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.