Saturday in Southwark

Saturday we spent in the Southwark area, just south of the Thames. We went to a place that had been on my to-do list for a while, the quirky Old Operating Theatre Museum, one of those places which make one grateful to live in the 21st century! Built into the upper levels of a tower in a church that was once attached to the ancient St. Stephen’s Hospital, this museum holds the oldest surviving operating theatre in Europe, in use from the 1820s to 1860s. To get in, you must climb about 30 steps up a winding and very steep wooden staircase which takes you into the gift shop, about the size of a small bedroom, then more stairs up to the herb garret (where herbs used to be dried back when this room was part of St. Stephen’s) which houses a collection of medical instruments from the last few centuries. The real centrepiece, though, is of course the operating theatre itself. It is quite nightmarish to imagine what people endured in the era of before what we think of as modern medicine, that is, pre-anaesthetic and antiseptic. About 150 to 175 doctors-in-training would crowd into this little space (wearing their regular old street clothes, of course – no germ theory at this point in time!) to observe and learn from operations being carried out, from kidney stone removal to amputation (often required due to infections set in from open wounds). The original wooden (!) operating table is still in the room, complete with grisly saw marks from operations long past. It was a fascinating glimpse into another time, thankfully now behind us.

We emerged into the sunshine and made our way to the nearby Borough Market, another holdover from the 19th century full of stalls selling fresh spices, veggies, meat, fish and cheeses. It’s directly below a set of train tracks, so you can hear the trains rumbling overhead every few minutes. We spent the rest of the afternoon ambling along the south side of the Thames.

Cambridge canter

This past weekend we took a quick one-day trip to Cambridge. I visited here with my family when I was young, but like most kids I never looked at a map so I had no idea where anything was! My parents lived here for a year in the early 70s and their inspiration for my name comes from Clare College in Cambridge.

We left early from London and arrived just after 9, leaving a full day of sightseeing. Cambridge is of course best known for its colleges, and when we were there it seemed to be a convocation day with lots of young people wearing black robes wandering about with their families. Consequently we didn’t get in to most of the colleges as they weren’t open to visitors on that day. But we did get to see King’s College Chapel (the word chapel implying that it is small, which it definitely is not!) Building was started by Henry VI and finished by Henry VIII. It’s full of enormous and imposing symbols – greyhounds, dragons, castle gates and roses carved in stone abound. Next we visited the ‘Round Church’ built in 1130 when it was on the main Roman road into town. We then climbed to the top of Castle Mound which at one time housed various fortifications. We wandered back through town, enjoying the beautiful weather and watching the punters (amateur and professional... the professionals make it look easy but I am sure it is not!) on the River Cam. Our last stop was the Fitzwilliam Museum, a gorgeous building which holds a varied collection, from ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman artefacts to medieval and more modern art.

On our way back towards the train station we saw a statue dedicated to those from Cambridgeshire who lost their lives in World Wars I and II, which my mother tells me has an Ottawa Valley connection – the sculptor was R. Tait McKenzie who was from Lanark County, Ontario. There is a museum dedicated to him in his final home at the Mill of Kintail, just outside of Almonte which we used to visit when I was young.

Canada Day!

Just a quick blog post to say happy Canada Day! I went downtown to Trafalgar Square where they have a "Canada Day in London" event. There was a stage with live music, Mounties, poutine and even Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts! I wandered about outside in the gorgeous weather, taking in all the Canadian-ness then headed into the National Gallery for a few hours of cold air and beautiful paintings.

Our own Canterbury tale

We took a day-trip to Canterbury this past Saturday. We started the day very early (our train left at 8:20 which meant we had to be on the road to the tube at 6:15am) and it was a great trip. We had some strange off-and-on rain all day so we had to hide out under trees and ruins a few times but the rain luckily only ever lasted a couple of minutes. It has been a cold and wet June!

We started our day with a visit to the remains of Canterbury Castle which was built by the Normans shortly after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 to secure their claim on England. The original structure built here was a wooden motte-and-bailey castle but the stone castle that remains was built just a few decades later (i.e. it’s still super old!) Next we walked to the lovely Dane John Gardens and climbed to the top of a tall mound placed there in the 18th century (this time period felt comparatively very modern!) It offers a lovely view of Canterbury Cathedral and the Roman wall that still surrounds the old city.

Next we visited the ruins of St. Augustine’s Abbey which he founded in 597. It is a beautiful site with the remains of the Abbey and other churches built in later years (‘later’ is a relative term, the other buildings were put up between the 10th and 14th centuries). The crypt of one of these churches is still in place (although it’s open to the air now) and it’s amazing to stand in this spot and imagine the huge building that once stood there so long ago. We then went to Canterbury Cathedral which is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury who is leader of the Church of England. We were lucky because on the afternoon we visited there was a rehearsal going on for a concert in the cathedral taking place that evening, so we got to hear the choir, orchestra and soloists practicing Elgar’s The Kingdom as a backdrop to our visit. The Cathedral is also the site of Archbishop Thomas Becket’s murder that took place in 1170 and there is a dramatic sculpture marking the spot where this occurred, as well as other markers where his original tomb and shrine both once stood.

By the afternoon the weather had changed and it was sunny again. We walked through some beautiful gardens and visited the tiny Greyfriars Chapel built over the River Stour by Franciscan monks a thousand years ago and then wandered through the King’s Mile, the main shopping street. We ended our day with a visit to St. Martin's Church (part of the UNESCO heritage site which also includes the Abbey and the Cathedral). St. Martin's church is the site of the oldest Christian parish church in England, first built in the 6th century for the wife of King Ethelbert of Kent. So many periods of history in one place!

The Jacksons take London

Well it’s been almost another month since I last updated this blog! We are starting to see the end of this journey of ours in sight... We’ve booked our flight home and will be back on August 15! I will try to fit in a few more blog entries before then though!

My parents were here for two weeks from the end of May to the first week of June. They had a whirlwind vacation and went all over the place – Greenwich (by boat), Bath and (of course, who could forget) the illustrious Grand Union Canal of Uxbridge leading to our local Tesco (grocery store). (I have been talking up this canal walk that Keith and I go on near our flat and all the species of ducks and geese and baby birdies we get to see... it is a very interesting area for nature lovers but there is nothing particularly ‘grand’ about this canal!).
We also spent a lovely two days in Peterborough visiting old friends of my parents who took us driving about the countryside in their vintage cars (a ’49 Triumph and ’71 MG). Peterborough Cathedral is home to the grave of Katherine of Aragon (Henry VIII’s first wife) and was also the original resting place of Mary Queen of Scots before her son James I had her reburied in Westminster Abbey in a grand tomb. We went to the nearby village of Fotheringhay which is the site of Mary Queen of Scots’ execution (as well as a lovely old church) and is also the village where King Richard III was born. Lots of history in this unassuming village! (the pictures here are of Peterborough Cathedral on the left and me standing on the hill where Fotheringhay Castle once stood with the church in the background).

My parents also went to many sights in London they had not had a chance to see before (a sampling: Kew Gardens, Spitalfields, Docklands, Hampstead Heath, Tate Britain) as well as a few old favourite spots. We also went to see the play War Horse– a tearjerker for everyone. All in all it was a lovely holiday and a great way for them to ease their way into their imminent retirement.

In May I joined a couple of university choirs just for the month and had fun at a concert put on at the end of that month, just a few days before my parents came. I got to sing and pick up a viola again after 10 years away from it!

Now Keith is on his final six weeks of school and I am writing my dissertation (5000 words – of 18,000 – done so far...) We are looking forward to coming home again and seeing all our family and friends. And we will be using our last eight weeks to see as much of England as we can!

Long walk to Tate

This past week has been a bit of a vacation for me. My only exam was a week ago Wednesday and in the absence of course work and dissertation work I had a bit of a break! I went to the Wellcome Collection which is another medical museum in central London. It has more installation art than the other two medical-themed museums we've been to (the Hunterian Museum and part of the Science Museum) and I can't say it was my favourite place to visit. But it did have an interesting collection of medical-related pieces from the past (collected by Henry Wellcome himself in the late 19th and early 20th centuries): memento mori, paintings of medical practice from the past, an ancient mummified body (no museum is complete without one!), etc.

We had a nice barbecue with friends last weekend, and I visited a friend in Reading on Thursday. This past Saturday we went to the Tate Britain which is about 15 minutes walking distance south of the Parliament Buildings. Since the day was beautiful and sunny we had a lovely walk all the way down Charing Cross Road through the centre of town to the gallery. The Tate Britain, not to be confused with the Tate Modern, is dedicated to British artists from the year 1500 onward. The building is beautiful, built in the neo-classical style at the tail end of the 19th century. It was the original location of the Tate gallery before the Tate Modern was created in an old power station which is across the river from St. Paul's Cathedral (I went there in the Fall). The Tate Britain has a huge collection of Turner paintings. I hadn't realized how early Turner was (1775-1851) yet his later paintings are very reminiscent of the Impressionists decades later. Lots of "fogs and slurries" as Bridget Jones's mother would say (but in a good way). There are also a few paintings I recognized by Pre-Raphaelites like the famous Ophelia by John Everett Millais (a print of which we had up in our apartment - a wee bit morbid but lovely all the same) and The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse (looking forlorn in a dinghy - when I was ten I was obsessed with a song about the Lady of Shalott sung by Loreena McKennitt and had this painting on a postcard). Always a thrill to see these paintings in real life!

On Sunday I went to Notting Hill with a friend from school. We went to the Museum of Brands and Packaging which had a huge collection of memorabilia and packaging (food, household goods, toys, etc) starting in the mid-19th century. It was a bit limited in terms of explanatory signs but it was interesting to see the evoluation of brands that we still use today (such as certain chocolate brands, cleaning products, etc). It was also fun to see some of the games and toys I remember from the 80s!

Show time!

I've been a bit remiss in my blogging habits yet again. The last few weeks I've been really busy finishing off assignments before the end of term. I happily handed in my last essay this past week. I'm now studying for my one and only exam this coming Wednesday (on research methods - sounds fun, right?). I'm looking forward to having my course work complete! That will just leave the dissertation to write (a minor project... ha!)

We have been to a couple of good shows in Central London the past few weeks. Back in early April we went to a performance by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment featuring music by Bach, Handel and a lovely young soprano. The venue was The King's Place, a few blocks down the street from King's Cross/St Pancras train station. The theatre is the newest in London with an office building above and the two stages located in the basement to cut down on the noise from the nearby trains. The accoustics were fantastic and it also looks beautiful - the whole theatre is lined with hardwood from the same old tree.

Two weeks ago we went to a fabulous production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe. It was unusual as it featured an all-male cast. It was hilarious, touching and the singing and choreography were fantastic. The men playing the female leads had incredible soprano ranges - one getting up to a high A! Iolanthe was particularly suited to an all-male cast as the story is concerned with a group of magical fairies and a half-man/half-fairy. This made for quite a few funny double-entendres. But it wasn't camp - it's hard to explain what the vibe was of the show, but although it was definitely very funny it could also be very sincere and heartfelt. I think it was my favourite show that I've seen while we've been here. The venue was also magical - Wilton's Music Hall, a few blocks east of the Tower of London. It's apparently the oldest still-standing music hall in the world, built in the 1850s. The building is kind of semi-derelict. For example, the audience can't sit on the balconey because it won't support the weight (!), and the paint on the walls has all peeled off revealing brickwork underneath. And it has a distinctly earthy smell. But it is a really fabulous venue - very atmospheric (especially for a show about fairies).

This past Saturday night we bought tickets last-minute to see a brand new musical, Betty Blue Eyes. It features a really cute animatronic pig (Betty). The show is based on the movie A Private Function made in the 1980s with Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. Set in austerity-era Britain, 1947 the year of the wedding of Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The upper-crust inhabitants of a small town are raising an illegal (non-rationed) pig (Betty) to eat at a banquet in honour of the royal wedding. Hijinks ensue. It was just a coincidence that when the show opened in March another Royal Wedding was on the horizon. It was a funny show although also bizarre with some random dream-sequences that were very strange! It is also the first musical I have ever seen that has a scene featuring a urinal.

A day out downtown

It's the second week of the Easter break and although I have a few assignments due in the next couple of weeks I'm trying to also make time for getting out and about while Keith is on holiday. We've had good weather here in London the last few days and it's quite warm and (almost) summery. We decided to go down to the Imperial War Museum this afternoon which is near the Elephant & Castle tube station in the southern part of Central London. The museum is focused on conflicts in the 20th century, particularly WWI and WWII. It also has two effective recreations: "the Trench experience" and "the Blitz experience" about the London Blitz in 1940-41. It's a very large and impressive museum and there was much more than we were able to see in the afternoon so we will try to return again in the future. Another interesting aspect of the museum is that it's housed in the former Bethlem Royal Hospital, a psychiatric hospital that gave us the expression "bedlam" to describe chaotic situations (however it's not the original hospital, but the one built in the early 19th century).

Sojourn a Sevilla!

This past week we had a fantastic trip to Seville in southern Spain. We left London on Monday afternoon and had three days to take in the sights and sounds before coming home on Friday. Our hotel was just on the edge of the old city where we spent most of our time and where the Moorish influences can be seen everywhere in the architecture. One of our first stops was the huge gothic Catedral de Sevilla which features La Giralda – originally a minaret that was converted into the cathedral’s bell tower after the reconquest of Spain in the 15th century. From the top we got a fantastic view of the city (and the many rooftop pools)! The audioguide informed us that the builders designed the cathedral with the express purpose of making visitors think they were crazy – this will give you some sense of the flamboyant nature of the decoration inside! One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the Real Alcázar which was originally a Moorish palace built in the 12th century but has been added to over the many centuries by Spanish monarchs. The many rooms show the Mudéjar style, a unique blend of Moorish, Andalusian and Christian architecture that includes beautifully painted tiles, carved wooden ceilings and water features in the many courtyards. The palace also has a beautiful garden with different levels and sections that gives it a sense of intimacy although the area it covers is enormous. We enjoyed a few hours wandering around outside watching the ducks (lots of mallards!) and peacocks trying to shoo away the tourists. The weather was so beautiful that although it was in the low 30s it felt cooler because there was always a slight breeze. We also visited the huge Plaza de España built for the 1929 Exposición Ibero-Americana. It also features beautifully painted tiles and a little moat around the outside. Its setting is the lovely Maria Luisa Park which is full of lush green trees and yet more gardens. I think this is one of the things I liked best about our trip – we spent much of it outside and the weather allowed us to do that comfortably! We also visited the Museo de Bellas Artes which is housed in a former convent and has some beautiful medieval and renaissance art from Seville and the surrounding area; and the Museo Arqueológico which had some beautiful mosaics and sculptures from the nearby Roman town of Italica. We managed to get to one flamenco show that was held in Museo del Baile Flamenco. There was a guitarist, male singer and two dancers. It was a really fantastic show (if short – just an hour) and we got a feel for the passion of flamenco! We arrived back in London to the sight of people wearing winter coats and overcast skies – ah, England!

Hampton Court

This is another catch-all blog entry since I didn't write about our trip to Hampton Court last weekend and we had a busy Saturday yesterday as well... And tomorrow we are off to Seville for 5 days so I'll have lots to add when we get back!

Hampton Court is way down the Thames to the west and was one of Henry VIII's many houses that he took over from its original owner Cardinal Wolsey after he had him executed (that's one way to get into real estate). We took a long bus ride from our flat to get there (close to 1.5 hours!) It was long but direct though. Hampton Court is a beautiful red-brick palace originally built in the early 1500s but has had expansions and renovations that were made over the 200 years it was a royal residence. On the day we went the courtyard was being set up as a medieval market place for a movie (Jack the Giant Killer) they were going to film there that week. Lots of taxidermied animals were laying about in preparation for this set. Hampton Court also has costumed actors wandering around portraying Henry VIII, his new (and last) queen Catherine Parr and members of their court as if it were their wedding day (July 12, 1543). The house is a bit spooky as there are reminders of a few of King Henry's unfortunate queens (for example, a small H&A for Henry and Anne Boleyn was accidentally left behind on a carved screen in the Great Hall when workmen were scraping away all traces of her memory... There is a carved doorway with Henry's tudor rose and Katherine of Aragon's family's pomegranite symbol). The kitchens are in working order and the day we were there they were cooking up Tudor-style gruel/porridge and chickens were roasting on a huge (and very hot) fire. Other wings of the castle (added later) were the apartments of the monarchs William and Mary in the late 17th century and are filled with their paintings and furniture. There is also a beautiful garden to wander in and a famous hedge maze we found our way through. The weather was beautiful that day and since it has been warm the flowers were blooming.

Another busy blog entry

It's been a busy few weeks for us but I haven't been keeping up with my blog entries! Last weekend we took a trip to the Hunterian Museum which is housed in the building of the Royal College of Surgeons. The museum is the private collection of a pioneering 18th century Scottish surgeon named John Hunter. Aside from developing our knowledge of human anatomy, he also developed a vast collection of specimens - animal and human - including human skeletons, pathologies (diseased bits...), "human oddities", plants and animals, surgical instruments, etc... The collection was built up over the years but is mainly owing to him. It made for a fascinating if gruesome afternoon (our guide book said it was a must see, but warned readers not to eat first!) The grisly nature of the collection is diminished slightly by the beauty of the displays themselves, which were recently renovated (no dusty old shelves or labels here!) It was certainly a memorable experience.

The next day we took a walk to Little Britain Lake, about 20 minutes south of our flat. It's part of a vast set of trails that criss-cross all over London. The lake supports a variety of water fowl (including one species of duck that we had never seen before) including swans, various geese (Canada, Greylag, Embden), coots and mallards. Spring is in the air so there were lots of little spats between members of the same species over mates and whose bit of the lake was whose. We were confronted on the path by a party of cranky Embden geese (the big white geese with orange bills and blue eyes in these pictures) but they allowed us to pass with only a bit of fuss.

Uke-mania!

I'm trying to catch up on some of our adventures from the last little while. One big update from last month is that we bought a ukulele named which I have named, appropriately, Ukie. We bought Ukie at a specialised ukulele store in Spitalfields called The Duke of Uke (only a city the size of London would be able to support its own specialised uke store). It was lots of fun trying out the different sizes - soprano, concert and tenor (we didn't try any of the baritone ukes which are quite large). Each one we tried had a very unique sound and look with lots of variation in the type of material (some were wood and others were laminate). We had a tough choice but in the end Ukie won out with her beautiful colour and sound. Ukie is the middle 'concert' size and made of Hawaiian koa wood. We are both enjoying learning to play some new favourites!

The view from up here

Wow, it's been way too long (again) since I updated our blog! One of my excuses is that I came down with a cold in early March which meant we didn't get out much for about two weeks. My other excuse is workload... both of us have been so busy with work and school which involves copious bouts of writing that neither of us had much enthusiasm for updating the blog. But never mind, on with the show!

A few weekends ago we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was one of those places that was on our to-do list but we just hadn't gotten around to it yet. It is mainly white inside, not exactly plain because it's filled with statues, but it is very different from the inside of Westminster Abbey (of course, it's also a much newer building than Westminster). We took the plunge and climbed to the very top of the Cathedral. It is quite a climb! The first 259 steps are very wide and shallow and take you up to the famous "Whispering Gallery". (Unfortunately it was too busy to do much whispering, and although we did try it out all I could hear on my side were the people beside me trying it too). But from the Gallery you get a fantastic view of the huge paintings that are inside the dome of the church, representing scenes from the life of St. Paul. Another 119 steps later (this time up a steeper and more tightly spiralling staircase) and we were at the Stone Gallery which takes you outside for a view of the city. Once we had our breathing back under control we took the final 172 steps up to the Golden Gallery at the very top. Now this was a scary climb up a spiral metal staircase (I am not a fan of heights). After making it to the top it was well worth the effort. The Gallery is tiny, and lots of other brave folks were crowded up there with us. It offers spectacular views of the city. Here's a view from this level (look for the London Eye in the distance).

What is interesting is from this vantage point you can see some of the architectural features of the building. A few weeks before we had seen a documentary on the BBC website about Baroque architecture which talked a lot about St. Paul's. Christopher Wren designed it so that it looks magnificent both from the outside and the inside, but what you see from both vantage points is actually not the same. On the outside there are false higher walls that make the building look taller than it actually is. When you are standing on the Stone or Golden Gallery you can see into the "ditches" that are made by this false wall (you can see one of these ditches in the picture here). Both the inside and outside of the Cathedral have the famous dome - but the dome you see when you're outside and the one you see when you're inside are actually not the same thing. There is an external dome that is higher than the internal dome. When you climb the scary metal staircase to get to the Golden Gallery you are actually climbing beside an internal cone-shaped supportive structure that holds the two domes on either side. Whew!

Back from Bath and squeaky clean

We got home last night after a relaxing 2-day break in Bath. It's one of those places where a short jaunt is the perfect amount of time; the historic core of the city is very compact so it's easy to get around on foot and two days affords a leisurely look at the main historic sites and gave us a feel of the city. Our hotel was in a perfect spot, easy walking distance from the train station and a block away from the famous Roman Baths, the Pump Room and Bath Abbey. Our first morning had us walking up the 212 steps to the top of Bath Abbey. Since we were the only two people on the tour (the first of the day - it pays to be an early riser on holiday) we got the chance to ring the Abbey bells and also got to clamber into the underside of the church roof. We then went to the beautiful Assembly Rooms where big parties were held in the 18th and early 19th centuries. We then walked up to the famous "Circus" (a circular street of Georgian houses) and the beautiful Royal Crescent pictured here. We wandered through Victoria Park, enjoying the first sun we had seen in more than a week. Afterwards we went to the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street, one of the streets she lived on. The museum presents the Bath of Jane Austen's day, both what she enjoyed and did not enjoy about living in the city. Since it's such a small place it was amazing to recognise the areas on the map where she lived during her years in Bath. That evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner at a restaurant set in the old Green Park train station, where a jazz trio performed featuring a great young female singer.

On Friday we spent several hours making our way through the fantastic and recently refurbished Roman Baths museum. This was a huge Roman bath and temple complex in the years 40 to about 400 AD, dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva (Sulis being the goddess worshipped by the local Celts and Minerva one of the Roman goddesses). The natural hot springs in Bath had always been a place of worship for people before they figured out a more mundane explanation for where all that warm bubbly water was coming from. The museum presents artifacts found in and around the hot spring and temple - one of the most fascinating of which I think are the "curses", little messages written to Sulis Minerva complaining mainly about petty annoyances (like the theft of clothing at the baths!) and wishing death, blindness and all other manner of horrible things on the culprits. I think these little scraps of metal on which people poured out their anger really bring you close to the people who lived there millennia ago. After seeing the ancient Roman baths you can go to the Georgian Pump Rooms above and sample the famous Bath waters. Although I am glad we did this, I am also really glad that I have never been prescribed a gallon of this water a day like some people were back when they went to Bath for healing. It is a bit like drinking liquid metal!

We really enjoyed our time in Bath and found the smaller crowds and nearly non-existent traffic noise a great break from London!