Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2286474&id=11832732&l=f57064c993
Today we visited the Vatican, which although is close to Rome, is technically a separate nation. We joined a tour group which allowed us 'priority' access to the lines (didn't have to wait as long, and we got in sooner than we otherwise would have). We started off in the Vatican museum, which is the second largest museum in the world; only the Louvre is larger (so on this trip I have been inside the two largest museums in the world).
One of the first things we saw in the museum was a replica of a marble carving by Michelangelo (we saw the original later, but it was behind bullet proof glass due to an 'incident' years prior, more on that after the story); the only one which has his name explicitly carved into it. It is a funny story about how this came to be. Originally, artists were discouraged from signing works meant for the church; it was a "sin of vanity" to do so. Michelangelo did not originally sign the sculpture; he was present at the unveiling in the Vatican, and he hid behind a column to hear what people thought of his work. He was infuriated, since the people were impressed by the sculpture, but were saying that it must have been carved by someone else, since people from Florence lacked the skill it would have taken to carve such a masterpiece. Michelangelo was mad enough that he broke into the Vatican that night (a crime punishable by death) and carved his name into the sculpture, something along the lines of "this sculpture was carved by michelangelo the florentine". However, since he was rushing and nervous due to the penalty if he was caught, he accidentally misspelled his name and had to go back and add in some letters, cramming them into the small spaces where he could fit them. In the morning, people were furious about what he had done; the only reason he was not executed was that the Pope pardoned him, saying it would be a sin to kill the creator of such a work of art.
Anyway, the reason it is a replica is that several years ago the actual version was on display when a mad man burst into the room where it was displayed. He yelled something to the degree that he was Jesus, and that "that woman was not his mother". He then took a hammer and starting striking the statue, getting in 5 or 6 hits before being restrained. The statue was damaged, with pieces going everywhere. Eventually, it was successfully reassembled, and put on display again in St. Peter's bascilica, but it was displayed behind bullet-proof glass so no one else could damage it again.
Further along in the museum, we saw an influential sculpture which was the first to convey emotions of the subjects in it; agony is clearly visible in the face of the man being attacked by snakes. It is considered important because it is the first work to have done so; presumably, it was copied by others and led to more realistic sculptures.
We also saw Nero's bathtub, which is a giant bathtub made out of Imperial marble. It is a red colored marble, and only one source was ever discovered; hence the emperors claiming it for themselves. It is priceless as a result; since all that was available has been consumed and used (although there are rumors of a second vein possibly being discovered). The tub is thus one of, if not the most expensive objects in the museum.
We then hurried to the Sistine Chapel, because of preparations for Easter, the basilica at the end of the tour would be closing early and our guide wanted us to get there in time to see it. The Sistine Chapel was amazing - the pictures you see of it can't possibly capture the true beauty of the images in the ceiling and walls. The chapel had been 'fogged up' by centuries of candles and fires accumulating soot on the ceiling. A firm offered to finance the refurbishing of the ceiling (a 'mistake' you could say due to the eventual cost being in the millions). As compensation for their money/effort, they were granted exclusive rights to the images, which is why I have no pictures of the inside (although I probably could have taken some if I wanted to; I didn't feel like risking getting caught).
We then finished the tour and went inside St. Peter's bascilica. It was a very impressive building, although I really wish I could have been there for Easter and had a mass there. The building is very ornate, and decorated with great skill, a true testament of the skills given by God to the artists who worked on it.
After leaving the Bascilica, we walked out into St. Peter's square (which is actually a circle if you look at it from above), and I took the chance to take a picture of the Papal apartments, where the pope lives and speaks on Weds. (we decided to do the Vatican today instead of yesterday because of that; a lot of people would have been here yesterday to see the Pope and it would have been even more crowded). I would have liked to have seen the Pope in person, but it was not that big of an issue to risk the extra crowding and risk not seeing the other things we wanted to see due to crowds.
We then walked to Castel Sant'Angelo, a castle connected to the Vatican by a wall with a secret passage in it; if the Vatican was ever sieged, the Pope and his court could escape to the fortified castle nearby. Originally, it was a mausoleam for Emperor Hadrian, however, it was adapted to be a papal fortress, and a few Popes used it as their private residences. It was a very impressive castle.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
"A funny thing happened on the way to the forum..."
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2286474&id=11832732&l=f57064c993
Today we visited ancient Rome. We started off at the Colosseum, or the Flavian amphitheater as it was originally known, because it was build by three of the Flavian dynasty emperors. It again was an engineering marvel of the time; holding thousands of people who were seated by their social class; yet at the same time due to the 'requirements' of class, there were dozens of stairways and entrances so that every class had its own means of access to the building without having to cross the path of someone of higher or lower standing than yourself. An additonal benefit of this is that the building could be filled and emptied very quickly, unlike a modern american football arena or hockey arena, which can take a while to empty out after a game.
The floor of the Colosseum was originally a wooden floor, covered by sand, with trapdoors and elevators leading to a basement where wild animals were kept for 'hunts' to be shown to the public for sport. As the story goes, on the opening day of the arena (before the whole building was completed, but enough for the 'games' to begin), 9000 animals were killed over the course of a year of celebrations. The arena was also used for gladiatoral fights as well, although these ceased in the 400's, with the arena continuing to be used for animal hunts until the 500's.
The only people who got their names on their seats were the senators, who sat at the front, closest to the action. Some of the ruins of their seats are still present; the writing still visible of the name of the senator who sat in that spot. As senators died/were 'replaced', the old names were chiseled off and new ones added. Everyone else had an assigned seat in their designated section, along with instructions of how to get to their seat (the social class issues mentioned above). The instructions directed people to pass through a specific entrance, marked with roman numerals, some of which can still be seen today. Additionally, the seats were marked with numbers as well, so everyone had a specific location to sit in.
After the Colosseum, we had lunch and then visited the forum (the oldest part of Rome). We started on Palentine hill, one of the 7 hills of Rome. The story goes that Aeneas and the other trojan survivers who ecsape the greek attack eventually settled in the area. One of their desecendants became a king who had a prophacy against him that his grandchildren would overthrow him. Enraged, he locked up his daughter and ordered that she and her twin children be killed. The daughter was killed, but the man assigned to kill the children was unwilling to do so; he abandoned Romulus and Remus in the wilderness where they were raised by a 'she-wolf' (our guide mentioned that the word for she-wolf actually could mean 3 things: a female wolf, a priestess in a female-wolf worshiping cult, or a prostitute; it is possible that the story actually happened to a certain degree in the later cases). Eventually the boys were found and raised by a local man. They eventually discovered the truth about their grandfather, and they did de-throne him.
At this point, the brothers differed on where they should build their city. Remus favored the Palantine hill, while Romulus fancied a place a little farther off. They chose to let the 'gods' decide the matter, and each spent the day at their site counting the number of Eagles they saw. Romulus won, and started construction of walls around his site. As our guide put it, Remus was a sore loser, and hopped over the walls and trenches his brother was working on, to demonstrate that they were insufficient. Angered, Romulus killed Remus and continued building his city.
There was a 'problem' in the fact that Romulus just had men to work with him on building the city - there were no women/children. To solve this problem, Romulus raided a local tribe in the area (living near the Palantine hill), and took their women, and married them. By the time the tribe had recovered enough to counter attack, the women had begun to have children. The battle took place on the hill; the women rushing into the battle to stop it - on one side were their husbands/fathers of their children and on the other side was their families. Both sides stopped fighting upon the women's actions; an agreement was reached with Romulus and the tribe leader ruling side by side, as two kings of Rome. After the years, when the tribal king died with no heirs, Romulus assumed the powers over both groups, who at that time were at peace and for all intents and purposes the same (Romans).
Anyways, we got to see a lot of the important places at the time, including what was left of the palace of Emperor Dominus, who was a sadistic guy. Our guide mentioned that he was fond of inviting common people to a state dinner in his palace, letting them think they were important and known to him, then the next day rounding them up and executing them all. Also on the Palentine hill was the house of Caesar Augustus ("And in those days a decree went out from Ceasar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed...", the Christmas story and the reason Jesus' family went to bethlehem). I found it pretty cool to be that close to the house of someone that important to history.
We then went into the forum, lots of interesting things there including the place where Julius Caesar was cremated; surprising to me was that people still honor his memory today; there were fresh flowers on the spot where he was cremated, which became a temple to him. Also, there is an arch which commemorates the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the source of funding for most of the buildings of Rome at the time, including the Colosseum.
After this, we went back to the room; it was a long day, with a lot of walking, but it was definitely worth it.
Today we visited ancient Rome. We started off at the Colosseum, or the Flavian amphitheater as it was originally known, because it was build by three of the Flavian dynasty emperors. It again was an engineering marvel of the time; holding thousands of people who were seated by their social class; yet at the same time due to the 'requirements' of class, there were dozens of stairways and entrances so that every class had its own means of access to the building without having to cross the path of someone of higher or lower standing than yourself. An additonal benefit of this is that the building could be filled and emptied very quickly, unlike a modern american football arena or hockey arena, which can take a while to empty out after a game.
The floor of the Colosseum was originally a wooden floor, covered by sand, with trapdoors and elevators leading to a basement where wild animals were kept for 'hunts' to be shown to the public for sport. As the story goes, on the opening day of the arena (before the whole building was completed, but enough for the 'games' to begin), 9000 animals were killed over the course of a year of celebrations. The arena was also used for gladiatoral fights as well, although these ceased in the 400's, with the arena continuing to be used for animal hunts until the 500's.
The only people who got their names on their seats were the senators, who sat at the front, closest to the action. Some of the ruins of their seats are still present; the writing still visible of the name of the senator who sat in that spot. As senators died/were 'replaced', the old names were chiseled off and new ones added. Everyone else had an assigned seat in their designated section, along with instructions of how to get to their seat (the social class issues mentioned above). The instructions directed people to pass through a specific entrance, marked with roman numerals, some of which can still be seen today. Additionally, the seats were marked with numbers as well, so everyone had a specific location to sit in.
After the Colosseum, we had lunch and then visited the forum (the oldest part of Rome). We started on Palentine hill, one of the 7 hills of Rome. The story goes that Aeneas and the other trojan survivers who ecsape the greek attack eventually settled in the area. One of their desecendants became a king who had a prophacy against him that his grandchildren would overthrow him. Enraged, he locked up his daughter and ordered that she and her twin children be killed. The daughter was killed, but the man assigned to kill the children was unwilling to do so; he abandoned Romulus and Remus in the wilderness where they were raised by a 'she-wolf' (our guide mentioned that the word for she-wolf actually could mean 3 things: a female wolf, a priestess in a female-wolf worshiping cult, or a prostitute; it is possible that the story actually happened to a certain degree in the later cases). Eventually the boys were found and raised by a local man. They eventually discovered the truth about their grandfather, and they did de-throne him.
At this point, the brothers differed on where they should build their city. Remus favored the Palantine hill, while Romulus fancied a place a little farther off. They chose to let the 'gods' decide the matter, and each spent the day at their site counting the number of Eagles they saw. Romulus won, and started construction of walls around his site. As our guide put it, Remus was a sore loser, and hopped over the walls and trenches his brother was working on, to demonstrate that they were insufficient. Angered, Romulus killed Remus and continued building his city.
There was a 'problem' in the fact that Romulus just had men to work with him on building the city - there were no women/children. To solve this problem, Romulus raided a local tribe in the area (living near the Palantine hill), and took their women, and married them. By the time the tribe had recovered enough to counter attack, the women had begun to have children. The battle took place on the hill; the women rushing into the battle to stop it - on one side were their husbands/fathers of their children and on the other side was their families. Both sides stopped fighting upon the women's actions; an agreement was reached with Romulus and the tribe leader ruling side by side, as two kings of Rome. After the years, when the tribal king died with no heirs, Romulus assumed the powers over both groups, who at that time were at peace and for all intents and purposes the same (Romans).
Anyways, we got to see a lot of the important places at the time, including what was left of the palace of Emperor Dominus, who was a sadistic guy. Our guide mentioned that he was fond of inviting common people to a state dinner in his palace, letting them think they were important and known to him, then the next day rounding them up and executing them all. Also on the Palentine hill was the house of Caesar Augustus ("And in those days a decree went out from Ceasar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed...", the Christmas story and the reason Jesus' family went to bethlehem). I found it pretty cool to be that close to the house of someone that important to history.
We then went into the forum, lots of interesting things there including the place where Julius Caesar was cremated; surprising to me was that people still honor his memory today; there were fresh flowers on the spot where he was cremated, which became a temple to him. Also, there is an arch which commemorates the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the source of funding for most of the buildings of Rome at the time, including the Colosseum.
After this, we went back to the room; it was a long day, with a lot of walking, but it was definitely worth it.
When in Rome...
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2286474&id=11832732&l=f57064c993
Today we left Paris (early in the morning) to fly to Rome. I thought it was pretty cool when we crossed the alps (I think it was the alps; big mountains anyways), the mountains stuck up beyond a cloud layer looking almost like islands.
After arriving safely, we rode a bus into Rome. After depositing our suitcases in our room, we went walking around the city. Our first stop was the "Spanish Steps" - a large number (138) of steps built where the Spanish embassy used to be. I am not that familiar on the details, but the steps are used as a meeting point or socializing point - a lot of people sit around with their friends there. We arrived at the top, and walked down the steps.
After the Spanish Steps, the next closest 'tourist location' was the Trevi fountain. I was impressed by it; it is large and has a lot of water flowing through it. There is not really a good way to get a photo of the whole thing due to the number of people standing around it. I did 'brave the crowd' and tossed a coin into the fountain. According to the legend/myth, I will return to Rome at some point.
Leaving the Trevi Fountain, we went to the Pantheon. It is a very old building, built almost 2000 years ago as a pagan temple to all the gods (put them all into one place rather than lots of shrines/temples all over the city). It is very impressive in the fact that the roof is a concrete dome which has not been replaced since originally being built. It is an engineering marval that the dome is there at all; I would not have pegged ancient Romans capable of such a feat, and performing such a high quality job that it lasts 2000 years. The only light in the room comes from a hole in the ceiling; the occulus (which surprisingly enough, does admit a great deal of light, more than enough to see by). The building was eventually converted into a church and blessed by the Pope; it is still used as a church today. Additionally, two kings of Italy are intured there, along with Raphael (the artist).
After the pantheon, we briefly visited Piazza Navona, which in the days of the Roman Empire was used as an arena for races; chariot, horses, and runners. It was large (seems to be a common theme for the older piazzas; possibly a socialization point for the people of the time). Then we went back to our hotel to get ready for a very busy next day.
Today we left Paris (early in the morning) to fly to Rome. I thought it was pretty cool when we crossed the alps (I think it was the alps; big mountains anyways), the mountains stuck up beyond a cloud layer looking almost like islands.
After arriving safely, we rode a bus into Rome. After depositing our suitcases in our room, we went walking around the city. Our first stop was the "Spanish Steps" - a large number (138) of steps built where the Spanish embassy used to be. I am not that familiar on the details, but the steps are used as a meeting point or socializing point - a lot of people sit around with their friends there. We arrived at the top, and walked down the steps.
After the Spanish Steps, the next closest 'tourist location' was the Trevi fountain. I was impressed by it; it is large and has a lot of water flowing through it. There is not really a good way to get a photo of the whole thing due to the number of people standing around it. I did 'brave the crowd' and tossed a coin into the fountain. According to the legend/myth, I will return to Rome at some point.
Leaving the Trevi Fountain, we went to the Pantheon. It is a very old building, built almost 2000 years ago as a pagan temple to all the gods (put them all into one place rather than lots of shrines/temples all over the city). It is very impressive in the fact that the roof is a concrete dome which has not been replaced since originally being built. It is an engineering marval that the dome is there at all; I would not have pegged ancient Romans capable of such a feat, and performing such a high quality job that it lasts 2000 years. The only light in the room comes from a hole in the ceiling; the occulus (which surprisingly enough, does admit a great deal of light, more than enough to see by). The building was eventually converted into a church and blessed by the Pope; it is still used as a church today. Additionally, two kings of Italy are intured there, along with Raphael (the artist).
After the pantheon, we briefly visited Piazza Navona, which in the days of the Roman Empire was used as an arena for races; chariot, horses, and runners. It was large (seems to be a common theme for the older piazzas; possibly a socialization point for the people of the time). Then we went back to our hotel to get ready for a very busy next day.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
"We'll always have Paris"
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2284671&id=11832732&l=86f040cb2a
Photos: 98-149
Today was a museum day - we started off by visiting the Louvre. Interestingly, we came via the subway, and so didn't go in via the giant pyramid, but right beside the "Pyramide Inversée", the inverted pyramid. I found this amusing because it completely contradicts the Da Vinci Code, which implies that the body of Mary Magdalene is buried underneath a 'right-side up' pyramind underneath it. In actuality, the right-side up pyramid is pretty small, so unless the body was forced into a fetal position, it wouldn't fit (and even then, it might not). Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures until later, and I was unable to get close again or else I would have had to re-go through security to get in the building, which would have meant waiting a long time to get through all the school groups in the line. I did take as good a picture as I could, which is shown later in the series.
The first thing we saw was the Mona Lisa, since we expected there would be a crowd later wanting to see it. I saw it, and it was impressive - virtually everyone knows the Mona Lisa, and I saw it in person. It actually looks a little different than what people expect it to be - there is less contrast in the actual image than the various reproductions seen of it, and it is darker (not a lot, but noticibaly so). After admiring the fampus work of art, we turned to leave and just as we were, a hoard of people came in (they were not actually a barbarian hoard, but they seemed like it and in such a large mass as well. We looked at a few more paintings in this section, including a few more by Da Vinci, then proceeded to look at some Roman statues of Emperors. After proceeding through the museum, I got to see the crown worn by Napolean at his coronation, as well as his apartments when he lived at the Lourve.
After Napolean's rooms, I was very impressed to see the "Code of Hammurabi." For those of you who are not as familiar with world history, the code of Hammurabi is one of the first set of written laws known to exist, from almost 2000 BC. The laws are quite harsh (if you accuse someone of a capital crime and they are found innocent, you are put to death instead), but it was significant in the fact that they were written down/recorded. That is it still visible almost 4000 years later impresses me.
After wandering through a bit more of the Lourve, we went to the "Musée de l' Orangerie", an art museum whose primary function is to house the "Nympheas" by Monet, the 'waterlillies' paintings. These are a series of paintings Monet made of a pond from different times of the day. I greatly enjoyed this place - I like impressionist artwork because it is just that - the artist's impression of what they see. There is not as much emphasis on "hidden meanings reflecting the trouble and angst of the human condition", etc... rather, it is a painting to look at. After spending some time looking at these 8 paintings, we walked through the rest of the museum; which was interesting, but not as inspiring for me as the Nympheas.
We then walked up the Champ-Elysees again, although this time towards the arch on the portion we had not walked before, then rode the subway back - not a bad day for a last day in Paris.
One thing I want to mention is the creativity of (presumably) French disobedient teens in law breaking. Where most teens do graffiti in convenient locations, the French take this challenge to a whole new level, grafitting the inside of subway tubes (meaning that they have to walk inside the tube making sure not to touch the electric rails or else they die from electric shock. I found this hightly amusing.
Photos: 98-149
Today was a museum day - we started off by visiting the Louvre. Interestingly, we came via the subway, and so didn't go in via the giant pyramid, but right beside the "Pyramide Inversée", the inverted pyramid. I found this amusing because it completely contradicts the Da Vinci Code, which implies that the body of Mary Magdalene is buried underneath a 'right-side up' pyramind underneath it. In actuality, the right-side up pyramid is pretty small, so unless the body was forced into a fetal position, it wouldn't fit (and even then, it might not). Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures until later, and I was unable to get close again or else I would have had to re-go through security to get in the building, which would have meant waiting a long time to get through all the school groups in the line. I did take as good a picture as I could, which is shown later in the series.
The first thing we saw was the Mona Lisa, since we expected there would be a crowd later wanting to see it. I saw it, and it was impressive - virtually everyone knows the Mona Lisa, and I saw it in person. It actually looks a little different than what people expect it to be - there is less contrast in the actual image than the various reproductions seen of it, and it is darker (not a lot, but noticibaly so). After admiring the fampus work of art, we turned to leave and just as we were, a hoard of people came in (they were not actually a barbarian hoard, but they seemed like it and in such a large mass as well. We looked at a few more paintings in this section, including a few more by Da Vinci, then proceeded to look at some Roman statues of Emperors. After proceeding through the museum, I got to see the crown worn by Napolean at his coronation, as well as his apartments when he lived at the Lourve.
After Napolean's rooms, I was very impressed to see the "Code of Hammurabi." For those of you who are not as familiar with world history, the code of Hammurabi is one of the first set of written laws known to exist, from almost 2000 BC. The laws are quite harsh (if you accuse someone of a capital crime and they are found innocent, you are put to death instead), but it was significant in the fact that they were written down/recorded. That is it still visible almost 4000 years later impresses me.
After wandering through a bit more of the Lourve, we went to the "Musée de l' Orangerie", an art museum whose primary function is to house the "Nympheas" by Monet, the 'waterlillies' paintings. These are a series of paintings Monet made of a pond from different times of the day. I greatly enjoyed this place - I like impressionist artwork because it is just that - the artist's impression of what they see. There is not as much emphasis on "hidden meanings reflecting the trouble and angst of the human condition", etc... rather, it is a painting to look at. After spending some time looking at these 8 paintings, we walked through the rest of the museum; which was interesting, but not as inspiring for me as the Nympheas.
We then walked up the Champ-Elysees again, although this time towards the arch on the portion we had not walked before, then rode the subway back - not a bad day for a last day in Paris.
One thing I want to mention is the creativity of (presumably) French disobedient teens in law breaking. Where most teens do graffiti in convenient locations, the French take this challenge to a whole new level, grafitting the inside of subway tubes (meaning that they have to walk inside the tube making sure not to touch the electric rails or else they die from electric shock. I found this hightly amusing.
"The Bells of Notre Dame"
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2284671&id=11832732&l=86f040cb2a
Photos 8-97
Today (Sunday the 29th of March) was the first full day in Paris. We had breakfast at our hotel, then made a visit to the Eiffel Tower. It is a lot more impressive 'in person' than I had thought, although it does look a little 'mis-proportioned' in the sense that it looks fatter at the base than the images of it seem to suggest (although this is probably just a trick of perspective). We rode to the top, and looked out over Paris. I saw the "Laboulaye Lady" from the back which was featured in National Treasure 2 (aka the French version of the Statue of Liberty). I also saw the tomb where Napolean was buried (he was cremated, then placed inside several coffins which were placed inside of each other). I find it interesting that I have seen the tombs of leaders of both sides of the war between France/England - Nelson from Trafalgar and Napolean from France. The Arch de Triumph was also visble off in the distance (more on that later this entry), and barely visible, off in the distance, was Notre Dame.
We left the Eiffel Tower, and proceeded through the subway to Notre Dame. It is a very beautiful building from the outside, very inspiring to look at. We grabbed a quick lunch, then attended the 12:45 mass. Although it was in French, it was still a moving service; though different than what I am used to since I am not Catholic. After the service, we admired the beautiful stained glass windows (the 'rose windows'). However, our next stop was the best stained glass experience anyone could have hoped for.
Sainte-Chapelle is a chapel with gorgeous stained glass windows. The whole second floor of the chapel (the portion used by the royals) is virtually all stained glass - what little wall there is is just used to support the windows and the roof. Scenes from throughout the bible were represented, and I must say it was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen (my pictures can't do it justice; if you ever happen to be in Paris, I would recomend seeing it - it is not to be missed).
We had a chocolate crepe again as an afternoon snack (they really are very good), and went back to Notre Dame, where we went up in the towers. One of the things I read here explained the difference between a Gargoyle and a Chimera (the term I didn't know before and had incorrectly assigned the term "gargoyle" to both of them). A gargoyle is a statue which acts as the drain to the roof and 'spits out water' in some fashion, removing it from the building. A chimera on the other hand, is a statue designed to 'protect' the spirit of the church. It has been a while since I saw the movie, but I believe the talking statues in the Disney movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" were technically chimeras and not gargoyles. This actually leads into my next 'item of interest' from the towers - I saw where Esmerelda was fictionally housed (her cell), from the Victor Hugo novel - it is actually clearly described which places it in the North tower. Frome there we proceeded up onto the roof, where I saw more Chimeras and gargoyles up close. I also went into the south bell tower and saw the one remaining bell there (it is a big bell, but is only rung on important Catholic hollidays.
From Notre Dame, we proceeded to the Arch de Triumph. It is an arch (obviously), which is used to commemorate French millitary victories. It was commissioned by Napolean, so his troops would be able to see it and walk through it on their victorious homecoming from battle.
Finally, we had supper and walked a little ways down the "Avenue de Champs-Elysees." I have been informed this is the equivalent of Madison Avenue in NYC; the street which is found in all major capitals where the fashion stores of the highest quality reside and where everything is expensive.
It was a busy day today; my feet hurt a little from all the walking we did today, but it was worth it.
Photos 8-97
Today (Sunday the 29th of March) was the first full day in Paris. We had breakfast at our hotel, then made a visit to the Eiffel Tower. It is a lot more impressive 'in person' than I had thought, although it does look a little 'mis-proportioned' in the sense that it looks fatter at the base than the images of it seem to suggest (although this is probably just a trick of perspective). We rode to the top, and looked out over Paris. I saw the "Laboulaye Lady" from the back which was featured in National Treasure 2 (aka the French version of the Statue of Liberty). I also saw the tomb where Napolean was buried (he was cremated, then placed inside several coffins which were placed inside of each other). I find it interesting that I have seen the tombs of leaders of both sides of the war between France/England - Nelson from Trafalgar and Napolean from France. The Arch de Triumph was also visble off in the distance (more on that later this entry), and barely visible, off in the distance, was Notre Dame.
We left the Eiffel Tower, and proceeded through the subway to Notre Dame. It is a very beautiful building from the outside, very inspiring to look at. We grabbed a quick lunch, then attended the 12:45 mass. Although it was in French, it was still a moving service; though different than what I am used to since I am not Catholic. After the service, we admired the beautiful stained glass windows (the 'rose windows'). However, our next stop was the best stained glass experience anyone could have hoped for.
Sainte-Chapelle is a chapel with gorgeous stained glass windows. The whole second floor of the chapel (the portion used by the royals) is virtually all stained glass - what little wall there is is just used to support the windows and the roof. Scenes from throughout the bible were represented, and I must say it was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen (my pictures can't do it justice; if you ever happen to be in Paris, I would recomend seeing it - it is not to be missed).
We had a chocolate crepe again as an afternoon snack (they really are very good), and went back to Notre Dame, where we went up in the towers. One of the things I read here explained the difference between a Gargoyle and a Chimera (the term I didn't know before and had incorrectly assigned the term "gargoyle" to both of them). A gargoyle is a statue which acts as the drain to the roof and 'spits out water' in some fashion, removing it from the building. A chimera on the other hand, is a statue designed to 'protect' the spirit of the church. It has been a while since I saw the movie, but I believe the talking statues in the Disney movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" were technically chimeras and not gargoyles. This actually leads into my next 'item of interest' from the towers - I saw where Esmerelda was fictionally housed (her cell), from the Victor Hugo novel - it is actually clearly described which places it in the North tower. Frome there we proceeded up onto the roof, where I saw more Chimeras and gargoyles up close. I also went into the south bell tower and saw the one remaining bell there (it is a big bell, but is only rung on important Catholic hollidays.
From Notre Dame, we proceeded to the Arch de Triumph. It is an arch (obviously), which is used to commemorate French millitary victories. It was commissioned by Napolean, so his troops would be able to see it and walk through it on their victorious homecoming from battle.
Finally, we had supper and walked a little ways down the "Avenue de Champs-Elysees." I have been informed this is the equivalent of Madison Avenue in NYC; the street which is found in all major capitals where the fashion stores of the highest quality reside and where everything is expensive.
It was a busy day today; my feet hurt a little from all the walking we did today, but it was worth it.
"I see London, I see France..."
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2284671&id=11832732&l=86f040cb2a
Photos 1-7
Today (Saturday the 28th of March), I left Swansea with my Dad on the beginning of a 10 day excursion to explore Europe (since I am here now, I might as well see some of it). We started off by taking a train from Swansea to London, and then catching a train from Swansea to Paris.
No, you did not misread that - a train from London to Paris, France (hence the title of today's post). It was pretty cool, since we got to pass through the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English channel). The train was very fast; my Dad and I estimated it to be traveling at normally ~140 mph (we assumed the cars we saw were going 70-80 mph on the highway, and we were at least going twice as fast), although we possibly slowed down under the channel - I couldn't tell since we were in a dark tunnel for a very long time and couldn't see anything out the window (couldn't even see the walls of the tunnel, which shows how dark it was).
So we got to Paris, where we realized that Paris is in a different timezone than the UK (another hour ahead). We were glad to learn this, because this evening was daylight savings time (although it is called Summer Time here), so we knew we needed to skip 2 hours ahead rather than 1.
After arriving in Paris, my Dad took me to a store and bought me a chocolate crepe. For those of you unfamiliar with crepes, they are sort of like extra thin pancakes typically containing some sort of flavoring. I greatly enjoyed mine (the exact name of the stuffing was Nutella, which is technically different than chocolate, but tasted great to me).
After the crepes, we went to the Paris subway (very different from the British one in the fact that some cars have rubber wheels and ride on a road-like surface, whle others are two-story cars) and arrived at our hotel. I must admit I was feeling nervous, since I was in a completely foreign country where I did not know the native language, and would have to rely on others being able to speak English to understand me (turned out not to be a big problem, but it was a worrysome factor for me on my first day/evening).
Photos 1-7
Today (Saturday the 28th of March), I left Swansea with my Dad on the beginning of a 10 day excursion to explore Europe (since I am here now, I might as well see some of it). We started off by taking a train from Swansea to London, and then catching a train from Swansea to Paris.
No, you did not misread that - a train from London to Paris, France (hence the title of today's post). It was pretty cool, since we got to pass through the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English channel). The train was very fast; my Dad and I estimated it to be traveling at normally ~140 mph (we assumed the cars we saw were going 70-80 mph on the highway, and we were at least going twice as fast), although we possibly slowed down under the channel - I couldn't tell since we were in a dark tunnel for a very long time and couldn't see anything out the window (couldn't even see the walls of the tunnel, which shows how dark it was).
So we got to Paris, where we realized that Paris is in a different timezone than the UK (another hour ahead). We were glad to learn this, because this evening was daylight savings time (although it is called Summer Time here), so we knew we needed to skip 2 hours ahead rather than 1.
After arriving in Paris, my Dad took me to a store and bought me a chocolate crepe. For those of you unfamiliar with crepes, they are sort of like extra thin pancakes typically containing some sort of flavoring. I greatly enjoyed mine (the exact name of the stuffing was Nutella, which is technically different than chocolate, but tasted great to me).
After the crepes, we went to the Paris subway (very different from the British one in the fact that some cars have rubber wheels and ride on a road-like surface, whle others are two-story cars) and arrived at our hotel. I must admit I was feeling nervous, since I was in a completely foreign country where I did not know the native language, and would have to rely on others being able to speak English to understand me (turned out not to be a big problem, but it was a worrysome factor for me on my first day/evening).
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
'Philosophical thoughts', as well as a long overdue update
Photos for this post: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274673&id=11832732&l=dcd85
This link should work for everyone (I was told that some of my other links didn't work for some people, so if that is the case email me and let me know)
Update for me:
Classes have been going well; I have been kept busy by them. I'd like to say taht is the sole reason I haven't posted for a while, but I have been getting distracted by, well, everything. The country is beautiful here, in both the majestic sense as well as the "craggy desolation" of the mountainsides, where you can see bramble and boulders on the hill. I'd try to describe it more, but words (or even a photo) can't do it justice.
Having said I was distracted, I can't say that I have done any exceptional things to warrant a distraction except for a Football/Soccer game (more on that later). We did have two snowfalls, one of which was a light dusting and the other a full-out snow. This is unusual because Swansea, Wales, does not normally get snow. I have heard two conflicting reports, it has been either 3 years or 10 years since the last snowfall. It is so rare that Swansea doesn't even have plows/salting machines - that more than anything is why we were out of class - it was not safe to travel because the roads were iced over with no way to prevent it.
I went to a football game, just so I could say I saw one. It would be wrong to go to the UK and not see a football or rugby match, and since I don't particularly care for people 'trying to kill each other', it was a football game I went to (but surprisingly, there were a lot more deliberate injuries than I was used to, so they were maybe not trying to kill one another, but definitely maim the other team's kickers). I greatly admire all of the skill the players demonstrated - I know that I could never kick a ball as far/high/accurately as they did, even with years of training. I guess that is why I am going to be a Computer Scientist and not a football/soccer player. One thing that was interesting was the Doncaster section. For most of the stadium, you could see two police officers/security officers for each section - one at the top, the other at the bottom. At each edge of the Doncaster section, you could see a line of officers - on the sides, one for every two rows, and in the front/back, spaced out with four or five across the whole row. I am guessing it was to prevent any 'incidents' between Swansea fans and Doncaster fans - everyone was highly energetic about the game, so I could see how a fight could easily break out after a call by the referee. Thankfully, there was no bloodshed, and I was able to enjoy the match a great deal.
Philosophical Stuff:
I am going to have a great deal of re-adjusting to do when I get back to the US. Some of the stuff seems silly at first, but when you stop and think about it, it really makes sense. For example, I am going to have to re-learn how to cross streets. I had to unlearn the american system in London, and am going to have to un-learn the british system. What I mean by this is which way to look when you cross the street. For most of my life, I looked left, right, then left as I actually crossed, switching to looking right after having crossed the center. Here, everything is reversed, since cars drive on the left side of the road. I had to deliberatly make sure that I looked the right way when I was first getting used to the system, now it is almost a habit that I will have to break when I return.
It is also going to take some getting used to going back to driving places. Here, public transportation is very reliable and convienient (at least for me, coming when I need it). Here, if the train is going to leave at 11:35, it closes the doors about 10 seconds earlier (11:34:50), and it starts moving within seconds of the clock switching to 11:35. I regret that our own system of trains and buses is not as accurate/reliable.
Money is going to be an issue - not a great one, but I feel that the british system/values of currency make more sense than the american system. Specifically, the american system has the penny (1c), nickel (5c), dime (10c), quarter (25c), half-dollar though somewhat rare (50c), and the dollar bill (1$), and the 5 dollar bill ($5). The british system, in contrast, uses different numbers which to me make more sense, penny (1p), tuppence (2p), 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 1 lb (don't know how to make a pound sign on my keyboard), and 2 lb coins. The first bill is the fiver (5 lb). To me, it just seems to make more sense having most of the monetary currency being divisible by 1. Additionally, the tuppence is a great deal useful, since a single one takes up less space than two pennys, so it is a little more practical to use. I also like how 'small charges' can be paid entirely in coins - not a real benefit or disadvantage, but I like it for some reason.
An additional money related issue I will face is that tax is included in price - if something is listed as costing 95p here, you pay exactly 95p, not 1.05p or some other sales tax not included already. This means that you can calculate how much you will pay for an afternoon snack before you actually get to the register, saving you time. For instance, if I ordered a diet coke and a chocolate crossaint from a store on campus, I know that a diet costs 95p and the crossaint costs 1 lb - easy arithmetic - 1+.95 = 1.95. There is no calculation based on a sales tax whose value you may or may not know exactly. I find this system a lot more convenient to work with.
There are other issues as well, but I'll save them for later, as well as a discussion of how I see the people here - what differences and similarities I see, and how there is not as much difference between british students and american students. Yes it's a cliff hanger for my next blog, but I don't know that you would come back to read it then :-)
This link should work for everyone (I was told that some of my other links didn't work for some people, so if that is the case email me and let me know)
Update for me:
Classes have been going well; I have been kept busy by them. I'd like to say taht is the sole reason I haven't posted for a while, but I have been getting distracted by, well, everything. The country is beautiful here, in both the majestic sense as well as the "craggy desolation" of the mountainsides, where you can see bramble and boulders on the hill. I'd try to describe it more, but words (or even a photo) can't do it justice.
Having said I was distracted, I can't say that I have done any exceptional things to warrant a distraction except for a Football/Soccer game (more on that later). We did have two snowfalls, one of which was a light dusting and the other a full-out snow. This is unusual because Swansea, Wales, does not normally get snow. I have heard two conflicting reports, it has been either 3 years or 10 years since the last snowfall. It is so rare that Swansea doesn't even have plows/salting machines - that more than anything is why we were out of class - it was not safe to travel because the roads were iced over with no way to prevent it.
I went to a football game, just so I could say I saw one. It would be wrong to go to the UK and not see a football or rugby match, and since I don't particularly care for people 'trying to kill each other', it was a football game I went to (but surprisingly, there were a lot more deliberate injuries than I was used to, so they were maybe not trying to kill one another, but definitely maim the other team's kickers). I greatly admire all of the skill the players demonstrated - I know that I could never kick a ball as far/high/accurately as they did, even with years of training. I guess that is why I am going to be a Computer Scientist and not a football/soccer player. One thing that was interesting was the Doncaster section. For most of the stadium, you could see two police officers/security officers for each section - one at the top, the other at the bottom. At each edge of the Doncaster section, you could see a line of officers - on the sides, one for every two rows, and in the front/back, spaced out with four or five across the whole row. I am guessing it was to prevent any 'incidents' between Swansea fans and Doncaster fans - everyone was highly energetic about the game, so I could see how a fight could easily break out after a call by the referee. Thankfully, there was no bloodshed, and I was able to enjoy the match a great deal.
Philosophical Stuff:
I am going to have a great deal of re-adjusting to do when I get back to the US. Some of the stuff seems silly at first, but when you stop and think about it, it really makes sense. For example, I am going to have to re-learn how to cross streets. I had to unlearn the american system in London, and am going to have to un-learn the british system. What I mean by this is which way to look when you cross the street. For most of my life, I looked left, right, then left as I actually crossed, switching to looking right after having crossed the center. Here, everything is reversed, since cars drive on the left side of the road. I had to deliberatly make sure that I looked the right way when I was first getting used to the system, now it is almost a habit that I will have to break when I return.
It is also going to take some getting used to going back to driving places. Here, public transportation is very reliable and convienient (at least for me, coming when I need it). Here, if the train is going to leave at 11:35, it closes the doors about 10 seconds earlier (11:34:50), and it starts moving within seconds of the clock switching to 11:35. I regret that our own system of trains and buses is not as accurate/reliable.
Money is going to be an issue - not a great one, but I feel that the british system/values of currency make more sense than the american system. Specifically, the american system has the penny (1c), nickel (5c), dime (10c), quarter (25c), half-dollar though somewhat rare (50c), and the dollar bill (1$), and the 5 dollar bill ($5). The british system, in contrast, uses different numbers which to me make more sense, penny (1p), tuppence (2p), 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 1 lb (don't know how to make a pound sign on my keyboard), and 2 lb coins. The first bill is the fiver (5 lb). To me, it just seems to make more sense having most of the monetary currency being divisible by 1. Additionally, the tuppence is a great deal useful, since a single one takes up less space than two pennys, so it is a little more practical to use. I also like how 'small charges' can be paid entirely in coins - not a real benefit or disadvantage, but I like it for some reason.
An additional money related issue I will face is that tax is included in price - if something is listed as costing 95p here, you pay exactly 95p, not 1.05p or some other sales tax not included already. This means that you can calculate how much you will pay for an afternoon snack before you actually get to the register, saving you time. For instance, if I ordered a diet coke and a chocolate crossaint from a store on campus, I know that a diet costs 95p and the crossaint costs 1 lb - easy arithmetic - 1+.95 = 1.95. There is no calculation based on a sales tax whose value you may or may not know exactly. I find this system a lot more convenient to work with.
There are other issues as well, but I'll save them for later, as well as a discussion of how I see the people here - what differences and similarities I see, and how there is not as much difference between british students and american students. Yes it's a cliff hanger for my next blog, but I don't know that you would come back to read it then :-)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Been a while since I last posted; sorry for the delay
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, my only excuse is that I have been very busy, with classes and side-trips.
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/photos/?ref=ts#/album.php?aid=2267231&id=11832732
I realize that this was a while ago, but I wanted to comment on Stonehenge before I forget some of what I learned on the tour. There are several myths associated with the site; one of them being that King Arthur wanted to build something to commemorate a battle in which a large number of Briton's died. Merlin said to move a stone circle from Ireland to England as a memorial; unfortunately the task proved too challenging to Arthur's men. Merlin eventually became upset at the delay, and used magic to move and orient the stones.
Another story mentioned was that Stonehenge is an important burial site; which is true, in the sense that there are a large number of bodies buried in the area. The exact myth I am concerned with is that Stonehenge is the burial site of Aurelius and Uther Pendragon; two brothers who were high king over Britain. The names are even more significant in that they are the Uncle and Father of King Arthur. I got 'chills' from being at a place which some consider significant to Aurthurian legends (I really love the tales of Arthur, chivilry and honor above all, etc...).
One final thing about Stonehenge is that people still have no idea how it was constructed. Apparently, the source for the stone is several hundred miles away. There was a former theory that the slabs were hauled to the ocean near the source, then loaded onto rafts and floated over the ocean, to a river, then up the river to a point about 8 miles from Stonehenge. However, people have tried in modern times to duplicate the feat, using stone and the best rafts that were built at the time (to our present knowledge), and the raft sank as soon as they loaded the stone on. This suggests that the current theories are incomplete or completely inaccurate as to how the builders got the material there in the first place. I find it impressive either way; the massive size of the stones to move, and the exact alignments they are in (see next paragraph).
I am also impressed by the accuracy of placement of these several ton rocks. They are positioned so that on the summer solstace the sun rises and casts a shadow from a 'pointer' rock through the center of the arches to the exact center of the henge (the circle, for those non-anthropologists out there). What is more impressive to me is the arches in general; they can be used as a callendar at least 5 months out of the year (if the other arches were standing I mean). This is because for the May, the sun rises and is visible from the center of the henge through the left arch. June it is visible through the center, and July, the right arch. The same pattern was observed where the previous arches stood. Think about the engineering required for this - the math would have to be worked out ahead of time, because it would be impossible to just move several ton rocks around if you put one two feet too far right. Also, this means that you have to know exactly where everything will go before you actually put it there, because you don't want to ruin your solstace marker when you put in the next set of arches. The math/engineering skill required simply amazes me.
Other stuff I have been up to:
I tried to go to Tywyn last weekend, the site of the Tal-y-llyn railroad; where the Rev. Wilbert Awdry volunteered and was inspired to write the Thomas the Tank Engine/Railroad series stories and is a working steam railroad with two engines over a hundred years old and still running. It took 5 hours to get there my train, and once I got there I found out that the museum was closed, and was opening this weekend instead (the website had an inaccuruate starting date). So I made the trip for nothing, but I did learn how to get around on the British train system, and I learned where the museum is for when I go back - there is no way I am going to miss this while I am in the UK.
Non-trip stuff:
Classes are going well I guess. I am enjoying 2 of my 3; the third (modelling computing systems) is ok because I have had most of the material before in other classes. My history class is very interesting, we covered 'tourism' in 1650-1800 and how it changed; 'tourism' was originally a method of 'spying' on others and their inventions. If France has developed a new structure for a castle, it's a good idea to copy it and learn how to use it, in case it is used against you. My computer graphics class is very fun; I am learning how to do 'filtering' of images, what photoshop does only I am learning the algorithms for altering images. It is a very fun class; I am learning how to do things I have never done before in java.
Sorry this is such a short post, it just hit me that I haven't updated this in a couple of weeks. I wanted to try and catch people up to what is going on now.
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/photos/?ref=ts#/album.php?aid=2267231&id=11832732
I realize that this was a while ago, but I wanted to comment on Stonehenge before I forget some of what I learned on the tour. There are several myths associated with the site; one of them being that King Arthur wanted to build something to commemorate a battle in which a large number of Briton's died. Merlin said to move a stone circle from Ireland to England as a memorial; unfortunately the task proved too challenging to Arthur's men. Merlin eventually became upset at the delay, and used magic to move and orient the stones.
Another story mentioned was that Stonehenge is an important burial site; which is true, in the sense that there are a large number of bodies buried in the area. The exact myth I am concerned with is that Stonehenge is the burial site of Aurelius and Uther Pendragon; two brothers who were high king over Britain. The names are even more significant in that they are the Uncle and Father of King Arthur. I got 'chills' from being at a place which some consider significant to Aurthurian legends (I really love the tales of Arthur, chivilry and honor above all, etc...).
One final thing about Stonehenge is that people still have no idea how it was constructed. Apparently, the source for the stone is several hundred miles away. There was a former theory that the slabs were hauled to the ocean near the source, then loaded onto rafts and floated over the ocean, to a river, then up the river to a point about 8 miles from Stonehenge. However, people have tried in modern times to duplicate the feat, using stone and the best rafts that were built at the time (to our present knowledge), and the raft sank as soon as they loaded the stone on. This suggests that the current theories are incomplete or completely inaccurate as to how the builders got the material there in the first place. I find it impressive either way; the massive size of the stones to move, and the exact alignments they are in (see next paragraph).
I am also impressed by the accuracy of placement of these several ton rocks. They are positioned so that on the summer solstace the sun rises and casts a shadow from a 'pointer' rock through the center of the arches to the exact center of the henge (the circle, for those non-anthropologists out there). What is more impressive to me is the arches in general; they can be used as a callendar at least 5 months out of the year (if the other arches were standing I mean). This is because for the May, the sun rises and is visible from the center of the henge through the left arch. June it is visible through the center, and July, the right arch. The same pattern was observed where the previous arches stood. Think about the engineering required for this - the math would have to be worked out ahead of time, because it would be impossible to just move several ton rocks around if you put one two feet too far right. Also, this means that you have to know exactly where everything will go before you actually put it there, because you don't want to ruin your solstace marker when you put in the next set of arches. The math/engineering skill required simply amazes me.
Other stuff I have been up to:
I tried to go to Tywyn last weekend, the site of the Tal-y-llyn railroad; where the Rev. Wilbert Awdry volunteered and was inspired to write the Thomas the Tank Engine/Railroad series stories and is a working steam railroad with two engines over a hundred years old and still running. It took 5 hours to get there my train, and once I got there I found out that the museum was closed, and was opening this weekend instead (the website had an inaccuruate starting date). So I made the trip for nothing, but I did learn how to get around on the British train system, and I learned where the museum is for when I go back - there is no way I am going to miss this while I am in the UK.
Non-trip stuff:
Classes are going well I guess. I am enjoying 2 of my 3; the third (modelling computing systems) is ok because I have had most of the material before in other classes. My history class is very interesting, we covered 'tourism' in 1650-1800 and how it changed; 'tourism' was originally a method of 'spying' on others and their inventions. If France has developed a new structure for a castle, it's a good idea to copy it and learn how to use it, in case it is used against you. My computer graphics class is very fun; I am learning how to do 'filtering' of images, what photoshop does only I am learning the algorithms for altering images. It is a very fun class; I am learning how to do things I have never done before in java.
Sorry this is such a short post, it just hit me that I haven't updated this in a couple of weeks. I wanted to try and catch people up to what is going on now.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Chroesawa at Cymru
"Welcome to Wales" - the title of this post in Welsh
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267216&id=11832732
Fri: Traveled out from London, realized how big London actually is, not just the city center which I had been exploring before, but the suburbs, etc.. which still count as London. I took pictures of the interesting sights on the way out of the city, including a building with the Sega logo on it - don't know if it was associated with sega, but it seemed cool. It took more than 30 min to get out of the city proper; I don't know exactly how long, but it was 30 minutes to pass Heathrow airport exit from the road.
(Photos 1-14)
Once outside of London, I saw Windsor Castle off in the distance (Photo 15). Then I took a nap for a while; I ended up waking up just before we passed into Wales (although I didn't know it at the time). Once I realized we were in Wales (only a few minutes after we got there), I took a picture of the countryside - you can see lots of sheep in it. From there, the terrain was mostly the same until we got to Swansea, where I saw the sea for the first time. We drove along it for a ways, then passed the University on the way to the student village where I am staying.
(Photo 16-22)
So at this point I have made it to Swansea, and am trying to get settled in - I took pictures of my room, so everyone who wants to know knows what my room looks like (mostly for family, but if I have any stalkers out there, you might be interested in these as well :-)
I attend an orientation on canpus, in which they throw as much information at us as they possibly can, and when it sticks, we are ready - no, that is preparing spagetti. Instead, they give us a lot of information because we don't have enough time for spaced out orientation/instructions, because, surprise, we are registering for classes today instead of Monday like I thought. After enduring a mini-panic attack, I manage to sign up for classes without too much trouble, despite not doing so online. I am taking 2 computer science classes, Computer Graphics I and Modelling Computing Systems. I am also taking a history class, Europe from 1650-1800. It is not one that I had originally looked at, but they were all full, and it still seems like a good option - what's the point of coming to Europe if you don't take a european history class while here, to get a european perspective on european history?
At this point, I discover that I am unable to access the internet here. They have a weird system where you have to use vpn connection instead of just hooking up to the wireless. So my first night there I ride in to the library and try and get help from the IT support desk. Turns out that my issue is not one that they have ever seen before, so after spening an hour or so on it, they tell me to come back when the rest of the staff will be in. I am able to access the internet using a library computer, but that isn't really coinvenient from my room, since I am several miles off campus.
Sat: More internet debuging on my own - I don't think very highly of the IT support desk here, but I am still going to get help. The person they end up directing me to suggests that Service Pack 3 for Windows might be corrupted, or the Windows files themselves. He recomends removing service pack 3, and if that doesn't work, then re-installing Windows, which is kind of hard to do since the installation disk is 3000 miles away. So I try the service pack which doesn't work; I spend the rest of the day troubleshooting it in the computer lab which has internet so I can look up the problems I am getting. I come up with nothing.
Sun: A very bad day on the computing front (at least at the start). I get up, get ready for church, go to the bus stop and discover that on the weekends, the buses don't follow the normal schedule of every 10 minutes. So I give up on church today, and go back to my room to try debuging some more (did I mention I hate debugging). Anyways, as a part of this process, something in Windows gets corrupted so now Windows won't turn on, even in safe-mode. I go into full blown panic, and walk to campus (several miles) so I can try and troubleshoot this problem with a computer with internet access. I should mention that I haven't eaten yet, because I was going to eat a breakfast bar on the bus to church; when I crashed the computer, hunger became the farthest thing from my mind.
I spend all day working on this, and am unable to do anything about it. I eventually give up and walk back to my room, where I try one more time to restart my computer. Although it doesn't work, I catch a glimpse of something in the boot up process that leads me to the "Rescue and Recovery" console provided by the Laptop in hardware. To make a long story short, the Windows disk data is apparently stored somewhere in the hardware, so I am able to 'repair' the corrupted Windows files without losing any data, I jut lose all the programs I had on my computer (which is ok, since I can re-install them and I still have access to my data which was NOT erased). At thius point, whever was wrong in Windows fixed itself, so I now am able to access the internet. In rejoicing, I eat my first and last meal of the day - peanut butter crackers (I brought peanut butter from home), which serve as a comfort food for me.
Mon: First day of classes; one at 10-11AM, computer modelling. I think it will be an easy class, since it seems similar to material I have done before as part of classes at State. Still trying to get settled in, but getting there now. Most of the unpacking is done; I actually have room to unpack as opposed to London, where most of my stuff remained in the suitcases due to lack of space.
Tue: My bad day in terms of classes - I have 3 consectutive hours in a weird pattern. I have class A for one hour, class B for one hour, then class A for one hour. Fortunately, teacher don't teach until the end of the hour, so I have enough time to get from class to class alright. The downside is that I have to eat lunch really early or really late (11-2 is class). It is managable though, so it is not a totally bad schedule. My classes today are Computer Graphics I (the meets twice class) and History. I anticpate that I will enjoy both of them a great deal; they seem interesting.
Weds: Class at 9 (modelling, so I have to get up at 7). This is a very minor complaint, but I don't like waking up before 8 - I don't feel awake if I wake up before 8, no matter how much sleep I got the night before. Modelling goes well, if a bit dull since I have already done this material.
Then I have a break until 1, when I have my graphics class again. This class meets 3 times a week as opposed to the typical 1-2 meetings per week. I believe this is due to the teacher wanting to be done teaching after 7 weeks as opposed to the full semester - don't know what that means in terms of exam schedule yet; whether I take it in 7 weeks or at the 'normal' time.
After class today I went to the chaplaincy for a late 'snack'/lunch, and met a few students. It seems sort of like the BSU at home, except smaller numbers of students show up (Wales/England/UK don't appear to have a very religious college/university aged population).
I then went to the board game club, where I met some people who could become good friends (maybe, assuming I don't scare them off with my weirdness :-) Played the settlers of Cattan for the first time, it was fun although I had never played before.
Thurs: My last day of classes, one at 9-10 (History). We covered "images of war" from Louis XIV to Napolean )(in time, not just France). There was a gradual shift from the depictions oirignially being about the leader to becoming about the troops doing the actual fighting; from glamorized combat to the realistic horrors. It was an interesting class.
After class, I went downtown and bought food for the first time since I have been here. Tescos is sort of like a target or walmart from home; it is a large store that mostly sells food, but also sells other stuff as well.
Fri: Since I had today off from classes, I travelled to downtown Swansea and visited the museams. I started at the Waterfront museum which, despite the name, doesn't have a lot to do with the waterfront; it was more a general museam about Swansea. This was an interesting museum, unlike the Swansea museam, which was really a collection of odds and ends of random things that had very little to do with Swansea, with 2 exceptions. One was a history of the region, going back to the stone age; the other was an exhibit on pottery/china which apparently was a major industy here seversal hundred years ago.
After leaving, I took a look downtown. Lots of shops, which would mean more to me if I was a shopper, not a lot of historical stuff; the one exception being the remains of Swansea castle
(Photos 31-35). It was interesting to look at, but not for much else. I did get a take-away pizza from Pizza Hut so I could have slice or two for lunch tomorrow on the Avebury Stonehenge trip (will be another entry since I took a lot of photos of stonehenge)
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267216&id=11832732
Fri: Traveled out from London, realized how big London actually is, not just the city center which I had been exploring before, but the suburbs, etc.. which still count as London. I took pictures of the interesting sights on the way out of the city, including a building with the Sega logo on it - don't know if it was associated with sega, but it seemed cool. It took more than 30 min to get out of the city proper; I don't know exactly how long, but it was 30 minutes to pass Heathrow airport exit from the road.
(Photos 1-14)
Once outside of London, I saw Windsor Castle off in the distance (Photo 15). Then I took a nap for a while; I ended up waking up just before we passed into Wales (although I didn't know it at the time). Once I realized we were in Wales (only a few minutes after we got there), I took a picture of the countryside - you can see lots of sheep in it. From there, the terrain was mostly the same until we got to Swansea, where I saw the sea for the first time. We drove along it for a ways, then passed the University on the way to the student village where I am staying.
(Photo 16-22)
So at this point I have made it to Swansea, and am trying to get settled in - I took pictures of my room, so everyone who wants to know knows what my room looks like (mostly for family, but if I have any stalkers out there, you might be interested in these as well :-)
I attend an orientation on canpus, in which they throw as much information at us as they possibly can, and when it sticks, we are ready - no, that is preparing spagetti. Instead, they give us a lot of information because we don't have enough time for spaced out orientation/instructions, because, surprise, we are registering for classes today instead of Monday like I thought. After enduring a mini-panic attack, I manage to sign up for classes without too much trouble, despite not doing so online. I am taking 2 computer science classes, Computer Graphics I and Modelling Computing Systems. I am also taking a history class, Europe from 1650-1800. It is not one that I had originally looked at, but they were all full, and it still seems like a good option - what's the point of coming to Europe if you don't take a european history class while here, to get a european perspective on european history?
At this point, I discover that I am unable to access the internet here. They have a weird system where you have to use vpn connection instead of just hooking up to the wireless. So my first night there I ride in to the library and try and get help from the IT support desk. Turns out that my issue is not one that they have ever seen before, so after spening an hour or so on it, they tell me to come back when the rest of the staff will be in. I am able to access the internet using a library computer, but that isn't really coinvenient from my room, since I am several miles off campus.
Sat: More internet debuging on my own - I don't think very highly of the IT support desk here, but I am still going to get help. The person they end up directing me to suggests that Service Pack 3 for Windows might be corrupted, or the Windows files themselves. He recomends removing service pack 3, and if that doesn't work, then re-installing Windows, which is kind of hard to do since the installation disk is 3000 miles away. So I try the service pack which doesn't work; I spend the rest of the day troubleshooting it in the computer lab which has internet so I can look up the problems I am getting. I come up with nothing.
Sun: A very bad day on the computing front (at least at the start). I get up, get ready for church, go to the bus stop and discover that on the weekends, the buses don't follow the normal schedule of every 10 minutes. So I give up on church today, and go back to my room to try debuging some more (did I mention I hate debugging). Anyways, as a part of this process, something in Windows gets corrupted so now Windows won't turn on, even in safe-mode. I go into full blown panic, and walk to campus (several miles) so I can try and troubleshoot this problem with a computer with internet access. I should mention that I haven't eaten yet, because I was going to eat a breakfast bar on the bus to church; when I crashed the computer, hunger became the farthest thing from my mind.
I spend all day working on this, and am unable to do anything about it. I eventually give up and walk back to my room, where I try one more time to restart my computer. Although it doesn't work, I catch a glimpse of something in the boot up process that leads me to the "Rescue and Recovery" console provided by the Laptop in hardware. To make a long story short, the Windows disk data is apparently stored somewhere in the hardware, so I am able to 'repair' the corrupted Windows files without losing any data, I jut lose all the programs I had on my computer (which is ok, since I can re-install them and I still have access to my data which was NOT erased). At thius point, whever was wrong in Windows fixed itself, so I now am able to access the internet. In rejoicing, I eat my first and last meal of the day - peanut butter crackers (I brought peanut butter from home), which serve as a comfort food for me.
Mon: First day of classes; one at 10-11AM, computer modelling. I think it will be an easy class, since it seems similar to material I have done before as part of classes at State. Still trying to get settled in, but getting there now. Most of the unpacking is done; I actually have room to unpack as opposed to London, where most of my stuff remained in the suitcases due to lack of space.
Tue: My bad day in terms of classes - I have 3 consectutive hours in a weird pattern. I have class A for one hour, class B for one hour, then class A for one hour. Fortunately, teacher don't teach until the end of the hour, so I have enough time to get from class to class alright. The downside is that I have to eat lunch really early or really late (11-2 is class). It is managable though, so it is not a totally bad schedule. My classes today are Computer Graphics I (the meets twice class) and History. I anticpate that I will enjoy both of them a great deal; they seem interesting.
Weds: Class at 9 (modelling, so I have to get up at 7). This is a very minor complaint, but I don't like waking up before 8 - I don't feel awake if I wake up before 8, no matter how much sleep I got the night before. Modelling goes well, if a bit dull since I have already done this material.
Then I have a break until 1, when I have my graphics class again. This class meets 3 times a week as opposed to the typical 1-2 meetings per week. I believe this is due to the teacher wanting to be done teaching after 7 weeks as opposed to the full semester - don't know what that means in terms of exam schedule yet; whether I take it in 7 weeks or at the 'normal' time.
After class today I went to the chaplaincy for a late 'snack'/lunch, and met a few students. It seems sort of like the BSU at home, except smaller numbers of students show up (Wales/England/UK don't appear to have a very religious college/university aged population).
I then went to the board game club, where I met some people who could become good friends (maybe, assuming I don't scare them off with my weirdness :-) Played the settlers of Cattan for the first time, it was fun although I had never played before.
Thurs: My last day of classes, one at 9-10 (History). We covered "images of war" from Louis XIV to Napolean )(in time, not just France). There was a gradual shift from the depictions oirignially being about the leader to becoming about the troops doing the actual fighting; from glamorized combat to the realistic horrors. It was an interesting class.
After class, I went downtown and bought food for the first time since I have been here. Tescos is sort of like a target or walmart from home; it is a large store that mostly sells food, but also sells other stuff as well.
Fri: Since I had today off from classes, I travelled to downtown Swansea and visited the museams. I started at the Waterfront museum which, despite the name, doesn't have a lot to do with the waterfront; it was more a general museam about Swansea. This was an interesting museum, unlike the Swansea museam, which was really a collection of odds and ends of random things that had very little to do with Swansea, with 2 exceptions. One was a history of the region, going back to the stone age; the other was an exhibit on pottery/china which apparently was a major industy here seversal hundred years ago.
After leaving, I took a look downtown. Lots of shops, which would mean more to me if I was a shopper, not a lot of historical stuff; the one exception being the remains of Swansea castle
(Photos 31-35). It was interesting to look at, but not for much else. I did get a take-away pizza from Pizza Hut so I could have slice or two for lunch tomorrow on the Avebury Stonehenge trip (will be another entry since I took a lot of photos of stonehenge)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Last Days in London
Photos for this post: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2266438&l=d98d4&id=11832732
Sun: Attended services in Westminster Abbey. It is again an Anglican/Church of England church; but it is an older building (700 years old). It is an example of the Gothic style, and has a lot (I mean a lot) of people buried/memorialized in it. In fact, it was very hard to see anything of the service, due to how things were positioned. I have to say that I like St. Paul's a lot more due to its openness; I didn't feel confined while worshiping, and there wasn't as many 'monuments' inside the church itself (there are a few, but not as many).
Mon: Went to the imperial war museum. It was a little disturbing - the museum, as my class instructor said, seemed to glorify war while at the same time pointing out the horrors of it. I also found the museum a little hap-haphazardly put together; stuff was not really chronological, but by topic in a general area; the topic itself might be chronological or it might be arranged in some way that only the creator understood. The only really 'cool' thing I saw here was an enigma machine - the code-machine that was almost unbreakable used by the Germans in WWII.
(Photos 1-3)
In the afternoon, I went to the London transportation museum via Trafalgar square (and incidentally finding where the muffin man is from when I made a wrong turn).
(Photos 4-6)
I enjoyed it a great deal, especially since I knew next to nothing about the early subway systems (they are a lot older than you would think; around the American civil war era). This means they were originally steam powered, which is why the older lines don't go as far underground - there needed to be vents to release the steam/smoke from the tube. The original tubes were also excavated from above ground - you dig a hole, put in supports, and cover it up again. It took 20 years to finish the first line.
Later lines were built after electricity was discovered, so it was possible to build deeper lines because the smoke/steam wouldn't require ventilation. Also, additional techniques had been developed so that the next lines didn't take as long to construct - still took time, but they were in use within a few years.
(Photos 5-16)
After the museum, I walked to Buckingham Palace, just to see it. I would have liked to tour it, but as far as I could tell, tours were not offered at any point while I was in London. Then I walked back to where I was staying, making a wrong turn trying to get to a tube/subway station, and consequentially walking several miles out of my way before I could locate where I was on the map (my feet were not happy the next day)
(Photos 21-27)
Tues: Went to the National Portrait Gallery - not a big fan of this just because I don't love portraits in general. I did enjoy the 'competition' exhibit, sponsored by an international company, where people sent in photos and the most original portraits were winners. I think I would like to enter this next year, so when April comes around (the submission/application time), I'll be ready for it.
This afternoon, I went to St. Paul's again, this time for a tour. Along the way, I stopped and took pictures of Fleet St. signs (my sister is a fan of the musical "Sweeny Todd", the story of "the demon barber of fleet street"). I did manage to take a pic of the one barbershop on Fleet St. that I saw.
(Photos 28-32)
Once at St. Paul's, I was shown all around the building, and got to go up to the whispering gallery (due to the shape supposedly you are able to hear someone on the other side if they whisper. I wasn't really able to hear this myself (I sort of could, but it was indistinct; maybe it was just me. I then went outside on the top of St. Paul's. It was a beautiful view, and I took a complete panoramic view of London from the top, to remember the experience. It was a glorious experience, and I could feel God's presence there (not meant to sound cliched, but true).
(Photos 33-49)
I then got to go down in the crypt, which was a little strange. Christopher Wren, the designer of St. Paul's was buried there, as well as the ashes of Alexander Fleming (the discoverer of penicillin), and Lord Nelson's tomb (which incidentally, is directly underneath the dome, at the 'center' of the church).
Weds: Class in the morning. In the afternoon I went back to the Natural History Museum, this time to the 'earth's treasury' section. I was very impressed by the collection of precious stones/gems. I sort of decided I would like to be a collector of stones at some point in the future - not the most valuable ones, but the ones that look the 'prettiest'/most colorful. I tried to take pictures, but my camera was unable to do justice to the stones.
(Photos 50-59)
Thurs: Last full day in London. I took my test (5 short essay questions which I think I aced) and packed up (not easy to do when there are 3 people crammed into a small room trying to pack at the same time). I wanted to go to Chinatown for supper, but no one else in the group wanted to go; in my previous experience, to get the most out of Chinatown, it is best to go with a group and order food family style, then you get to sample more different food than if you went by yourself. Since the group kind of ditched me this evening, I went out for fish and chips as a 'traditional' last supper in London.
Fri: I left at 10 AM for Swansea. I'll write another post tomorrow about the trip and how crazy the last few days have been (my internet wouldn't work here, so no way to upload photos/blog, then my computer crashed, etc...). I'd write the post tonight, but I am tired from getting up early this morning for class, and I have another early start tomorrow.
Sun: Attended services in Westminster Abbey. It is again an Anglican/Church of England church; but it is an older building (700 years old). It is an example of the Gothic style, and has a lot (I mean a lot) of people buried/memorialized in it. In fact, it was very hard to see anything of the service, due to how things were positioned. I have to say that I like St. Paul's a lot more due to its openness; I didn't feel confined while worshiping, and there wasn't as many 'monuments' inside the church itself (there are a few, but not as many).
Mon: Went to the imperial war museum. It was a little disturbing - the museum, as my class instructor said, seemed to glorify war while at the same time pointing out the horrors of it. I also found the museum a little hap-haphazardly put together; stuff was not really chronological, but by topic in a general area; the topic itself might be chronological or it might be arranged in some way that only the creator understood. The only really 'cool' thing I saw here was an enigma machine - the code-machine that was almost unbreakable used by the Germans in WWII.
(Photos 1-3)
In the afternoon, I went to the London transportation museum via Trafalgar square (and incidentally finding where the muffin man is from when I made a wrong turn).
(Photos 4-6)
I enjoyed it a great deal, especially since I knew next to nothing about the early subway systems (they are a lot older than you would think; around the American civil war era). This means they were originally steam powered, which is why the older lines don't go as far underground - there needed to be vents to release the steam/smoke from the tube. The original tubes were also excavated from above ground - you dig a hole, put in supports, and cover it up again. It took 20 years to finish the first line.
Later lines were built after electricity was discovered, so it was possible to build deeper lines because the smoke/steam wouldn't require ventilation. Also, additional techniques had been developed so that the next lines didn't take as long to construct - still took time, but they were in use within a few years.
(Photos 5-16)
After the museum, I walked to Buckingham Palace, just to see it. I would have liked to tour it, but as far as I could tell, tours were not offered at any point while I was in London. Then I walked back to where I was staying, making a wrong turn trying to get to a tube/subway station, and consequentially walking several miles out of my way before I could locate where I was on the map (my feet were not happy the next day)
(Photos 21-27)
Tues: Went to the National Portrait Gallery - not a big fan of this just because I don't love portraits in general. I did enjoy the 'competition' exhibit, sponsored by an international company, where people sent in photos and the most original portraits were winners. I think I would like to enter this next year, so when April comes around (the submission/application time), I'll be ready for it.
This afternoon, I went to St. Paul's again, this time for a tour. Along the way, I stopped and took pictures of Fleet St. signs (my sister is a fan of the musical "Sweeny Todd", the story of "the demon barber of fleet street"). I did manage to take a pic of the one barbershop on Fleet St. that I saw.
(Photos 28-32)
Once at St. Paul's, I was shown all around the building, and got to go up to the whispering gallery (due to the shape supposedly you are able to hear someone on the other side if they whisper. I wasn't really able to hear this myself (I sort of could, but it was indistinct; maybe it was just me. I then went outside on the top of St. Paul's. It was a beautiful view, and I took a complete panoramic view of London from the top, to remember the experience. It was a glorious experience, and I could feel God's presence there (not meant to sound cliched, but true).
(Photos 33-49)
I then got to go down in the crypt, which was a little strange. Christopher Wren, the designer of St. Paul's was buried there, as well as the ashes of Alexander Fleming (the discoverer of penicillin), and Lord Nelson's tomb (which incidentally, is directly underneath the dome, at the 'center' of the church).
Weds: Class in the morning. In the afternoon I went back to the Natural History Museum, this time to the 'earth's treasury' section. I was very impressed by the collection of precious stones/gems. I sort of decided I would like to be a collector of stones at some point in the future - not the most valuable ones, but the ones that look the 'prettiest'/most colorful. I tried to take pictures, but my camera was unable to do justice to the stones.
(Photos 50-59)
Thurs: Last full day in London. I took my test (5 short essay questions which I think I aced) and packed up (not easy to do when there are 3 people crammed into a small room trying to pack at the same time). I wanted to go to Chinatown for supper, but no one else in the group wanted to go; in my previous experience, to get the most out of Chinatown, it is best to go with a group and order food family style, then you get to sample more different food than if you went by yourself. Since the group kind of ditched me this evening, I went out for fish and chips as a 'traditional' last supper in London.
Fri: I left at 10 AM for Swansea. I'll write another post tomorrow about the trip and how crazy the last few days have been (my internet wouldn't work here, so no way to upload photos/blog, then my computer crashed, etc...). I'd write the post tonight, but I am tired from getting up early this morning for class, and I have another early start tomorrow.
Friday, January 16, 2009
A very Busy Couple of Days
Photos for this entry: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2261661&l=c5509&id=11832732
Sun: Attended church at St Pauls. It was a very good service; I am not Anglican but I didn't see anything 'wrong'/disagreeing with my own beliefs during the service. I think I will try Westminster next Sunday for service.
For supper today, a group of 3 people went to try out Turkish food (part of a class assignment). I had a variety of different things (lamb, chicken, etc...) in 'kebab' style cooking, as well as donor style (a big hunk of meet is spun next to a heat source and the outer layer is sliced off when it is done, letting the inside layers begin to be cooked - it was delicious). There was more food than I could eat, and delicious baklava for desert (I bought some extra for snacks in my room, it was so good)
(Photo 1)
Mon: In the morning, we toured Parliament. It was fascinating because we were allowed to walk in both the House of Lords and House of Commons - I stood where some of the important British MP's (Members of Parliament) and PM's (Prime Ministers) stood. I still don't understand everything about the British government, but I am getting there. For instance, parliament is the 'executive' branch ion the sense that the government (which is composed of the party that won the most seats in the previous election) proposes bills and parliament 'approves' or 'disapproves' them; the monarch has to sign them into law, so technically the monarch is the executive, but the monarch can't really refuse to sign a bill that has been passed, so they don't truely have executive power.
This afternoon; I did laundry for the first time. Hopefully I can avoid doing it more that one more time while in London
Tues: I was feeling very tired today. All I really did was get up, eat breakfast, go back to bed, get up, eat lunch, go to class, eat supper, and went to bed early. I guess all my excursions caught up with me.
Weds: Toured the "Tate Modern Art" museum in the morning. Let me just say again; for those of you who don't know me that well: I hate modern art. Thankfully, it wasn't as modern as the Gugenheim in NYC (no canvases full of dead flies); but I didn't love any of the paintings/drawings/sculptures there except for "Waterlillies" by Monet.
After the museam, walked over and took a few pictures of the exterior of the reconstructed Globe theater - 'Shakespeare's theater'. It figures, Shakespeare and Modern art are obviously located right next to each other because I dislike them both.
Then I had lunch at a pub in the area; had my first fish and chips (I have been in England for almost 2 weeks and I still hadn't had fish and chips yet). They were delicious, and very filling. I was glad I got the child's portion.
This afternoon, a small group of us travelled out to the Stratford area of London, which will be the site of the 2012 Olympic games. This was just so that in 2012, we can say we were there; construction is proceeding on the hotels/stadiums.
In the evening, we went to "The Comedy Store", an improv comedy club which performs shows similar to whose line is it anyways? Some notable quotes that will make no sense to you unless you were there/I explain them to you: "Show me a llama that doesn't like cold, and I'll show you a horse"; "Number 1." "Yes Captain?" "No, you made number 1; you've had a bit too much to drink"; "Cave spelunking - well that's a little redundant since spelunkling, by its very nature occurs in a cave..." All in all, it was a grest show, and if you come to London, it is not something to miss (Weds. and Sun. evenings)
(Photos 2-13)
Thurs: Had a tour of "Brick Lane", which is traditionally the poorer end of town. The name derives from the fact that a long time ago they made the bricks for the various buildings there. Since there is a great fire hazard from making bricks, it was placed far from the 'rich' part of town so that if a fire arose, the only loss would be the poor people's houses and not the rich.
After the tour, had my first Indian/Bangledeshi food - a 'sample' platter of everything. There were several dishes with curry in them, so it was very spicy. There was a great beverage though, it was like a Mango smoothie and helped relieve the spicyness of the meal (it was exceptionally delicious; I can't help but think that it owuld be very popular at home).
In the afternoon, I returned to Parliament, this time to see it in action. When I arrived, I went to the House of Commons. They were discussing a 'bailout' for an insurance company that had gone bankrupt in 2000, and had lost some peoples' entire savings. I was about to leave when the topic was changed due to the agenda/schedule - it went onto a debate about the Gaza/Israel situation. I was interested, because the process was so different from our own. A minister read a speech, but he 'gave way' in the middle of it several times to allow different MP's a chance to interupt and ask questions (but they were all polite in the interuptions). It was obvious after hearing a few questions that public opinion is split a great deal on this issue - some MP's were against Israel for a 'disproportionate amount of force in response to the rocket attacks' while some were vehomently against hamas for attacking with rockets. I left after an hour or so, when the various members began to make speeches, although there is one speech that stuck out in my mind (and apparently everyone elses' minds as well, since it was in the paper the next day). It was a Jewish MP who was against what Israel had done (the disproportionality of it). He compared how Israel is acting towards the Palestinians as the Nazi party acted towards the Jews in the holocaust/WWII.
I also visited the House of Lords, but it was fairly boring; there were only maybe 8-10 'lords' in residence, and I arrived just as one was making a statement about the same insurance company mentioned in the Commons; his statement went on and on, I left after about 20 minutes when he showed no signs of getting near an end of the statement. The Commons is definitely more interesting to watch, at least on a day to day basis.
(Photos 14-16)
Fri: I went to Greenwich today, saw the prime merridian, and stood in both the east and west hemispheres at the same time. I also synchronized my watch with GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), and was a great museam on keeping track of time.
I went to the Naval Maritime Museam, where I had lunch (a fishcake, rice, and a lemon tart; the lunch special - it was pretty good) and then toured the museam a little. I got to see Nelson's uniform that he was wearing at the battle of Trafalgar, and saw the bullet hole from the shot that killed him. For those of you who don't know, Nelson was a british admiral of the navy who defeated Napolean's fleet at Trafalgar. He also was blind in one eye, and in a previous campaign had his right hand blown off; so he was like me. I was very inspired by this, and am going to try and learn more about him. He seems like a good guy, despite the fact that he was having an affair with a married woman.
(Photos 17-end of album)
Then I rushed over to the London Eye - we rode it at 4PM. I took a lot of photos at different heights. It was nice to do this after having explored London a little - I was able to recognize places I have been. One conclusion that I reached was that St. Paul's is visible from almost everywhere in London - I saw it from Greenwich this morning (which is way outside of London), and from the top of the Eye.
Photo Album for Eye: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2261666&l=c0045&id=11832732
Sun: Attended church at St Pauls. It was a very good service; I am not Anglican but I didn't see anything 'wrong'/disagreeing with my own beliefs during the service. I think I will try Westminster next Sunday for service.
For supper today, a group of 3 people went to try out Turkish food (part of a class assignment). I had a variety of different things (lamb, chicken, etc...) in 'kebab' style cooking, as well as donor style (a big hunk of meet is spun next to a heat source and the outer layer is sliced off when it is done, letting the inside layers begin to be cooked - it was delicious). There was more food than I could eat, and delicious baklava for desert (I bought some extra for snacks in my room, it was so good)
(Photo 1)
Mon: In the morning, we toured Parliament. It was fascinating because we were allowed to walk in both the House of Lords and House of Commons - I stood where some of the important British MP's (Members of Parliament) and PM's (Prime Ministers) stood. I still don't understand everything about the British government, but I am getting there. For instance, parliament is the 'executive' branch ion the sense that the government (which is composed of the party that won the most seats in the previous election) proposes bills and parliament 'approves' or 'disapproves' them; the monarch has to sign them into law, so technically the monarch is the executive, but the monarch can't really refuse to sign a bill that has been passed, so they don't truely have executive power.
This afternoon; I did laundry for the first time. Hopefully I can avoid doing it more that one more time while in London
Tues: I was feeling very tired today. All I really did was get up, eat breakfast, go back to bed, get up, eat lunch, go to class, eat supper, and went to bed early. I guess all my excursions caught up with me.
Weds: Toured the "Tate Modern Art" museum in the morning. Let me just say again; for those of you who don't know me that well: I hate modern art. Thankfully, it wasn't as modern as the Gugenheim in NYC (no canvases full of dead flies); but I didn't love any of the paintings/drawings/sculptures there except for "Waterlillies" by Monet.
After the museam, walked over and took a few pictures of the exterior of the reconstructed Globe theater - 'Shakespeare's theater'. It figures, Shakespeare and Modern art are obviously located right next to each other because I dislike them both.
Then I had lunch at a pub in the area; had my first fish and chips (I have been in England for almost 2 weeks and I still hadn't had fish and chips yet). They were delicious, and very filling. I was glad I got the child's portion.
This afternoon, a small group of us travelled out to the Stratford area of London, which will be the site of the 2012 Olympic games. This was just so that in 2012, we can say we were there; construction is proceeding on the hotels/stadiums.
In the evening, we went to "The Comedy Store", an improv comedy club which performs shows similar to whose line is it anyways? Some notable quotes that will make no sense to you unless you were there/I explain them to you: "Show me a llama that doesn't like cold, and I'll show you a horse"; "Number 1." "Yes Captain?" "No, you made number 1; you've had a bit too much to drink"; "Cave spelunking - well that's a little redundant since spelunkling, by its very nature occurs in a cave..." All in all, it was a grest show, and if you come to London, it is not something to miss (Weds. and Sun. evenings)
(Photos 2-13)
Thurs: Had a tour of "Brick Lane", which is traditionally the poorer end of town. The name derives from the fact that a long time ago they made the bricks for the various buildings there. Since there is a great fire hazard from making bricks, it was placed far from the 'rich' part of town so that if a fire arose, the only loss would be the poor people's houses and not the rich.
After the tour, had my first Indian/Bangledeshi food - a 'sample' platter of everything. There were several dishes with curry in them, so it was very spicy. There was a great beverage though, it was like a Mango smoothie and helped relieve the spicyness of the meal (it was exceptionally delicious; I can't help but think that it owuld be very popular at home).
In the afternoon, I returned to Parliament, this time to see it in action. When I arrived, I went to the House of Commons. They were discussing a 'bailout' for an insurance company that had gone bankrupt in 2000, and had lost some peoples' entire savings. I was about to leave when the topic was changed due to the agenda/schedule - it went onto a debate about the Gaza/Israel situation. I was interested, because the process was so different from our own. A minister read a speech, but he 'gave way' in the middle of it several times to allow different MP's a chance to interupt and ask questions (but they were all polite in the interuptions). It was obvious after hearing a few questions that public opinion is split a great deal on this issue - some MP's were against Israel for a 'disproportionate amount of force in response to the rocket attacks' while some were vehomently against hamas for attacking with rockets. I left after an hour or so, when the various members began to make speeches, although there is one speech that stuck out in my mind (and apparently everyone elses' minds as well, since it was in the paper the next day). It was a Jewish MP who was against what Israel had done (the disproportionality of it). He compared how Israel is acting towards the Palestinians as the Nazi party acted towards the Jews in the holocaust/WWII.
I also visited the House of Lords, but it was fairly boring; there were only maybe 8-10 'lords' in residence, and I arrived just as one was making a statement about the same insurance company mentioned in the Commons; his statement went on and on, I left after about 20 minutes when he showed no signs of getting near an end of the statement. The Commons is definitely more interesting to watch, at least on a day to day basis.
(Photos 14-16)
Fri: I went to Greenwich today, saw the prime merridian, and stood in both the east and west hemispheres at the same time. I also synchronized my watch with GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), and was a great museam on keeping track of time.
I went to the Naval Maritime Museam, where I had lunch (a fishcake, rice, and a lemon tart; the lunch special - it was pretty good) and then toured the museam a little. I got to see Nelson's uniform that he was wearing at the battle of Trafalgar, and saw the bullet hole from the shot that killed him. For those of you who don't know, Nelson was a british admiral of the navy who defeated Napolean's fleet at Trafalgar. He also was blind in one eye, and in a previous campaign had his right hand blown off; so he was like me. I was very inspired by this, and am going to try and learn more about him. He seems like a good guy, despite the fact that he was having an affair with a married woman.
(Photos 17-end of album)
Then I rushed over to the London Eye - we rode it at 4PM. I took a lot of photos at different heights. It was nice to do this after having explored London a little - I was able to recognize places I have been. One conclusion that I reached was that St. Paul's is visible from almost everywhere in London - I saw it from Greenwich this morning (which is way outside of London), and from the top of the Eye.
Photo Album for Eye: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2261666&l=c0045&id=11832732
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Almost End of Week 1
Been a very busy week, so I'll try and summarize the last few days. Photos for all days so far are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2260131&l=8caf2&id=11832732 You should be able to view them even if you don't have a facebook.
Tues: Had an 'orientation' to the London pre-sessional; just an idea of what our schedule will look like, when we would have class, what we would see as a class, etc...
In the afternoon, we went on a walking tour of Kensington (photos are on facebook - this link should work for everyone, even those who don't have an account). We saw Kensington Palace, where Diana lived, as well as a statue of prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. That was something interesting I learned today; if you are a king and you get married, your wife becomes a queen. If you are a queen and you marry, however, your husband does not become king. Seems kind of strange to me; but it appears to work for them, so whatever floats your boat (or crowns your monarchy).
(Photos 17-19)
After the tour was officially over, I yielded to weakness and visited the dinosaurs at the British Natural History museam. It was very impressive. I also got to see a Dodo bird; the famous flightless bird driven to extinction. I do feel that this museam should take several days to explore properly; meaning I will need to go back if I get the time to do so.
(Photos 20-24)
Weds: In the morning, we took a tour of London via tube (the subway for those not up with British slang). It was interesting; I learned how to get around London on my own. When we got off the first stop, we walked to St. Paul's Cathedral; I paused to take a pic of the London Eye (first time I saw it). The we proceeded to St. Paul. I took a pic or 2, and noticed a hoard of pigions, which I couldn't resist taking a pic of ("Feed the birds, tuppence a bag..."). I didn't have a chance to go inside the main building; but I did go in the crypt and see an amazing monument. It was dedicated to a captain who died serving under Nelson. The man previously was commanding a ship, when an iceberg hit it; severly damaging it. He encouraged any of his crew who did not feel safe to abandon ship. He considered it a dereliction of duty to do so himself; so he stayed aboard and kept the ship afloat for 10 weeks, bringing it into port while still severly damaged and barely afloat. I was impressed by his dedication to his duty.
After St. Paul's we traveled to the Tower of London, and the Tower Bridge. We didn't go inside due to time constraints, but I now know how to get there. Ditto parliament/Westminster Abby; know how to get there (we are going on a tour on Monday). We then walked by Buckingham palace on the way back to a different tube station.
In the afternoon, we had our first class - just a general introduction of England/UK/London in general.
(Photos 25-33)
Thurs: In the morning we had class; in the afternoon I took a nap (I was exhausted).
In the evening, we went to a show, "We Will Rock You", written by Queen. I don't love Rock music, but the show was enjoyable because it was a comedy, and sort of poked fun at Rock and Roll as well.
Fri: Toured the British museam in the morning; it was facinating to see all the artifacts 'collected' from British occupied territories. It was a little disturbing, because the museam claims that the objects are best viewed in the British museam (even though the native museams want them back). The treaures of Egypt and Greece; the Rosetta stone and the statues off of the parthenon.
Went by the London Eye, but it was closed for maintenance; I'll have to try again in a week or so.
In the afternoon, I toured the science museam. There were a few interesting things, such as Apollo 10's Command Module; but for the most part I received the impression that the museam was mostly for little children.
(Photos 34-45
Sat: Today was kind of a slow day; all I really did was tour the Sherlock Holmes Museam at 221B Baber street. They turned it into a museam to Holmes after the popularity of the novels. For those of you who don't know, 221B Baker Street is where Sherlock and Watson lived while in London. It was an interesting museam; I want to reread the stories I read, and read for the first time the ones I have not.
I ended up buying a hat as a soveineer; a 'detective hat'. I think for next year's Halloween I will be Holmes.
Tomorrow, I am planning to attend Church at St. Paul's; who knows what else I will do tomorrow? I guess I will have to wait and find out.
Tues: Had an 'orientation' to the London pre-sessional; just an idea of what our schedule will look like, when we would have class, what we would see as a class, etc...
In the afternoon, we went on a walking tour of Kensington (photos are on facebook - this link should work for everyone, even those who don't have an account). We saw Kensington Palace, where Diana lived, as well as a statue of prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. That was something interesting I learned today; if you are a king and you get married, your wife becomes a queen. If you are a queen and you marry, however, your husband does not become king. Seems kind of strange to me; but it appears to work for them, so whatever floats your boat (or crowns your monarchy).
(Photos 17-19)
After the tour was officially over, I yielded to weakness and visited the dinosaurs at the British Natural History museam. It was very impressive. I also got to see a Dodo bird; the famous flightless bird driven to extinction. I do feel that this museam should take several days to explore properly; meaning I will need to go back if I get the time to do so.
(Photos 20-24)
Weds: In the morning, we took a tour of London via tube (the subway for those not up with British slang). It was interesting; I learned how to get around London on my own. When we got off the first stop, we walked to St. Paul's Cathedral; I paused to take a pic of the London Eye (first time I saw it). The we proceeded to St. Paul. I took a pic or 2, and noticed a hoard of pigions, which I couldn't resist taking a pic of ("Feed the birds, tuppence a bag..."). I didn't have a chance to go inside the main building; but I did go in the crypt and see an amazing monument. It was dedicated to a captain who died serving under Nelson. The man previously was commanding a ship, when an iceberg hit it; severly damaging it. He encouraged any of his crew who did not feel safe to abandon ship. He considered it a dereliction of duty to do so himself; so he stayed aboard and kept the ship afloat for 10 weeks, bringing it into port while still severly damaged and barely afloat. I was impressed by his dedication to his duty.
After St. Paul's we traveled to the Tower of London, and the Tower Bridge. We didn't go inside due to time constraints, but I now know how to get there. Ditto parliament/Westminster Abby; know how to get there (we are going on a tour on Monday). We then walked by Buckingham palace on the way back to a different tube station.
In the afternoon, we had our first class - just a general introduction of England/UK/London in general.
(Photos 25-33)
Thurs: In the morning we had class; in the afternoon I took a nap (I was exhausted).
In the evening, we went to a show, "We Will Rock You", written by Queen. I don't love Rock music, but the show was enjoyable because it was a comedy, and sort of poked fun at Rock and Roll as well.
Fri: Toured the British museam in the morning; it was facinating to see all the artifacts 'collected' from British occupied territories. It was a little disturbing, because the museam claims that the objects are best viewed in the British museam (even though the native museams want them back). The treaures of Egypt and Greece; the Rosetta stone and the statues off of the parthenon.
Went by the London Eye, but it was closed for maintenance; I'll have to try again in a week or so.
In the afternoon, I toured the science museam. There were a few interesting things, such as Apollo 10's Command Module; but for the most part I received the impression that the museam was mostly for little children.
(Photos 34-45
Sat: Today was kind of a slow day; all I really did was tour the Sherlock Holmes Museam at 221B Baber street. They turned it into a museam to Holmes after the popularity of the novels. For those of you who don't know, 221B Baker Street is where Sherlock and Watson lived while in London. It was an interesting museam; I want to reread the stories I read, and read for the first time the ones I have not.
I ended up buying a hat as a soveineer; a 'detective hat'. I think for next year's Halloween I will be Holmes.
Tomorrow, I am planning to attend Church at St. Paul's; who knows what else I will do tomorrow? I guess I will have to wait and find out.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Made it to London
So I made it safely to London. I left RDU at 2:30 PM, arrived at JFK, left JFK at 12:15 AM, arrived at Heathrow at 11:30 AM, didn't land until 12:00 PM due to circling the airport (don't you love how time zones mess up your calculations of how long you actually flew - it was a 6 hour flight going across 5 time zones).
After I got here, I went through customs (went very quickly, which surprised me), caught an express train to Paddington Station (yes, like the bear). Then I caught a taxi to where I am staying, in the Kensington district of London - I was told it is the richest part of town, and that people pay a lot to live here. It is a little cramped for space; rooms are small but hold 3 people, the hall is about 3-4 inches wider than a person, so 2 people can't easily pass; they have to contort themselves around each other, and the kitchen is small (but fully equiped, so I can cook for myself (no meal plan here).
I took a tour of the local area today, not an official tour (that is tomorrow) but a tour of places I need to know about - where my London classes will be held, where I need to go to get food, how it is a good idea to walk aways and get out of the rich district before trying to find food, since it will cost less there.
My final actions for today, after the 'tour' concluded, was to go to the V&A (Victoria and Albert) museam. It holds a collection of artifacts from different periods in history, including some beautiful art pieces. I am going to try and upload the pictures here; and if not here, to flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/34125648@N08/sets/72157612158152367/ ) so you know what I am talking about. The only real conclusion I have made is that in the 1600's/1700's, furniture making (really any manufacturing) was an art. Since all pieces were made by hand, the degree of craftmansship is amazing - tables layered with silver, marble statues of the crussifiction,
an ornamental 'vase' decortated with beads (someone took the time to string beads for a 'vase' taller than me, and created artwork with the patterns)
Finally, a piece of advice for anyone else who may be studying abroad - if at all possible, pack less than your body weight - I packed somewhere between 150-180 lbs of stuff, because I have to stay for 5 1/2 months in different climates. It is awful to try and transport that much stuff around by hand!
After I got here, I went through customs (went very quickly, which surprised me), caught an express train to Paddington Station (yes, like the bear). Then I caught a taxi to where I am staying, in the Kensington district of London - I was told it is the richest part of town, and that people pay a lot to live here. It is a little cramped for space; rooms are small but hold 3 people, the hall is about 3-4 inches wider than a person, so 2 people can't easily pass; they have to contort themselves around each other, and the kitchen is small (but fully equiped, so I can cook for myself (no meal plan here).
I took a tour of the local area today, not an official tour (that is tomorrow) but a tour of places I need to know about - where my London classes will be held, where I need to go to get food, how it is a good idea to walk aways and get out of the rich district before trying to find food, since it will cost less there.
My final actions for today, after the 'tour' concluded, was to go to the V&A (Victoria and Albert) museam. It holds a collection of artifacts from different periods in history, including some beautiful art pieces. I am going to try and upload the pictures here; and if not here, to flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/34125648@N08/sets/72157612158152367/ ) so you know what I am talking about. The only real conclusion I have made is that in the 1600's/1700's, furniture making (really any manufacturing) was an art. Since all pieces were made by hand, the degree of craftmansship is amazing - tables layered with silver, marble statues of the crussifiction,
an ornamental 'vase' decortated with beads (someone took the time to string beads for a 'vase' taller than me, and created artwork with the patterns)
Finally, a piece of advice for anyone else who may be studying abroad - if at all possible, pack less than your body weight - I packed somewhere between 150-180 lbs of stuff, because I have to stay for 5 1/2 months in different climates. It is awful to try and transport that much stuff around by hand!
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