Europe Trip 2016: Part 1, London
by Shaun
Day 1
Departing from Vancouver, B.C. we touched down in London at
what felt like 3am to us, but what was actually 11am for Londoners. Rather than
surrender a day to much needed sleep, we set down our things in our rented flat,
put on a stiff upper lip and ventured out into the thick of it.
We took the Tube—London’s subway system—to Trafalgar Square
and I reveled in my first look at a major European city: larger than life
statues of lions, dead heroes, posh museums, oh my!
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| Thinking "I need a coffee" |
Then we walked to the Thames across one of its many bridges
and caught the first glimpses of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament (then roiling
in debate over Brexit), and the London Eye. We were also baptized by London’s
characteristic weather: wind and rain. Being from Seattle, we felt right at
home.
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| Storms coming. And it's Brexit |
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| Ben is fricking huge. |
Though tempted to go home, I was on a mission—for work as
well as pleasure: to see the replication of Shakespeare’s The Globe Theatre. As far as I was concerned--first year English teacher to-be--this was my Mecca. Kaitlin
was supportive and curious herself. So, on three hours sleep, we walked—staggered
really—through Southwark, the neighborhood along the south side of the Thames,
to The Globe and received an informative, if slightly patronizing, tour of the
recreation by a witty Dubliner.
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| Parts of the original Globe were discovered in the excavating of a parking lot down the street. |
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| Just like in Shakes' day, minus the electronic scaffold thingy (bottom right) |
We then caught the Tube home and slept for 13 hours.
Day 2
We started our morning like true Londoners: waking up at 7am,
eating jam and bread, marching in double time down to the tube and joining the
throngs of commuters to sit in silence as the trains shuttled us through London’s
underground. There was, of course, one little difference: the Londoners were
dressed to impress (men in three piece suits and ties; women in sharp skirts,
dresses or slacks) and we were in shorts.
Ascending from the tube to London’s financial district, we
went up into the Fenchurch building’s Sky Garden where we beheld a
breathtakingly high and soggy view of the city.
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| Behind me is The Shard, London's tallest building, looking a bit like Sauron's Tower. |
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| In London, all museums and tourists spots have amazing bakeries. We were very happy. |
Then it was on to the Tower of London, which dates back to
William the Conqueror around 1066 A.D. Since then it’s been the site for torture,
stay-cation site for kings, armor and, currently, the Crown Jewels and loads of
tourists.
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| Edward the Confessor's prayer room |
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| Armor in the Tower of London took the concept of protection to a whole new level. |
Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed of the Crown Jewels,
but somehow a photo can’t express the monarchy’s opulence over the ages
including crowns of diamonds weighing over 5 pounds, a pure gold punch bowl the
size of a bathtub, and scepters studded with jewels enough to dig a small third
world country out of poverty.
We caught some fish and chips at a restaurant and then went
up and over Tower Bridge.
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| Don't fall down London Bridge! |
Next, we visited the Tate Modern and viewed paintings by
Dali, Rothko, Picasso, Miro, Matisse, Monet, Beckman, Warhol, Rivera and more—all
gratis.
We then walked back to our flat along the south side of the
Thames, enjoying the sun and the more casual side of London (beer, ale pies, roast
chicken), mixed in with the old cathedrals and stretches of world renowned architectural
wonders.
Day 3
Early in the morning, we ascended from the veritable crypt
of the Tube station into Green Park and because of some combination of dust,
grass or tree pollen, I began sneezing in violent scherzos. I was still going
by the time we reached Buckingham Palace, where I gave my salute to monarchy
with a good greasy nose blow.
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| The Buck |
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| K sitting beneath a fountain dedicated to Queen Victoria. |
We walked through Hyde Park and caught a cab to the Getty
Images Archive, where we were given a personal tour of their visual vault of
history—so dense one could lose themselves for a lifetime. Good thing we had a
guide: the VP, Matthew. We saw rare and original photos of Vietnam, Yellowstone
and London through the ages, not to mention daguerreotypes and linotypes. The
tour was essentially the History of Photograph in two hours.
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| K in Hyde Park |
A tube ride later and we found ourselves face to face with
the façade of Westminster Abbey, London’s Hollywood Walk of Fame. Inside we
paid brief homage to the actual tombs of Edward the Confessor, the Henrys and
countless other kings, along with plaques in ‘Poet’s Corner’ commemorating the
great men and women of letters: Shakespeare, the Brontes, Dickens, Jane Austen,
C.S. Lewis, etc…
The day ended with ducks in St. James’ Park and the
Churchill War Rooms.
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| A pochard in a St. James' Park pond |
Day 4
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| I was hired at Federal Way High the night before K took this. |
We went out to a patisserie—my
favorite word in French—to fortify ourselves for The British Museum.
Though
only the tenth largest museum in the world, it’s probably THE largest you get
to see for free. Though we were there for much of the day, we only saw about
ten percent.
Here are some highlights:
The Lewis Chessmen, a chess set carved from a Walrus tusk sometime in the 12th Century.
The Lewis Chessmen, a chess set carved from a Walrus tusk sometime in the 12th Century.
A citole from the 14th Century in which elaborate
scenes of medieval life are carved, along with intricate patterns of oak and mulberry leaves.
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| Can you spot the swineherd knocking down acorns for his pigs? Bottom Center |
An ivory mask of Idia, famed Queen of Benin, the Nigerian
Empire. Notice the bearded heads lining her forehead? These symbolize the Portuguese
merchants that fought for her; such was the power of Benin, not that we ever hear about her in school.
Assyrian Bulls
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| The fifth leg communicates the bull's strength as a protector. These bulls sat outside the gate of the ancient city of Khorsabad, near modern day Mosul, Iraq. |
The Parthenon. Like, seriously, all of it. Or what’s left of it after an Ottoman
garrison decided to store gunpowder in it. Greece wants it back, incidentally.
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| Scholars think this is supposed to be Dionysus, the party god. It was a rough night, apparently. |
Before I got any ideas about adding to my degrees a Ph.D. in
Antiquity, K and I decided to make our Brexit (too soon?) and boarded a train
for Paris.
To be continued...
