the first time in my life I was able to soak in a bathtub with claw-feet. It sat directly in the middle of the enormous bathroom and was absolutely blissful. (Mind you I've spent most of my time here showering in a trailer-sized shower with no shower-curtain). It was heavenly. I was so lucky Ann picked this fancy place. And thankfully she brought ear plugs so I don't think my log-sawing/snoring bothered her at all. :o)

St. Paul's, Portobello Road and Mary Poppins

Another big day of touristing!

Day two of Ann's stay (while I'm here too), and we took off to see St. Paul's again. I'm absolutely in love with this church. I finally paid the admission to get in and walked around to pay close attention to the detail inside the church. I also went up over 200 steps to the top of the dome. At the top, you can whisper into the wall and it bounces off the other walls and can be heard 32 metres away. Pretty neat. From up there the people look like little ants. The hallways and staircase leading up to the dome and whispering wall are so small that I could touch both elbows on either wall while walking through it. I honestly don't' know how anyone much larger/taller than me could get through. But getting up to the top and stepping outside was worth it. I could see my city, and take pictures of it all. The weather was perfect and the view amazing. I took so many pictures. I'm starting to get that achy- "going home soon" feeling and want to be sure I've embedded these memories into my brain. I don't want to forget how awe-inspiring everything is here. I know that the daily routine of home/school is going to quickly mask the passion I've found here for everything British.

After St. Paul's (which incidentally was exhausting) Ann and I split up so she could go do a brass rubbing and I could hit Portobello Road Market, which was on my list of things-to-do. It was great. I'm going back next week with more cash so I can buy this great jacket (will be the third jacket I purchase here but whatever) that I found for only £20. The streets were lined with merchants selling antique books, china, jewelry, music, clothing, etc. I bought two pretty shirts that are floral and not like anything I would normally buy. But I love them.

Then after getting home, I quickly changed clothes so Ann, Meredith and I could go see Mary Poppins in Leceister Square. It was so great! We had seats in the 5th row, which are normally £60 seats ($120) and we got them for only £30. It was fantastic.

Then home again to get to sleep and packed for our day trip to Bath.

Big day of touristing.

So yesterday (Friday) Ann and I walked down the Thames over to Westminster Abbey. I've been there before, and it's amazing. We walked around and looked at all the graves, headstones, monuments, etc. There are a LOT of dead people in there. I kept wondering how sanitary it is to be walking amongst all of these dead people. I doubt they had very good sealing devices back in the 1200s, etc. I'll bet I was inhaling a lot of old gross stuff I won't get into here.

At any rate, I meandered around Poet's Corner, and paid my respects to Charles Dickens, Ben Jonson (ahhhh-- sigh), Rudyard Kipling, etc. Oddly enough Charles Darwin is buried there. He doesn't have a neat epitaph or anything...just a name and dates. I suppose that's all the church could go with though-- seeing as they really thought he was full of nonsense (putting it nicely).

From the Abbey, we hopped on the tube and had lunch over at the Victoria and Albert museum. It was the first proper meal I'd had in a while-- lamb and vegetables. I think my body went into shock from the nourishment of broccoli. I have been eating a lot of meat and bread....I hope I don't come home with scurvy.

From the V&A we walked through Hyde Park, past the Albert monument into Kensington Gardens.

The Prince Alfred monument is in Hyde Park, which is somewhat attached to Kensington Gardens. I've posted two pictures of the Alfred Monument here. I hadn't ever seen it before and was absolutely awestruck by it's massive size. Apparently Queen Victoria was devastated when her husband died (I think he died pretty young) and she erected a monument with representatives from each continent in the world at his feet. It's stunning and somewhat out of place amongst all of the green in Hyde Park, but I had to include another picture from far away to attempt to show the magnitude of its size.

Ann is a Princess Diana freak, so we went into Kensington Palace, which was pretty neat...though they had this weird shrine-type exhibit of her dresses and pictures of her...and even wallpaper with her image all over it...very strange. But I'm glad we went. Then we had tea & scones at the Orangery (picture), which used to serve as a greenhouse on the grounds of Kensington Gardens. It was a beautiful day, and did I mention that I love tea breaks? hahaha. I do have pictures, and will put them up soon.

Then we came back home to rest before walking down the Thames in the other direction to take Ann down to Doggett's, a pub right near Blackfriar's Bridge. It's so beautiful to just walk down the river, half of the fun is just getting where you're going. I don't know how I'm going to appreciate my grandview walks after the ones I get daily here.

At any rate, we eventually parted ways. I wanted one more pint so I headed to the Stamford Arms and met some really nice people. One much older gentleman who wouldn't let me walk home alone. Really, he had a cane and terrible osteoporosis, so I offered to help HIM walk halfway home.

I adore the terms of endearment people say to me all the time. I like being called "love", "dahlin", "sweets", etc. Why can't we adopt this type of speak in the states? It's really good for your self-esteem, even if they don't really mean it.

Alright I'm going to go meet Ann and let her know that I got us tickets to see Mary Poppins tonight! Hooray! More later....
xx

13 hours on a bus. No Lie.

And this picture pretty much sums it up.

The bus was supposed to take 9 hours but instead took 13. I ate more biscuits, chocolate and crisps in those 13 hours than I have in the last 5 years. More details on THAT exciting busride later, when I've recovered.

Ann's here!!!!! It felt SO GOOD to see someone who knows me. Today I'm not sure what we'll do but it will be fun, I'm sure! More later...

Edinburgh-- details of visits.

Well, I'm currently on a bus headed back south to London. I have about an hour and a half of power left on my laptop, so I thought I'd use this time to catch everyone (including myself) up on all the things that have happened in the past few days.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, on Sunday we went to Edinburgh Scotland, which is a lovely and beautiful town. It was a long 9 hour journey on a bus. The bus itself was great, but I really felt as though I lost an entire day of the trip just sitting on a coach. I thought we were taking a train, but I was mistaken. At any rate, they showed movies, and we could stretch out a bit, so that was nice. And the weather was lovely, so I was able to see some of the beautiful northern English countryside. I have never seen so many sheep in my entire life. Much of the land around England reminded me of back home in northeastern Ohio. I woke up after a nap on the trip at one point and didn't know where I was.

I've also seen three rainbows in the last three days, which I believe is a sign...of some sort. I'll figure it out later. But they're very pretty. :o)

But the first night we arrived in Edinburgh (Sunday), Rachel and I went on a “terror tour” that started at 10pm and took us around to the scary parts of Edinburgh, and ended in the underground vaults. It was interesting (to learn of a parking lot that covers what used to be a “plague pit” of thousands of dead bodies) and the vaults were spine-chilling. There were several separate rooms that were previously hideouts for the homeless, back when being homeless was a crime punishable by death. There is a supposed poltergeist in one of the rooms and there were other rooms that I wanted to RUN OUT of immediately after I'd walked in. It was creepy and scary....and loads of fun.

Monday morning we headed off to the National Library of Scotland. There, two individuals who work at the library spoke to us for about 2 hours. One of the speakers, David- was the conservator and (from what I gathered) the main coordinator of the John Murray exhibit. John Murray was a publisher who published some of the most famous British literature starting in the 1700s going through 7 generations to 2002. Some of the works published by Murray include: Darwin, Jane Austen, numerous famous politicians, Lord Byron, and many many others. The collection was valued at 45 million pounds, and eventually was sold to the National Library for 32 million pounds. The National Library acquired the collection with funding assistance (17.7 million POUNDS) from the Heritage Lottery, which was the largest grant/donation ever given.

The John Murray exhibit far exceeded my expectations. Again, we had the opportunity to speak with individuals who were charged with the responsibility of putting together the collection, working alongside designers to create an innovative and entertaining exhibit for visitors. They explained their marketing campaigns to us, what they had hoped to achieve with this exhibit, etc. After the description of how it was put together, we finally were able to visit the exhibit and see how it all worked out.

What they did was remarkable. Because the collection is mainly books, letters and manuscripts of famed authors, politicians, etc., they wanted to create something that intrigued people and didn't require an enormous amount of reading. The script that was written on these documents is difficult to read, and then there is also the transcript that one would have to read in addition to the item on display. In order to give the PEOPLE who wrote these items a historical context for the visitor, the library created individual exhibits for each author like none other I've seen. Inside each glass case with the manuscript/book/letters, clothing that represents the individual is hanging to illustrate the stature and presence of the person. Interactive touch screen computers then work with the lighting in the exhibit booths to highlight the items and list why they are being displayed with this particular person's work. For example- Lord Byron was known as a somewhat narcissistic ladies' man- so, they placed a hand-held mirror and love letters in his exhibit. Each author on display had their own “booth” of sorts that had a virtual likeness portraying them. The lighting, layout and interactive touch screen technology allows visitors to listen to audio or read the items in the exhibit, whichever they prefer.

Truly, I was astonished with how well this worked. And it has since increased my expectations of museum exhibits and the way they are laid out and designed. Because the John Murray collection is so large (roughly 200K items), and the space where it is displayed is so small, they plan to rotate the exhibits. I was particularly interested in the digitization (or digitisation) efforts underway with this collection, as they hope to make much of the exhibit available online. I was lucky enough to get David's contact information to email him with additional questions regarding this project. The people at the National Library of Scotland were incredibly kind and informative, and generous...with tea and biscuits. I love tea and biscuits breaks, and believe we should make them required in the states.

From the National Library, we then trekked over to the National Archives, which are currently undergoing renovations, so we weren't able to go around the building much. However, a specialist did give us a nice talk on their collections, which I found enthralling. Though we weren't able to access the archives themselves, they did bring certain books/scrolls/letters out to us for us to read. We were actually able to handle these items (carefully of course). One of my favorites was the first written instance (that they knew of in Scotland) of the ingredients being purchased to make whisky. The scroll it was written on dated back to the 1400s! And again I was offered contact information regarding their digitization projects as well. And again we were given tea and biscuits. So I'm a fan of Scotland. They're incredibly kind and generous with tea and biscuits.

Tuesday we had a research day, which meant I spent it trudging up to Edinburgh Castle and paying nearly 20 dollars (11 pounds) to walk around inside. I was a little disappointed by it, but I'm not quite sure what I expected really. The view from the top was amazing, and walking the Royal Mile was quite exhausting. My throat had been hurting and I assumed I was allergic to some of the very strange plants they had on campus. But as it turns out the next day (Wednesday) I woke up feeling sick so I guess it's the common cold.

I stuck pretty close to campus Wednesday, after first doing a little more souvenir shopping and visiting the writer's museum. That was interesting, mainly because I really enjoyed the house the museum was in. It was a part of the Old City before it was turned into a museum, so it had really interesting layouts and the staircases were neat. One of the staircases had one step within it that was a little higher than the rest of the steps, in order to deter strangers (I'm assuming home invaders) from being able to get up the steps unnoticed by the home owners.

The Writers' Museum had information about three main writers from Scotland: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. I wish I had recently read some of their work so I would've found it a little more interesting. Most of the exhibits had interesting notes, letters and objects that were owned by the authors during their lifetime. But after having been to the John Murray exhibit, and understanding the amount of effort the National Library of Scotland put into that display, well I wasn't that impressed with the writer's museum. I'm glad we went, but I think between my head-cold and the rain and not having read anything recently by the prominent writers in the exhibit, I was ready to take a bath and a nap.

And now I'm headed back to London. And I'm so glad I finally got to talk to Ann last night, a friend who's coming to visit me here. I was really worried we wouldn't get in touch. I'm also hoping the weather clears up a little bit, as it's been raining all day and pretty dreary. I still don't feel very good but I suppose if I have to spend all day on a bus, the day I am sick would be the best day to do it, right?

Alright that's all for now. I'll try to get more in later. I have a mini-break until July 31st. Miss you all!

Safely in Edinburgh

Pronounced Ed-in-burr-ah FYI.

I'm in Scotland. There's a mountain (Arthur's Seat) that I can see from just about anywhere on campus. The dorms are so nice that I feel like I'm in some sort of posh hotel. The weather is much chillier, but I was able to wear my new jacket.

Yesterday I went to the National Archives and the National Library of Scotland. I'm just going to post some pictures and will get into more detail about it all later. Internet availability is costing me 3 pounds/day and is only available in two rooms on campus. Thank god I brought my laptop. But I don't want to spend the entire day stuck in this room on the computer so I'll likely finish up this blog later on with more details. Just wanted you all to know that I'm here, I'm safe, it's even more beautiful than I thought it would be, and I STILL don't want to come home.

And on this busy street, if you look down the hill....there's water.

Weekend

So this weekend, let's see....

Friday I had a research day, so I went to the British Library again. I love that place. I finally got to go into their conservation centre, which was very VERY interesting and interactive. The BL is the National Archive for Recorded sound, and you're able to see the various processes they use to restore old recordings from wax cylinders from the 1890s. I actually HEARD Florence Nightingale speak on a recording. Amazing! They also go over the various types of infestations and damages books incur through the years, and discuss how they treat them. They also go into a lot of detail regarding the best type of conservation procedures for particular types of books-- and discuss the importance of keeping the cultural origin/type of the book in tact. I loved it.

Then I walked around the Treasures Gallery, because I can't get enough of staring at the Gutenberg Bible...the Magna Carta, Shakespeare's First Folio...I felt like I could lay on the floor and sleep surrounded by all of these marvelous things.

And then Saturday I did some light shopping, homework, and nothing huge other than a wild night of dancing in Camden Town...FUN.

And then Sunday I mainly did laundry and packed up for Scotland. I also did some shopping on Regent Street. They're having incredible sales and I managed to get a great winter coat for only £30!

We leave in an hour for Scotland so I'm pretty excited about that. We're going to their National Library of Scotland and then the Writer's Museum. I have a ton of school work to do so I'll be scoping out internet connections once I get there.

I'd mentioned before St. Paul's Cathedral Library. And the librarian there who works there only 3 days a week is a lovely and well-spoken gentleman who offered to answer any additional questions we may have regarding their collection. Well, I emailed him. And he's agreed to meet with me and answer some additional questions in the library on Friday the 31st. Words cannot describe how honored and special I feel that I will be working with THE librarian in charge of a collection that dates back to 1350. Amazing. I can't wait to pick his brain and ask him how they handle the environmental issues in that enormous structure-- how they regulate the temperature in a building with stone walls and gigantic windows....ahhhhh!

I'm such a nerd but I'm so incredibly excited. I just don't want to sound stupid so I have to get some questions together for him. Anyone out there have any particular questions YOU'D like to ask the librarian at St. Paul's Cathedral? If so-- let me know. :o) I'm literally giddy with excitement over one-on-one time with this guy! (Nerd-alert.)

Alright well i have some things to do before we get on our 4 hour train to Scotland. Is it bad that I still don't really want to come home????

Thursday: Oxford again

I love Oxford. Even though we went before, I still love this town. (Being from Columbus, I think I have a soft-spot in my heart for college-towns.)

We got up insanely early, and I was not happy with the vending machine Nescafe Cappucino I was subjected to in lieu of my typical Java Stop.

We took the Tube to Paddington station (yes, with all of the Paddington bear stuff) and then a train from Paddington to Oxford. I love trains. They make me sleepy and you can stare out the window at the countryside. I've noticed that most of the farm animals here are pretty lazy. The horses, sheep and cattle are usually laying down for some reason. They can't ALL be sick, can they?

At any rate, we had a guided tour (as a class) of the Bodleian Library. I was REALLY excited for this tour.

We started off in the Divinity School, which is the oldest part of the college and built in 1420. You can tell it was originally a theological institution, as the room itself is incredibly ornate. If you're a Harry Potter fan, you may recognize this room as being the Infirmary at Hogwarts, AND Professor Madonagal's (sp?) Ballroom Dancing School. This room took 65 years to complete.

As you can see in this picture, this room was used for examination, mainly what we would call "defending dissertations" today. The student would sit in the corner, the professor across from him, arguing his research findings. A Regent's Master would sit in the middle (right behind my head) and act as a "judge" of sorts to keep things in line. All oral examinations were in Latin, and they could take hours or days to complete. Students who attended Oxford did not study only one area, they were required to become masters of all areas: Mathematics, Juris Prudence (law), Philosophy, and Medicine. Yikes!

This particular room's ceiling is a celebration of the contributors to the building itself, as it took so long to build because the school was continually running out of money. In addition, because of the constant back and forth between Protestantism and Catholicism, the windows (used the be stained glass) were destroyed. The crucifix above the door is gone. A sculpture of St. Peter (in the ceiling) was decapitated. In 1424, they began building the second level of this Divinity School, which became the library. The library itself didn't open until 1602 when it was finished.

The vaulted ceilings in one of the more recent rooms (This is the convocation house) were created to help support the upper level library. So though they are ornate and beautiful, they do have a purpose. The room seen here is the Convocation house, where administrators and faculty would meet. The throne in the middle was created for the Chancellor. And apparently, when the plague was ravaging London (around 1620), Parliament would meet in this room. Very cool.

Upstairs I was able to STAND IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY which was basically torture. Of course no one is allowed to touch any of the books, and of course you have to have a reader's card, and a specific explanation for whatever it is you're looking for. I mean, I highly doubt someone's going to hand over a manuscript I'd like to peruse that was written in the 1350s. Jeesh.

The strangest thing I noticed immediately was the shelving of the books, which were spine-in. Apparently, the books were previously chained to the shelves themselves so no one could check anything out. They still have a sample of what this looked like. And of course I couldn't take any pictures of the books. And for some reason I'm having a hard time finding images on google (or their website) to show you here. So you'll just have to wait until I get back with my informational guidebook of the library. (Or, if you're interested in Oxford in general, there's a picture gallery here.) But you can take my word for it. The ceiling of this library is all wooden panels, and no two are identical. They all have different colors of open books (which is the bottom of Oxford) on them, and each read (in Latin) "Lord is my Life". There are 9 satellite Bodleian libraries, some of which you may check out books, but of course this is a reference-only institution.

Some of the benefactors to the library include: the Rockefeller foundation (1933), Oliver Cromwell (1654), Kenneth Grahame (the Wind in the Willows proceeds after his death went to the Bodleian).

We then trekked to the Radcliffe Camera, which is a round building with two reading rooms (Upper and Lower levels). This building opened in 1749 but wasn't owned by the Bodleian until 1860. This place was breathtaking. I wanted to lay in the middle of the floor and read a book or just look at the dome-ceiling. The Bodleian's conveyor belt (materials handling system) beneath the library delivers the books to readers in either of these two levels. Again, no pictures of the inside, so sorry folks. BUT- Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass book is being turned into a movie called Northern Lights. And it was JUST filmed in this building, the Radcliffe Camera.

We then walked beneath the Camera underground through the tunnel to where they house the REALLY valuable stuff. (J Floor, if you're ever interested in stealing incredibly valuable books). The conveyor belt system is hilarious-- as it was installed in 1940 (talk about forward-thinking!) and it looks incredibly archaic, but still works wonderfully.

So we ended our trip to the library, and had the rest of the day to ourselves...in Oxford. I ended up shopping because things are much cheaper in the smaller towns surrounding London. I ended up getting stationery (I really need to stop buying paper here...it's starting to get ridiculous) and trinkets for people back home. Oh, AND a pair of jeans and a jacket. And jewelry. Okay so I bought a lot of things, but it was totally worth it and I don't feel bad about it at all.

I have more pictures of Oxford and I look forward to sharing them all with you when I get home. I can't believe this trip is halfway over already!

Wednesday Research Day

So Wednesday was a "research day" which means you can either sit in the computer lab all day and try to catch up, or you can go out and visit another site on your own...or gather research for your papers. Yea....that's tough. By the time I get an entire day to myself I don't know which direction to go...I feel like the days go by so fast and there are too many things I need to do each day. Even with the extra hours of daylight they are over so quickly.

So I started off doing some quick research to see WHAT I could find more information about so I could pick a solid topic for at least ONE of my papers. Yea....that is hard. I decided to go to the United Kingdom National Archives (all the while scolding myself for never having seen the U.S. National Archives). It's about a 40 minute Tube ride...and that's if you get on the right train. A couple of flub-ups on the train lines (I picked the wrong one...an easy mistake) I eventually arrived at the Kew Gardens stop, which is a quick 10 minute walk to the National Archives.

The Kew area is "kewte"...hehe I couldn't resist. I took some pictures of the things I saw initially getting off the train. (Notice that Kew has itw own "storefront library") Kew appears to be a suburb just like any other...tiny houses lining streets and small shops and pubs on the corners. It was a gorgeous day, so I started my walk down to the National Archives. After passing through the gates of the building, well I was overwhelmed by how out-of-place the building looked in comparison to its quaint surroundings. But it's a beautiful place...surrounded by water and very modern.

And as soon as I walked through the doors of the National Archives....well, I was told that their museum and exhibits were closed. All I was able to view was a COPY of the Domesday book and the chest it was housed in. I was not pleased. Of course I was invited to enjoy a £5 coffee in their restaurant or perhaps purchase some souvenirs regarding genealogy at the gift shop, but otherwise that was it...until April 2008 the exhibit is CLOSED. I was so upset! It was a long trip, I was excited to see it, I was by myself, etc.

I was planning on using the Archives visit as one of my off-site (not required) visits for one of the assignments I have. Obviously, since all I was able to see was the gift shop and some replica of a book, this would not work. So, the only other thing remotely interesting at this tube stop was Kew Gardens. I'm typically not the Garden-y type, but I've heard they are beautiful, and figured it was worth it since I made the trip. So I walked all the way over there, paid £12 to get in, and started walking. And it is truly stunning. I went on the perfect day, and took amazing photos. But there is only so much one can do in a garden...without a book to read. So I walked around, took in the sights and smells (that's one thing I wish I could convey on this blog...the fragrant lavendar.....amazing!) and basically walked the paths of the garden for about an hour before I started to wonder if I was getting sunburnt...and headed back to the Tube.

The entire time I was walking this garden, I kept thinking, how am I going to explain this garden being relevant to libraries?! I can't-- it's basically a really pretty yard. It's a garden for Pete's Sake! And I wasn't about to shell out another handful of cash to visit Kew Palace. I continued taking gorgeous pictures and pondering the tie in between library science and the garden. Then I came upon this Taxonomy in Action sign. A-Ha! This is precisely the tie-in between libraries and Kew Gardens. Classification of plants. They're all labeled- they're all organized, they all must be cared of in precise ways, because the plants are from all over the world, have different requirements for sustinence, and of course- the groundskeepers need to know where they put everything! So there it is....taxonomy.

So after my long trek through the gardens (and certainly not even seeing half of them) I headed back on the Tube to Waterloo station, and had some pints with Rachel before going to bed. It was a long day, and I'm glad I went out to Kew. I'm finding that the things I'm most fascinated by tend to be things I don't plan. I had no intention of paying nearly $24. for a walk around a garden, but it ended up being a really good idea-- and a really peaceful place to settle-down in my head and just soak in the surroundings.

Tuesday: St. Paul's Cathedral Library

Hi all,

Well I've been procrastinating this post because I did so much yesterday that I knew this would be a long one. In addition to all I saw I just have so many things to say about it!

This morning our class outing was to the St. Paul's Cathedral Library. It's not that big, small in fact, when compared to the rest of the building. Because I couldn't take pictures in the building (or I could and not publish them anywhere) I'm having to pull pictures off of and link you to the website, to get an idea of what I experienced. Probably better off that way anyhow, because I found there are virtual tours here, so you can actually see a moving image of what I did today.

Upon getting to St. Paul's, I realized that (like my adoration for Big Ben) I have a hard time limiting the number of pictures I take of this building. It's so large that it's impossible to grasp unless you're right up next to it. I have a ton of pictures of the sky and PART of the building, but in order to see the whole building, one would have to cross the river and take a picture. You can see me here, in front of the building...I'm a spec compared to only a few of the many pillars outside the main entrance.

(Oh, and the sky was beautiful today. When I took this picture of the dome next to the sun, I could not look directly into the camera, as the combination of the sun and the glare off of the gold cross on top of the dome made it almost impossible to see. )

At any rate, we first ventured up the Geometric Staircase, which some of you may recognize from Harry Potter. There is a virtual tour for that, too. It was scary- climbing up 90 steps that appear to be hanging in mid-air, though our librarian told us not to fear-- they're incredibly sturdy. Though the staircase itself is not recommended for people with a fear of heights OR bouts of vertigo. Ha! I managed to get up there unscathed and without losing my breakfast.

When we arrived at the top, we were taking into what was originally created as a Reading Room, evident by the plasters on the building walls: vines with quill pens, ink pots, books, etc. intricately woven into the design. In this room, Wren's original model of the building itself remains, made of oak and plaster, at about 1:25 scale. It's huge, so huge that I wondered how it ever got in and out of that room. The librarian working with us said it has only left the room a few times, one of which when it visited the States in the 90s...and then he mentioned that would NEVER happen again. Ha ha ha...

This entire time we were "behind the scenes" of this gorgeous church. the library itself (pictured above) was crammed full of books that had since been acquired after the fire of 1666, mostly by Henry Longdon/Henry Compton (a bishop who got a hold of other collections for aquisitions.) A plaque remains by a statue of his bust stating, "I came to it burnt down, and left when it built up."

I found numerous things about this library interesting. First off, most of the books are held together with binding wraps, as the boards are broken. The library itself is open to all who "can make good use of it", though I have a feeling they are selective in who makes "good use". Our guide is also the only librarian on staff there, and is currently embarking on a conservation project. I asked for his email address and am hoping to meet with him later this week to discuss this project, among some other things for a research paper I hope to write on U.S. and U.K. methods of preservation of print materials (mainly books).

At any rate, I love this building, and am excited to hopefully speak with the librarian again to get more information and more hands-on (or shall I say hands-off!!!) experience there and discuss conservation of materials that are apparently available to the public.

After this visit, we were left to explore on our own again. Rachel and I had been planning a visit to the Wellcome Collection, which is part of the Wellcome Trust. From their website:

"The Wellcome Trust is an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health. Established in 1936 and with an endowment of around £13 billion, it is the UK's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research."

What intrigued us about these galleries, were adverts in the tube explaining just some of what's on display. There were three exhibits, The Heart, Medicine Man, and Medicine Now, all of which were free. (Bonus!) Strangely enough, Henry Wellcome (and his partner Mr. Burroughs) were Americans, who came to England after starting their pharmaceutical company in 1880. After Burroughs died, Wellcome set up some research facilities to study further medical related issues.

In addition to being a scientist of sorts (and obviously an entrepreneur) he was an avid collector of medical-related artifacts. The galleries we visited included The Heart (illustrates the evolution of humans' understanding of the heart in medicine, art and culture), Medicine Man (an exhibit that displays many of Wellcome's collection of artifacts) and Medicine Now (mainly an art exhibit that deals with medical-related issues of today).

Some of the things I enjoyed on display in The Heart Exhibit:

• A wooden table with entire (REAL) human veins/arterial system varnished into the wood work outlining a human body laying on top of the table. (Joannes Leonius 17th c.)
• Leonardo DaVinci's anatomical drawing of the heart, liver and arteries
• Rene Descartes L'Homme 1664
• Pacemakers throughout the years
• Speakers in the walls with songs about "heart" playing. Also speakers to listen to a normal heartbeat versus a mitral regurgitation.
• And She Had Heart painting by Lombardo, 1890
• Egyptian Book of the Dead
• Separate caskets made of lead and silver, for burying the heart away from the body.

The Medicine Man gallery had the strangest things, as it portrayed only a portion of the odd-collection Wellcome had created up until his death. Some of the things I saw and enjoyed there:

Torture elements/torture chairs (which are placed in the same exhibit space as a dental chair, ha!-- I can agree with that placement decision.) One of the torture chairs had blades all along the back and seat, with spikes on the arms.

• Over 5000 pieces of medical/scientific glassware from throughout history and the world
• Artificial limbs dating from 1500-1930s
• An impressive collection of bone-saws (I badly wanted a picture of this for my dad) and forceps (ick!)
• Napoleon Bonaparte's toothbrush
• Ivory dentures from the 1700s
• Tatoos on human skin from 1850-1900 (the skin looked like stretched leather, gross)
• A mummifed Peruvian man
• King George III's hair (had traces of arsenic in it...) You may remember me mentioning this King George, as his book collection is on display at the British Library.

After going through these exhibits, the last one was more contemporary/controversial art pieces reflecting medical concerns from today around the world. For example:

• a map on canvas with mosquitos sewn into it to outline countries- a commentary on the malaria problem
• Mosquito nets with malaria medicines sewn into them
• An enormous sculpture of fat, a blob if you will, with legs commenting on obesity.
• Many many pieces of art using EKG printouts and things representing the double-helix of DNA.

So the galleries alone were stunning and incredibly interesting.

And then we saw that the Wellcome Trust had a library. So we ventured in.

Gorgeous! A newer space, with beautiful wooden shelves in the first room. A librarian (roving reference?) approached us and asked if we needed help, and she told us there are three main collections: The History of Medicine, Clinical Medicine, and Science & Society. There is also a Rare Books area. The rooms we ventured through were stacks and stacks of beautiful old books, and in some of the rooms, they were stacked modern metal/glass shelving. There was an enormous amount of study-areas/tables. It was interesting to walk through the stacks and notice the different collections- titles outlining diseases, afflictions, solutions and breakthroughs in the medical industry.

This library is a working, full service library...all related to medicine. The main room was large, two stories (similar to St. Paul's Library) with names such as Nightingale, Mendel, Darwin, Hippocrates, Galen, Pasteur, etc. carved into the woodwork. Large anatomical paintings hung on the walls there. It was wonderful.

And it made me wish I were studying medicine. Haha. Can you imagine? But still, the space was so relaxing and well-laid out, I truly felt lucky to have happened-upon it.

So afterwards, when we finally tore ourselves away from this area, we went back to the Tube station, ate a quick lunch (bbq bacon chicken & tomato pita, if you're wondering) and then went to Leceister Square to see if tickets were available for Avenue Q. They were! So we purchased them and went later that night. The show was crude and hilarious. The music was fantastic and I laughed the whole time.

So I'm having a great time as you can tell. I'm also learning so much it's hard to keep it all straight. Today we have a "research day" so I'm catching up on things and getting started on my big papers for the end of this semester. I'm not really homesick, but I do miss my friends and talking to everyone. And I miss my library and library folk, mainly because I know so many of them would also find these things fascinating.

I hope everyone's well! I'll end with one more picture taken while walking to the show last night...

Monday: Museum of London

Well, today we started with our class trips again, this time embarking upon the Museum of London, which was really neat.









Before the start our our own investigations through the galleries, we were lucky enough to experience a short "history" of the galleries and the Museum of London itself, which was really neat. The man who spoke to us was named John Cotton, and he is a curator in prehistory at the Museum of London.



The museum started in 1976 and put together the London Museum that previously existed in Kensington Palace (from 1911), the London Archaeology Museum and Archives, and also the Guild Hall Museum (1825) in the City of London.



The Museum of London capitalizes on "the city" that was once the square mile. Their innovative marketing campaigns include a truck with a huge sign on it that they park in front of rival museums. The signs state things like, "London only has one museum" which is intriguing and really gets people through their doors. I asked and found out that they have their own in-house marketing department that creates the great campaigns. Awesome.



They have one USP or "Unique Selling Point": They are the largest Urban history museum in the world.". But the problem they have is, how do you utilize this USP and still illustrate that there is a vast amount of information there regarding prehistoric times/people? The National History Curriculum in England (all schools) begin with invaders and conquerors and do not include prehisoric times.


While they were investigating how to work the prehisoric periods into their marketing and promotions, they found that they typically have 3 types of visitors:

• Those who want to know about Victorian London (19th century)
• Those who want to know about Tudor London (16th-17th century..that's me)
• Those who want to know about Londinium (Roman London)

They based the design of newer spaces (galleries have been updated in both 1998 and 2002) around this information, and were able to integrate the prehisoric era into it nicely.

The newer galleries are more people-centered, more negotiable and conversation-starting, the pieces ask questions and start discussions between people who come to view the exhibits. They decided to center the focus of the exhibits around four things: Climate changes (global warming), People, the River Thames, and Legacy.

They created 3 design elements to work these things into the galleries. There is a wall of things that were found in the River Thames, and the river weaves throughout the galleries, so people can bounce between the plinths (exhibits) and the River Wall. There is also the Landscape wall around the outside of the gallery, explaining the changing landscape and climate.

It is truly an interesting museum, but much moreso when you have the background information that goes into planning and designing a space like this. I had the opportunity to speak with curator regarding space issues and mentioned the renovation and space issues in our library- and how that is effecting the overall design of it all.

It was basically just really neat to have a one-on-one conversation with a curator, and talk to him about application of space/design/marketing for a cultural heritage institution. I really enjoyed today's tour a lot.

Some things I learned:

• London was originally 1 square mile, surrounded by a wall, and very crowded, smelly and gross. It later grew and grew and grew....
• But in 1665 half of the population died off anyways from the Black Death (or the plague)
• And then there was the Great Fire of London.....which was started by a baker who forgot to put out his fire (entirely) for the night.
• On September 2, 1666 at 1am, the fire began and the city burned for 4 days. No one had fire insurance, and a lot of people ended up in jail because they couldn't pay their debts.
• It took London 50 years to rebuild the city.
• The fire was said to be started by gluttony, as it began on Pudding Lane (by a baker) and ended on Pie Corner. (haha!) And a fat-boy statue commemorates this fact in the city.
  

A few of my favorite things I saw:

• In the prehistoric gallery, it was evident that the River Thames was a spiritual/sacrificial river in which people have been laying precious sacrifices for hundreds of years. As they dredged the river, hundreds of artifacts from the past are dug up-- swords, coins, skulls, beads, all sorts of interesting things. Among these was a human male skull that had a hole in the top of it as a result of a surgery called trepannation. A trepannation involved the patient being conscious, and their skull was chipped away by a flint blade. The interesting part about this particular skull was that the man apparently lived for a year or more after this surgery, as the bone regrowth indicated he lived on, and probably died from other causes....amazing!

• I also really enjoyed this stone that had the following quote engraved on it:
  "Here by permission of Heaven, Hell broke loose upon this Protestant City from the malicious hearts of barbarous papists by the hand of their Agent Hubert, who confessed and on ye ruines of this place declared the fact, for which he was hanged (vizt.). That here began that dred-full fire, which is described and perpetuated on and by the neighboruing pillar."

-This remained at the site where the fire started for 200 years, even though the papists obviously were not responsible for the fire starting, and Agent Hubert was determined innocent in 1667. Poor guy. They didn't remove the stone until 1830. haha!

After the tour, Rachel and I attempted to go to the Wellcome Collection, which is an exhibit that ties together medicine and art. But it was closed. They have a library as well, so we're going to head back there later this week.

So instead we had lunch at a place in Hay's Wharf, which is down towards the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I thought it was funny that we ate at a place called Balls Brothers. (That's my immature American sense of humour for you. ha!)

Tomorrow we head off to St. Paul's Cathedral Library, and I'm hoping to speak to a conservator there. The library is closed to the public, so I'm also anxious to see what secrets we get to see. I'm (as noted from all the photos) quite enamored with this church.

At any rate, I'm about to include pictures so I'll sign off for now. It's about pint-time for the evening. Good night!

Saturday & Sunday run-downs

Okay....it's been a hectic and relaxing weekend all at once. I spent a lot of time catching up on sleep, pints and homework...also did some laundry...pretty lazy. Here are some pics from the places I did see this weekend...

Here's the route we've been walking down the Thames lately to the City-- where the interesting cheaper pubs are like the Cheshire Cheese I mentioned before. The bridge in this photo is the Blackfriars Bridge, which crosses over to the city/financial district. There's also a picture here of the end of the bridge, it's pretty.

WARNING: Most of this looks like a pub crawl...

This is one of the first buildings on the other side of the Blackfriars bridge. This was the Blackfriar's pub we went to on Sunday night. It's a neat building and the inside has really beautiful art/mosaics/woodcuts of monks all over the walls. Nevermind the fact that on this particular night it smelled a little like...well....urine, but I figure it's in the City so it's possible that it's really old urine? Either way there's a huge patio and the beer tasted wonderful.

And here's a picture taken from the patio of the Blackfriar's Pub. It's dark, but you can notice the mosaic that says Saloon....

And then there's the walk home....headed back over a bridge, you can see the London Eye and the OXO building from the north bank here.

And St. Paul's Cathedral at night, again....

And then of course walking past the National Theatre towards the dorms.

I guess I just wanted to post this to show you the places that I've been walking past, every day...over and over again. It never seems to get old, and if I'm having a "bad" day or starting to get stressed out, it's very easy to take a look at the things around me and soak it all in, and everything that bothers me melts into little bits, and disappears. Of course, the pints may help, but I've created a self-imposed 4 pint limit for the time being. That stuff packs a bigger punch than I remember.

I'll be posting later on about my visits from today...and some other random photos from walking around these streets. Until then, I'm off to do homework! Cheers!

Just some goofy pictures....

Here's a couple of pics to tide you over...the computers here are SLOOOOOW so loading them really is a pain. I'll try to do it more often, but here's two...

Walking to the pub, kinda dressed up for no reason, thought someone better take a picture before I put grubby clothes back on for the rest of the trip. That's St. Paul's Cathedral and the Thames behind me.

St. Paul's Cathedral, clouds and cranes. I think I counted 14 in this shot alone.

Friday: Parliament

So you're all probably well aware of the symbol I can't seem to quit taking pictures of....Big Ben. It's so beautiful, and reminds me of so many things (namely a part of the movie Peter Pan)...and I have more pictures of this clock than anyone would ever need. But I love it, so deal.

At any rate, what you may or may not know is that clock is attached to Parliament. The rest of that massive building is where the House of Commons and the House of Lords is. We took a tour of Parliament, and got to take the Sovereign's Entrance (Victoria Tower) and the "Queen's route" that she takes when she comes into Parliament to give her annual speech each November. (Apparently it's similar to our state of the union address, only she doesn't stutter, pronounces everything correctly, and sits on an enormous golden throne that was built in 1845.)

So we started off in the Sovereign's Entrance, and our tour guide gave us some history regarding the things we were seeing as we waited to go through airport-like security, where every person gets patted-down and people/bags go through an x-ray machine, etc. As we waited, we learned that the building that stands today was rebuilt in 1845 after the fire. Kings of England had lived on that property for centuries. Henry VIII (you may remember him and his wives) was that last King to live on this site.

And of course there was no photography permitted for the most beautiful aspects of this tour, so you'll have to bear with my descriptions.

There are some other neat tidbits regarding the history of government here. They have a copy of the death warrant with wax seals all over it from 1649, that was a warrant for Charles I. Oliver Cromwell tried Charles for treason, and he was hung drawn and quartered. There was no Sovereign for 9-10 years after that, but Charles II came back in 1660 (from Paris) and reigned.

Some things you need to know about British Parliament (or just "Things I found interesting"):

• The sovereign may never enter the House of Commons, they may only enter the House of Lords. There is a messenger at the door to relay messages from the sovereign to the House of Lords, down a long hallway.


• Most everything within Parliament's decorations on the inside of the building has something to do with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. (initials, paintings, etc. everywhere). Victoria came to the throne at age 18 and reigned for 64 years (the all-time record thus far).


• Enormous beautiful murals hang on the walls representing different parts of England's history. Two of the ones I particularly liked were the Battle at Waterloo (It was a naval battle against the French. and Duke Wellington was the man in charge of that victory); and also the Death of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. It's really incredible to see the paintings and realize that I'm sitting in the same spot where a battle happened.


• During WWII Parliament was bombed, so the House of Commons was rebuilt in 9 years time. The archway into the House of Commons is still damaged, you can see the blemishes from the bombing in the stone.

I don't know how many of you know this, but I really like to watch the House of Commons on CSPAN. I particularly liked watching it when Tony Blair would have to answer rapid-fire questions and everyone would shout their agreement or disagreements at him. Neat thing? I stood in that room. Let me tell you about it.

House of Commons

First. all of the benches are green. For the most part, seating is on a first-come-first-serve basis, though depending on which way they voted on a particular issue they're discussing that day, the two sides (that face each other) will sit on the Aye or Noe side.

The Sergeant at Arms carries what's called a Mace, or a silver sceptre-type thing that is representative of the sovereign's presence as the House of Commons does business. On top of the table in the middle of the room, there are brackets on which to place the Mace. Only the Sergeant at Arms is permitted to touch the Mace. Pretty cool. I need to look for that when I watch it on CSPAN again.

The carpet is also green, but there are two long red lines in front of either row of benches that are apparently 2 swords-length long, so people who disagree may not draw their swords on one another. (Obviously this was an older rule.) There is also a sign above the cloakroom requesting them to "Hang Swords Here" on hooks, but instead that's where they place their umbrellas (which they need most of the time here.)

Westminster Hall

Westminster Hall is enormous. This is the place is the oldest remaining building on the site, and dates back to 1097. I did get a chance to take some pictures of this hall, as well as the stained-glass window within it. This place is not only huge, but it is incredibly easy to see how it worked for people hundreds of years ago, as a center for commerce, celebrations, proclamations, etc. Really neat.

And we ended our trip to Parliament with some pics just outside the building, since I'd never been able to get behind those big black fences before. I also took a picture of Big Ben again, from an angle that I'd never seen before with my own eyes.

After the Tour....

We were left to our own devices, so Rachel and I went to Oxford Circus (the main drag with all of the shopping) to hopefully find some jeans and maybe a jacket....I didn't really bring warm enough clothes on this trip. But I was quickly irritated with the numerous shoppers all clamoring around in H&M and TopShop looking for bargains, and soon I didn't want to be shopping at all. (Not to mention that these are incredibly long days with a LOT of standing and walking, so my feet often feel like bloody stubs.) After shopping, we went to Doggett's for dinner, another pub on the banks of the Thames, and saw the Myspace DirtyBeach guy. This guy is on the beach of the Thames everyday creating art in the sand. It's really neat art....and he's also a pretty attractive person wearing....a kilt. That's it. A kilt. So I took some pictures for all of you who may be interested in the eye candy....and of course, art. :o)

And then it ended up being a pretty late night at the Cheshire Cheese (in the old city) and then Wetherspoon's...the only pub we've found so far open past 11pm. So it was a long day. I have met some cool people, and so far everything is great!

Today (Saturday) was a day off, so I have been attempting to catch-up a bit. I took a nap, started some laundry, doing homework, went over to Camden Town to shop a bit, but for the most part I'm taking it easy. On Monday we've got class-related things again, and more than likely I'll be attempting to get schoolwork done tomorrow. Time is flying by, yet I still feel like there is more to see and not enough time to squeeze it all in. I miss talking to you all and will be diligent about updating this as often as possible!