When I was at the Museum of London on Saturday, one of the museum employees saw me reading about the renovations they are doing to their galleries covering 1666-present. She asked it I wanted to have a look at a few of the exhibits from that period. She first took me to a case of flintlock pistols from the 1800s, one of which had been used in a duel by the Duke of Wellington. Of course, there was a catch. When she started asking my opinions about the exhibit & its layout, I realized I had gotten caught in a survey. I went along with it, because I was happy to see a few of the more modern exhibits. The next exhibit had various dresses and shoes, and some other fashion items from the 1960s, including a few pieces of Beatles memorabilia. Needless to say, I don't remember a lot about that exhibit, since it was geared toward 60's fashion. The final exhibit showed about a dozen photographs of London after the Blitz, with houses and tube stations nearly obliterated, and also displayed a few shell casings. I was more than happy to see some things not then on normal display, and it only took about 15 minutes with the questions.
Yesterday, I went through the Assyrian galleries at the British Museum. It was neat getting to see statues and wall reliefs from the palaces of Babylon and Nineveh and Nimrud. I think all of the objects I saw were from the palaces of Assyrian kings who are mentioned in the Bible. This really brought the Old Testament to life, and made me go back and look for these kings. There are so many kings of Assyria mentioned in the Old Testament. The Israelites never learned to trust God, so He kept sending in invaders.
I know you all want to see pictures of something besides museums. I will be outside of London the next two weekends, but unless I've told you already, you'll just have to wait and see where I go next.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
While my advisors were here this week, I went out to dinner every night through Thursday. Outside of lunch on two days, all of my meals were paid for by someone else. I definitely appreciated this, since I have to stretch my budget as far as possible. Next week, I'll be back to £ 5 take-away for dinner. There is a good variety of small shops (restaurants) all over London, and Camden is no exception. Some of the ethnic shops close earlier in the evening, before I get to the Camden Town station, so I haven't had a chance to try them all.
Thursday night, we went to an Indian restaurant on Gloucester Road called "Memories of India." I decided to have the lamb vindaloo, as I like to go for the spicier foods on the menu. One of my advisors, Joe Schork, not to be outdone, decided to have the chicken vindaloo. To backtrack, the night before we were at a Portuguese restaurant that seemed to make a big deal out of the spicieness of their different sauces for chicken, but neither Joe nor I thought that their "hot" sauce was all that hot. I assumed that Londoners, given their generally bland native diet, have a weak tolerance for spicy foods, and that any restaurant labeling their food "very spicy" was probably gearing the warning towards locals. Now back to Thurday night. The vindaloo at this Indian place was noticeably hotter than any I've had in the US. Both Joe and I finished our dishes, but it took every bit of rice and nan that we had to take out the burn. I don't think either of us will forget that experience.
On Tuesday, myself, Joe, and Martha (my primary advisor) went to Hampton Court palace, once used as a summer getaway from London. This palace was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, who later fell out of favor with Henry VIII. Henry VIII wanted the palace for himself, so Wolsey wisely gave it up willingly. Additions to the palace were later made by William & Mary in the 1600s and George II in the 1700s, each in the current architectural styles, so the palace is really a patchwork from different periods. Some of this disparity is revealed in the pictures that I took. A lot of areas inside the palace were off-limits to photography, due to the fragile nature of tapestries and paintings. This was definitely a fun experience, not only touring the palace, but also learning about some of the different monarchs who occupied it.
Today, I went to the Museum of London, which covers the city from prehistoric times to the present day. Unfortunately for me, the lower section, covering from the Great Fire of 1666 to the present day, is closed until 2010 for renovations. I did get some nice pictures of Roman and medieval artifacts. Much of their collection was behind glass, so the glare from the lights was too much to get good pictures of some objects.
The Great Fire of 1666 started at 1 AM on Sept. 2, in the bakery of Thomas Farriner, who was the baker for King Charles II. It burned until Sept. 6, and destroyed about 13,000 houses, or 4/5 of the city, although only 5 deaths were reported as directly resulting from the fire. Farriner's bakery was in Pudding Lane, and the fire went out at Pie Corner, so some blamed the fire on the sin of gluttony. At the time of the fire, buildings had no insurance, so many people were left homeless, or worse, in debtor's prisons. London had no fire brigades in 1666, and the first proper fire brigade was not formed until 1866.
Thursday night, we went to an Indian restaurant on Gloucester Road called "Memories of India." I decided to have the lamb vindaloo, as I like to go for the spicier foods on the menu. One of my advisors, Joe Schork, not to be outdone, decided to have the chicken vindaloo. To backtrack, the night before we were at a Portuguese restaurant that seemed to make a big deal out of the spicieness of their different sauces for chicken, but neither Joe nor I thought that their "hot" sauce was all that hot. I assumed that Londoners, given their generally bland native diet, have a weak tolerance for spicy foods, and that any restaurant labeling their food "very spicy" was probably gearing the warning towards locals. Now back to Thurday night. The vindaloo at this Indian place was noticeably hotter than any I've had in the US. Both Joe and I finished our dishes, but it took every bit of rice and nan that we had to take out the burn. I don't think either of us will forget that experience.
On Tuesday, myself, Joe, and Martha (my primary advisor) went to Hampton Court palace, once used as a summer getaway from London. This palace was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, who later fell out of favor with Henry VIII. Henry VIII wanted the palace for himself, so Wolsey wisely gave it up willingly. Additions to the palace were later made by William & Mary in the 1600s and George II in the 1700s, each in the current architectural styles, so the palace is really a patchwork from different periods. Some of this disparity is revealed in the pictures that I took. A lot of areas inside the palace were off-limits to photography, due to the fragile nature of tapestries and paintings. This was definitely a fun experience, not only touring the palace, but also learning about some of the different monarchs who occupied it.
Today, I went to the Museum of London, which covers the city from prehistoric times to the present day. Unfortunately for me, the lower section, covering from the Great Fire of 1666 to the present day, is closed until 2010 for renovations. I did get some nice pictures of Roman and medieval artifacts. Much of their collection was behind glass, so the glare from the lights was too much to get good pictures of some objects.
The Great Fire of 1666 started at 1 AM on Sept. 2, in the bakery of Thomas Farriner, who was the baker for King Charles II. It burned until Sept. 6, and destroyed about 13,000 houses, or 4/5 of the city, although only 5 deaths were reported as directly resulting from the fire. Farriner's bakery was in Pudding Lane, and the fire went out at Pie Corner, so some blamed the fire on the sin of gluttony. At the time of the fire, buildings had no insurance, so many people were left homeless, or worse, in debtor's prisons. London had no fire brigades in 1666, and the first proper fire brigade was not formed until 1866.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Since my last post, I have stayed busy every day. Thursday, I cut out of work a little early to go to the Science Museum, which is near Imperial College. I went through part of the Energy exhibit, which shows the history of steam engines. The early steam engines were very large machines, and were quite impressive to see. Friday evening, I went for a stroll through Hyde Park. The Albert Memorial there is breathtaking. I tried to take some pictures of it, but the lighting wasn't good at 6 PM with cloudy skies. I will definitely take more pictures outside, but I am waiting for some sunnier days. My friend Mark got a group of his friends together from Imperial, and we went out to a pub on Friday night. The weather was downright chilly; it felt like 50 F or less. It was good getting to meet some of the people I'll be working around this summer.
Saturday afternoon, I went to the British Museum. If you've ever been there, you know that the place is enormous. Granted, I was taking my time, but it took me about 4 hours to go through the Egyptian sculpture gallery and half of the Enlightenment gallery, which houses many pieces of the museum's original collection dating from the 1750s. Saturday evening, I took the tube down to the north side of the Thames, then walked across the Millenium Brigde. My main purpose for doing this was to get a good view of Big Ben and Parliament, which I haven't yet visited. I stopped and ate dinner at a restaurant on the south bank, near the London Eye. On Sunday, I went to the Imperial War Museum. If you have a keen interest in WWI or WWII, then you would really enjoy this museum.
Here is a link to my photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22316703@N05/sets/
My advisors from GT are visiting London this week. Tomorrow, we are going to Hampton Court, Henry VIII's palace southwest of the city.
The weather here has been really cool, although it has threatened rain each of the past five days. Few, if any, buildings here have air conditioning, as it is not usually needed. The highs here have been in the low to mid 60s since last Wed., which feels really good compared to a summer day in the ATL.
Camden Market, not too far from my dorm, is actually made up of six markets, five of which are outdoor. It is a popular tourist attraction, drawing as many as 100,000 on a Sunday afternoon. To avoid overcrowding, the Camden Town Station, on the Northern line of the tube, does not allow passengers to enter the station from 1-5:30 PM on Sundays. This tube station, the one which I enter every morning, is a bit of an anomally in itself. The Northern line is in two branches both north and south of the station, with the X-interchange just south of the station. Northbound trains must commit to a branch before they reach the station, but southbound trains can go on either branch after leaving the station. When the line was being constructed, London Transport wanted to build the tunnels under streets, to avoid purchasing buildings for demolition. The streets along the tube route are narrow, so the northbound and southbound platforms are stacked on top of one another. These features supposedly make Camden Town station the most complex station on the entire tube network.
Saturday afternoon, I went to the British Museum. If you've ever been there, you know that the place is enormous. Granted, I was taking my time, but it took me about 4 hours to go through the Egyptian sculpture gallery and half of the Enlightenment gallery, which houses many pieces of the museum's original collection dating from the 1750s. Saturday evening, I took the tube down to the north side of the Thames, then walked across the Millenium Brigde. My main purpose for doing this was to get a good view of Big Ben and Parliament, which I haven't yet visited. I stopped and ate dinner at a restaurant on the south bank, near the London Eye. On Sunday, I went to the Imperial War Museum. If you have a keen interest in WWI or WWII, then you would really enjoy this museum.
Here is a link to my photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22316703@N05/sets/
My advisors from GT are visiting London this week. Tomorrow, we are going to Hampton Court, Henry VIII's palace southwest of the city.
The weather here has been really cool, although it has threatened rain each of the past five days. Few, if any, buildings here have air conditioning, as it is not usually needed. The highs here have been in the low to mid 60s since last Wed., which feels really good compared to a summer day in the ATL.
Camden Market, not too far from my dorm, is actually made up of six markets, five of which are outdoor. It is a popular tourist attraction, drawing as many as 100,000 on a Sunday afternoon. To avoid overcrowding, the Camden Town Station, on the Northern line of the tube, does not allow passengers to enter the station from 1-5:30 PM on Sundays. This tube station, the one which I enter every morning, is a bit of an anomally in itself. The Northern line is in two branches both north and south of the station, with the X-interchange just south of the station. Northbound trains must commit to a branch before they reach the station, but southbound trains can go on either branch after leaving the station. When the line was being constructed, London Transport wanted to build the tunnels under streets, to avoid purchasing buildings for demolition. The streets along the tube route are narrow, so the northbound and southbound platforms are stacked on top of one another. These features supposedly make Camden Town station the most complex station on the entire tube network.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
After a few minor hiccups, I am getting settled in to my UCL dorm room and my desk at Imperial College. It's about a 50 min journey to get from my room to my office at Imperial: 30 min on the tube (with one line change), and a 10 min walk on either end. This being my first time in a city without a car, there is a good bit more walking than what I am used to. I should be in better shape when I return in September.
Now that I am mostly over the jet lag, I am ready to start seeing some of the sights. I pass by three museums every day on my walk from the South Kensington tube station to Imperial College: the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Most of the museums close at 6 PM, so I will probably use those to break up my afternoons. Hyde Park is only a block north of Imperial College, so that will be a great place to eat lunch or take an afternoon stroll. I know a picture's worth a thousand words, so I will start taking some tomorrow.
I ran into a group of law students from U of Miami (FL) who are living near me and studying at UCL, so I'm sure I'll hang out with them some.
Now that I am mostly over the jet lag, I am ready to start seeing some of the sights. I pass by three museums every day on my walk from the South Kensington tube station to Imperial College: the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Most of the museums close at 6 PM, so I will probably use those to break up my afternoons. Hyde Park is only a block north of Imperial College, so that will be a great place to eat lunch or take an afternoon stroll. I know a picture's worth a thousand words, so I will start taking some tomorrow.
I ran into a group of law students from U of Miami (FL) who are living near me and studying at UCL, so I'm sure I'll hang out with them some.
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