Monday 1 November 2010
Today is the first day of my last full month here. If that's not a scary thought, I don't know what is. Today after classes Bethany and I went to the V and A and looked at products of the Omega Workshop (associated with the Bloomsbury Group--Virgina Woolf, Vanessa Bell, etc.) and looked at exactly one painting for a Jane Austen field study. We were very busy today. Sort of an anti-climactic start to the final month. But, at the same time I got an excellent start on homework. Listened to several Beatles songs that I have never heard before (ahh, I love them so much!) and went to bed early.
Tuesday 2 November 2010
After classes Julie and I went on the Bloomsbury Walk for Great War class. We went over to the Bloomsbury district and walked around to see houses on Russel Square, Gordon Square, and other places where members of the group lived. It's a very cool area of London to walk around in, quite different from Kensington (which coincidentally is where Virginia Woolf lived when she was growing up and I live now) but I really enjoyed it. We were working around the campus of University College London and it was very exciting to see so many students around my age. I even heard some American accents.
After getting back I was a flurry of activity; fueled by Beatles songs, I powered through a vast majority of my homework. Yeah, I'm cool. Now to bed so I can be well rested for Oxford tomorrow!
Wednesday 3 November 2010
The only title appropriate for today: Banner!! Even the start of today was good because we left later than normal for our trip. Our first stop was the parish church where C. S. Lewis worshiped. I sat in the bench where he sat each week. I took a picture by his grave stone. There was even a map of Narnia at the back of the church and a Narnia etched window next to his pew. It was very beautiful. I liked seeing where he practiced his "Mere Christianity."
Our next stop was the grave of Winston Churchill. That was very neat. In keeping with a Churchill theme, we had a guided tour of Blenheim Castle, where Winston Churchill was born. The family name of the nobility here is Spencer-Churchill. As in Winston Churchill and Diana Spencer (Princess Di). They are related. Also, there is an incredible(!) sculpture of Queen Anne in marble and the largest organ in a private European residence. All in all a pretty cool house with incredibly extensive and beautiful grounds.
The main event today, however, was Oxford. We were dropped off next to Ashmolean Museum so of course this was our first stop (Katie (Willard), Julie, and I). Here I saw some of the most exquisite Pre-Raphaelite works I have ever seen. Wow! Just down the street from here is the pub the Eagle and Child where C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and other Oxford intellectuals met each Tuesday for lunch (they affectionately called the pub the Bird and Baby).
Next we walked down the road to Christ Church College. They did a lot of Harry Potter filming here, including the Great Hall. This place looked remarkably familiar to me. Why? Because this was the part of Oxford my family visited on our day trip. Excellent. At this part of our Oxford Tour Mandy and Amanda joined us. Amanda loves Harry Potter just slightly more than the average person our age (which translates into quite a lot) and therefore was having the time of her life walking around this College. The Church here is actually the world's smallest Cathedral. (And the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool is either the biggest or the second biggest cathedral. So I've seen the biggest and been inside the smallest. Ha! Top that.)
From here we walked to St. Mary the Virgin church, which is the campus chapel, and walked up to the tower, which gives the best view of Oxford. So many quads and roofs of the various colleges. Oxford University is actually a loose grouping of colleges with individual faculties, dormatories, dining halls, etc. That was clear as we looked over the city.
At this point it was just Julie and I. We walked from the church past the octagonal building of the Radcliffe Camera to the Bodleian Library in the Divinity School. Here we saw the oldest lecture hall in Oxford. Consequently, one of the oldest lecture halls ever. I got a picture of myself furiously scribbling notes in my notebook. After all, Oxford is a hard school. I'll have to work hard to keep up. This was also the room where they filmed the Hospital Wing for Harry Potter. (Poor Oxford, now they will forever be the place that Harry Potter was filmed.)
We walked from here down Broad Street and Holywell Street (we used a lot of side streets today and felt very Oxfordian. Totally fit in as students.) and bought Oxford t-shirts. Only 4 GBP. How could you not? Then we arrived at Harris Manchester College for today's main event.
Harris Manchester College is one of the newest colleges in Oxford. The president of the College gave our devotional on Sunday, telling us all how wonderful Oxford is and how we should come there to obtain second BAs with an honorary MA coming four years after that. He made it sound so amazing and so easy.... But, while we were there today, he had invited us to tour the college and to tea! In place of tea we were given Elderflower Cordial (I think, something like that) which is a sparkling non-alcoholic drink with a distinctive taste. It tastes like a flower. Like a dandelion, but better. More sugar. We also had sandwiches and cake. Stellar! In touring the college we saw their chapel, the dining hall, and where Bishop Berkeley (who helped with the beginnings of the college in the 1700s--this college is a long time coming) lived. Berkeley is a well known philosopher who argued that all reality is a result of thinking and the mind. So, the blue plaque on where he had died said: "Bishop George Berkeley, Philospher 1685-1753, is perceived to have lived and died here." Clever.
It was an incredibly remarkable day. A day in Oxford. I feel so scholarly. So educated. Oxford. Wow! I love a college town. Particularly an ancient British college town. It almost reminded me of Oxford, Ohio. But so so so much better. Ah, I loved it! So great!
Thursday 4 November 2010
Today was just classes. But tonight we went to an orchestra concert. There was a Dvorak symphony, an excerpt from the Messiah, something called the Cunning Little Vixen and Royal Fireworks Music by Handel, played by a period orchestra. The woodwinds were actually wood colored. The french horns and trumpets had no valves. (How do they play those things?) It was a genuinely excellent evening. But, the best part was that Anthony Andrews introduced the concert. Yes the Scarlet Pimpernel. Still dashing as ever and while he was more modernly dressed than Sir Percy, still every bit the sharp dressed man we know and love. That was one of the greatest parts of the concert.
Friday 5 November 2010
Happy Guy Fawkes day!
Today I got up early, packed (for reasons explained later) and headed to Westminster Abbey. Today I toured Westminster Abbey. Today I toured Westminster Abbey! I will never get tired of saying that. Our London study today was Westminster Abbey (in case you hadn't guessed that yet). Getting off the tube at Westminster I also donated a pound to something along the lines of the Wounded Warrior fund here in the UK and received a poppy to pin on my shirt for Remembrance Day (which is coming up on the 11th--the end of the Great War).
Then Kaitlyn, Mandy, Julie, Bethany, and I all took pictures and stood in line to tour Westminster Abbey. The program had given us the 12 GBP it costs to get in (and that's with a student card! hefty!). When you enter you also get a free map and audio guide. But, I will never understand why the art museums are free and I have to pay half a show ticket to tour a church. Anyway, I turned on my audio guide and the voice was Jeremy Irons! I knew this was going to be good.On top of that I had a marvelous abbey to walk through. It was wonderful.
I was able to do the full tour though I was on a bit of a time cramp (more on that later) including seeing the coronation chair, where my ancestor (!) Edward I (or Edward Longshanks--so called because he was supposedly 6' 2", a giant for his day) is buried, and the beauty of the abbey in general. I really enjoyed the cloisters, the height and expanse of the nave, and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, my favorite part of the Abbey is at the East End, the chapel in the apse. This is the chapel built by Henry VII with the intention that all the Tudors be buried here. This chapel absolutely blew me away. Literally took my breath away! I could not get enough of that ceiling, and it was so open, and full of light. Pictures do not do it justice. It was beyond belief. I loved it!
Henry VII is buried here along with his wife (although Henry VIII and Jane Seymour are buried at Windsor), as is Edward VI (Henry VIII's son) and Oliver Cromwell's daughter (Cromwell was buried here for two years after his death, but with the restoration of the monarchy his remains were burned, but his favorite daughter remains here--go figure). However, my two favorite graves in this area are Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. These two cousins have spectacular tombs, one to each side of the chapel, and seeing as how Mary spent half her life trying to kill Elizabeth, and Elizabeth actually managed to kill Mary, I want to be at Westminster when the two of them are resurrected. It should be quite the site!
Bethany and I managed to do the whole tour, but had to leave rather quickly at the end, taking our bags with us because we had a train to catch. To where you ask? Edinburgh! Yes. I spent this weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland! Bethany and I met Aunt Jo Ann, Uncle Dave, Beno, Brother and Sister Tate (Bethany's aunt and uncle), Andrew Tate, and Katie Willard (Katy Seely is incredibly sick and so Katie Willard was able to use her ticket) at King's Cross. We then took a five hour train to Scotland. The scenery was beautiful as we traveled up the east coast of the island, passing York, Durham (we could see the cathedral from the train), and Newcastle (no Wickham sightings), among other places on the way. The train ride was long, but I read about half of Mrs. Dalloway (for Great War class) on the way up. I actually liked the book. It's a little hard to understand what Virginia Woolf is arguing, but I enjoy the way she writes.
When we got off the train our first order of business was to walk to the hotel. It was just a small distance from the train station and also just off the Royal Mile, a key street ( and possibly the main street) of Edinburgh, well historic Edinburgh at any rate. After dumping our bags we walked up the Royal Mile past St. Giles' cathedral, and many other places (several tourist shops) to Edinburgh Castle. This is up on a hill overlooking the city. It was a spectacular view, despite the fog and drizzle that was quickly becoming a downpour. We stood on the castle hill for a while and enjoyed Guy Fawkes Day fireworks across the city skyline.
(For those who don't know Guy Fawkes was an upset English Catholic who attempted to blow up Parliament while King James I was there--the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was caught on the 5th of November with all the gunpowder under the House of Lords to blow it up and so now each year there are bonfires, he is burned in effigy all over the country, and there are fireworks.)
It started to rain very hard and so the Seelys, Andrew, and I ducked into a fish and chips shop. Aunt Jo Ann and I split fish and chips with brown sauce (coincidentally very good) back at the hotel. Then I changed into my pajamas and when Katie and Bethany got back (from Pizza Hut) we settled in to warm up, listen to the rain and fireworks outside, and ended up watching Big Business with Bette Midler.
Saturday 6 November 2010
Today began with a wonderful English breakfast: stewed tomatoes, beans, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage all mixed together on the same plate is heaven on earth. I also tried Marmite (Vegemite in Australia) on toast. That was a mistake. How do people eat that stuff? The Tates headed off to explore Edinburgh, the Seelys hiked Arthur's seat (where Orson Pratt climbed to dedicate this land for the hearing of the gospel) and Katie, Bethany, and I walked up Prince's Street (one of the main streets) to site see on our way to a very important parish church. On our way down the street we passed by statues of great Scottish thinkers, philosophers, and writers. Including, an enormous monument to Sir Walter Scott.
At the end of the street there is St. Cuthbert's Parish Church, where my ancestor George Calder is buried. He was converted by Orson Pratt, but died before being able to travel to America (other Calders went) so we came to see his grave. However, he does not have a headstone. I had some minimal directions from Aunt Jo Ann, but we were having a hard time finding him. As I was walking around, the door to the church automatically opened and I decided to take it as a sign and went inside. In the narthex I was looking through all the pamphlets they have, trying to find a map of the graveyard because I could sort of remember from what Aunt Jo Ann had shown me that morning. One of the Reverends came up to me and asked if I had come to see the church. I told him I was looking for an ancestor of mine buried here, without a headstone, and all I knew is that he was buried near Patrick Orr (who I could not find). In his Scottish accent he invited me to sit down in the church and he would go get parish records out of the church safe. So I sat in the beautiful nave and waited. It had marvelous stained glass and I thought about my ancestors worshiping there.
Once he found the records we went back out into the narthex (foyer) and sat at a table to look through them. We found Patrick Orr and then looking at a map of the graveyard, where he was. Then he came outside with me and we looked until we found the stone for Patrick Orr. This stone is laid flat in the ground with leaves all over it, which is why I couldn't find it before. I guess I didn't look hard enough. From here, I thanked him very much and looked (as my directions said) east from the south east corner of Patrick Orr's stone--I hope at least I looked the right direction. I had found George Calder! As a matter of fact, I probably stepped on him. But, I took pictures. I felt so accomplished. I found an ancestor of mine in an actual Scottish graveyard. That was incredible!
On a family history high, Katie, Bethany and I left the churchyard and began to walk towards Edinburgh Castle. On our way we passed through a lovely Farmer's market and bought a hot chocolate to split. It had chili powder in it. Yummy! I love Scottish accents, though most of the ones we encountered weren't as strong as I was expecting. The castle was so expensive! Katie decided she'd just explore the town, but Bethany and I wanted to see the Stone of Scone (pronounced scoon) also known as the Stone of Destiny. They don't even give student discounts. What the heck.
The Stone of Scone is the pillar that Jacob slept on, had the dream about the Gate of Heaven, and then anointed with oil. Don't ask me how it got to Scotland....probably on the same boat that brought Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus to Glastonbury. When Edward I (yes, my ancestor) conquered Scotland (killed William Wallace, etc.) he took the Stone back to England and had a new coronation chair made with the Stone placed beneath the seat. This is the chair I saw at Westminster. All English monarchs since Edward I have been crowned while sitting in this chair, atop the Stone of Scone. In 1998 Elizabeth II sent it back to Scotland, with the stipulation that it return to England for future coronations. So, it's a big deal that I actually got to see it in Edinburgh. Especially because it's the day after I saw Edward I and the coronation chair. Neat, huh? We also saw the other crown jewels of Scotland while we were there.
Also in the Castle is the Royal Residence of Scotland, so Mary Queen of Scots lived here (etc.) and we even saw the room where she gave birth to James VI of Scotland--who became James I of England upon the death of his aunt Elizabeth I. There was also a wonderful war memorial dedicated to Scotsmen who died mainly in WWI, but also in all wars since. In one of the books containing all the names of the men who died, we (Bethany and I) found two Calders who had served in the Scots Guards during the Great War. Nifty.
After Edinburgh Castle we ran into a tourist shop and I purchased a lovely plaid scarf. In a giftshop in the castle they had a list of clans and what their tartans looked like and for the life of me I could not find the Calder clan, or what clan they would be part of, so I just picked a plaid pattern that I liked. I'll tell people it's from my clan. If they ask what clan, I'll say Burburry because that's what my plaid is. Brown, black, white, red, like all those Burburry models. I guess I just have expensive taste.
Next we did the National Gallery of Scotland. And I mean the whole gallery. Bethany and I saw every piece of art in that place! By this time we had to head to the train station. Before heading out to the platform we bought sandwiches and Bueno bars (an okay candy, but not one of my favorites--this was my first one. I'm experimenting) for the 5 hour train ride. (We made good time on the way up--only 4 hrs. 30 min., but this one was actually 5 hours!) Bethany and I got sandwiches with Wensleydale cheese on them. Very Wallace and Gromit. I loved it! Actually, it was also mixed with cream cheese so I don't know exactly how it tastes on its own, but it was wonderful all the same.
We saw Durham cathedral again, and it was enormous and beautiful all lit up. I also finished Mrs. Dalloway. Huzzah! It was a phenomenal trip! Absolutely first rate from start to finish! What a day!
Sunday 7 September 2010
Stake Conference today, so no playing hymns or teaching primary. Yes. But I did miss my primary kids, but I got to see a few after Stake Conference got out. Also, had a good Skype session with my family today. Because we are now all on the same timing again, now that even the States have gone through Daylight Savings
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