Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Is that where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis sat? Is that Hogwarts?

  On Tuesday, June 30, 2015 we boarded a coach (bus) to Oxford, England. We left pretty early in the morning, but we hit morning traffic. Once we made it there we went to the Bodleian Library on Oxford University's campus. However, despite the traffic we made it there earlier than our tour was scheduled so we had some time to kill. Some of us decided to go to the cafe in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, called The Vaults and Garden. While I was there I had a scone with clotted cream and jam and a cafè latte. Both were delicious. Once it got closer to our tour time we decided to head back towards the Bodleian Library. When we got situated we were split into two groups so that we could all have a chance to see and hear the tour guide.  

       My group's tour guide was a man who is very enthusiastic about being a tour guide. He is currently in his first year of being a tour guide and has lived in Oxford for more than 10 years. He has three degrees, but none of them are from Oxford University. He started the tour off by telling us some information about the University like: there are 22,000 fee paying students, there are 10,000 support staff and professors, there are 38 colleges within Oxford University that are self-governing, women were not accepted until 1878 and were not granted degrees until the 1920s, and that each college has its own library.  



     Between the years 1423-1488 the Divinity school was built. It took 65 years to build because funds for the building would come and go. The eastern end of the school was used as the infirmary at Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Next is the Convocation House. It was built between 1634-1636 as an extension to the Divinity school and was available for use in 1640. This building is used by the professor of poetry and chancellor to make decisions and vote. The lectern in front of the throne where the chancellor or professor of poetry sits is hinged at the bottom so that it can move backwards so that they could sit down and get out of the throne so that they did not have to squeeze out. Also, there are two sundials in the windows so that the person in charge can keep track of time. 




     Next is Chancellor's Court. This room was used for legal purposes at the school for benefit of the student. At the that time, students were young males between the ages of 14-18 when their voices started to crack from maturing. However, in the 1960s they gave up their power to discipline in a court setting. But before it was closed Oscar Wilde was summoned back to the court for a hearing in the late 1800s about debts that he had not re-payed yet. Then there is Art's End. This is a 2 story extension that was built between 1610-1612. It has a wooden ceiling with the university's coat of arms in all of the tiles, but it looked like all of the tiles had different boarders. There are floor to ceiling shelves on both stories with the smaller book so no the top floor and the larger books on the first floor chained to the bookshelves. However the books are not chained still. 

(Lectern that moves)

     The floor above the Divinity School is called the Duke Humphrey's Library because of his donation of books to the library after his death. Unfortunately, about 100 years after it opened it closed and was cleared out of all the book so because of printing and the reformation. 280 books were disposed of because of religious differences out of a total between 500-600. The Bodleian has 5 of the remaining books.

     Thankfully, Thomas Bodley retired to Oxford, England. He spent his own money refurbishing the library. It took four years to do and it reopened in 1602 with 2,500 volumes. He designed the connecting buildings to help with student life at Oxford. He also, made a deal with a printing company out of London to get one copy of every book that it prints for free. This offer still stand still today and the Bodleian does reject some of the books that are offered to them. In 1912, 2 underground storage facilities were built, and another building was built in the 1930s. They currently have one off site storage facility in Swindon that is 150 miles full of storage. The library needs 3 miles of storage every year. 
  
     What I liked most about the tour was seeing the library.  It was very interesting to see how the books used to be chained up.  For more information about the library go to http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley

     We were told all of this information while touring the library. After the tour we all split up for lunch. The group I went with all decided that we would window shop while making our way towards the Eagle and Child. We stopped at this cute boutique that I bought a wallet at. Then we continued on our way and it to the Eagle and Child where we had lunch. The Eagle and Child is significant because that is where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis went to talk and drink. After we ate we walked back across town to Alice's Shop where we looked around for a little while before we headed across the street to Christ Church.



     Christ Church is where the makers of Harry Potter filmed the first movie and used the places where they filmed to make the sets for the later films. The used the staircase, the great hall, and the hallways as part of the movies.



     Another cool thing that Dr. Welsh told us was that Lewis Carrol used to work there and he got inspiration for Alice in Wonderland from the Head of the school's daughter. She also pointed out the tree that Alice used to play by and which is where her cat got stuck in. Unfortunately, we could not go on the staircase or go into the Great Hall because they were doing renovations.  




     After the tour we still had time to go explore Oxford which my group did. When it was time to go we all met up but the coach that was coming to pick us up was not there yet. Then the coach parked in front of the library a block down from us and when Dr. Griffis went to go talk to him he drove off to the other side of the street. Luckily, Kelsey ran after the coach and got his attention. We boarded the bus and made our way back to the dorms. 

     That night, I went out with Cassie and Whitney to start celebrating Whitney's 21st birthday early. We decided to go to the Thirsty Bear which is just down a couple of blocks from the dorms.  

Till next time!








   (Alice's door)







Monday, June 29, 2015

Museum of London

Today we hopped on the bus and headed to the Museum of London.  There we went around and looked at the different sections of the museum. The sections are: London before London 450,000 BC - AD 50, The Romans and The River AD 50 - 410, Medieval London 410-1558 , War, Plague, and Fire 1550s - 1660s, Expanding City 1666 - 1850s, People's City 1850s - 1940s, World City 1950s - today, The City Gallery, The Sackler Hall, and The London 2012 Cauldron: designing a moment.  All of it was pretty cool to look at.  I liked to look at the information on the plague the most because it has always been a fascination of mine.  Also, being able to walk through the museum and see how London has changed since the prehistoric times was very interesting.  Being able to start the exhibit with viewing a mammoth's foot to going all the way to viewing the cauldron from the 2012 Summer Olympics was very mind blowing.

(St. Paul's Cathedral before it burned down)

This is a replica of the old St Paul's Cathedral before it burned down. This replica is over 100 years old.  It was made by J B Thorp in 1908 and was shown at the White City Exhibition.  In 1912, it was acquired by the London Museum.


This clock shows the time in London in hours, minutes, and seconds, and records the date, month, and mean solar time.  Also, there are eight 24 hour clock faces that gave the time for Sydney, Madras, New York, Canton, Calcutta, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Constantinople. The clock was part of the International Exhibition of 1862. 


This is a picture of one the videos that was playing in the exhibit of a couple doing the Charleston on a moving vehicle.  Throughout the video it showed life in London during that time.  

I loved visiting the museum because I was able to see how London changed and grew with the times.  

LAARC and the Museum of London



               Today started mid-morning with the class meeting in the courtyard.  From there we split up in to two groups: One with Dr. Welsh to go visit the Museum of London and the other group with Dr. Griffis to visit the optional trip to the London Archaeological Archive Research Centre (LAARC).  I decided to go with Dr. Griffis’ group to LAARC in the morning and then to the Museum of London in the afternoon. 

                LAARC is a wonderful place.  In 2012, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized LAARC for being the world’s largest archeological archive.  LAARC has done about 8,500 excavations, but only has information on about 3,500 excavations because some of the sites do not have anything on them.  They have five storage rooms: one for paper, one for metals, and three for everything else.  I could definitely spend hours in there just looking around if I could.  

        Next we hopped on the bus and headed to the Museum of London.  There we went around and looked at the different sections of the museum. The sections are: London before London 450,000 BC - AD 50, The Romans and The River AD 50 - 410, Medieval London 410-1558 , War, Plague, and Fire 1550s - 1660s, Expanding City 1666 - 1850s, People's City 1850s - 1940s, World City 1950s - today, The City Gallery, The Sackler Hall, and The London 2012 Cauldron: designing a moment.  All of it was pretty cool to look at.  I liked to look at the information on the plague the most because it has always been a fascination of mine.  Also, being able to walk through the museum and see how London has changed since the prehistoric times was very interesting.  Being able to start the exhibit with viewing a mammoth's foot to going all the way to viewing the cauldron from the 2012 Summer Olympics was very mind blowing.

(St. Paul's Cathedral before it burned down)

This is a replica of the old St Paul's Cathedral before it burned down. This replica is over 100 years old.  It was made by J B Thorp in 1908 and was shown at the White City Exhibition.  In 1912, it was acquired by the London Museum.


This clock shows the time in London in hours, minutes, and seconds, and records the date, month, and mean solar time.  Also, there are eight 24 hour clock faces that gave the time for Sydney, Madras, New York, Canton, Calcutta, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Constantinople. The clock was part of the International Exhibition of 1862. 


This is a picture of one the videos that was playing in the exhibit of a couple doing the Charleston on a moving vehicle.  Throughout the video it showed life in London during that time.  For more information about the museum go to http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/

Till next time!
Sarah


Sunday, June 28, 2015

Abbey Road, 221B Baker Street, and Buckingham Palace Oh My!

       Today started off at 3:30am because someone in one of the buildings decided to smoke inside of their dorm room and set off the fire alarm.  I was finally able to go back to sleep, but I missed my alarm to wake me up. So I just started my day a little later then I wanted to.  I stayed in my dorm for most of the morning and early afternoon doing some research for my paper before I had to meet up with my London Alive! group later that afternoon.

        At about 3pm I met up with the group to visit Abbey Road.  We were split up in to three groups because we were that big of a group.  I think about 50 of us signed up for that outing.  We took to the tube from Waterloo Station to St. John's Wood station. Then we walked a couple of blocks to get to Abbey Road.  Once we got there, it was extremely busy with people trying to walk across and take pictures, with people just trying to cross the street, and with cars driving.  Luckily I went with Cassie so we took turns taking each other's picture walking across. 



Once we crossed the street to get to the other side of the road we went to the Beatles Wall where people sign the wall in front of Abbey Road Studios.

       After that we went back to the tube to get to Baker Street.  Once we there, we went down the street to 221B, but it was very busy.  Instead we took pictures with the guard in front of the museum.  It's his job to let people in to the museum.

So we decided we would take the tour of the Sherlock Holmes Museum another day.  Instead, we went next door to a Beatles shop to look for cool Beatles merchandise.  Next we decided to hop back on the tube and head to Buckingham Palace.  Once we were there, we took pictures by the gates, we took pictures of the guards, and the surrounding area.  


      After the palace we decided to hop back on the tube to head back to the dorms to meet up with some more people to go get dinner.  We decided to go to Gabriel's Wharf to eat at the Gourmet Pizza.  It was delicious! Now I'm just resting up for tomorrow's visit to the Museum of London. 

Xoxo, Sarah







Saturday, June 27, 2015

Parliament Tours and More!

     To start off the day, my LIS class met in a classroom to go over the finished schedule and to talk about what was going to happen for the rest of our stay here.  After we talked, we met with the other classes to walk over to Parliament. The classes were split up into two groups and we were the second group to head over. 
(Big Ben and Parliament)

       Once we got to Parliament, we were given our tickets and we waited in line to go through security because it is a government building.  Once inside, we were given headphones so that we could listen to the tour through audio instead of having a person guide us.  Which was great because even when we are split in half we are a big group of people.

      Parliament was beautiful! We got to walk through and see where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet.  They both have separate rooms to meet in.  I was able to learn a lot from the audio tour. I wish we had that ability when we toured The Capitol in Washington D.C. last summer!

      After the tour was over some my classmates and I decided to go to the gift shop that was next to Westminster Hall in Parliament.  The gift shop had so many cool items like: mugs, pens, tea cups, books, magnets, postcards, and more all with different things on them in relation to Parliment.  Either it being Big Ben, House of Lords, House of Commons, or the Suffragettes to name a few.  

(Mural in St. Stephen's Hall in Parliament)

      Then we met up with some of our classmates and decided to go find lunch.  We tried to find The Café in the crypt of one of the churches in Traffalger square, but no such luck.  So we decided to go back to the other side of the Thames to the Southbank to find something for lunch.  We made it to a place called Eat. It is a place where you can get sandwiches, pies, and many more things.  I got a chicken, avocado, and bacon on a baguette with sour cream and black pepper crisps.  It was delicious!  After that we headed back to the dorms to rest.  

       I rested up for a bit and then headed out to get my Oyster card so that I can take pubic transportation.  It was pretty easy to get, I went up to a window and talked to a real person to make sure I got what I needed and did not mess anything up.  That's all for now!

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Flight Day/First Day

       So I finaly landed in London this morning around 7am (aka 1am central time).  We, meaning me, Cassie, Whitney, Fitz, Taylor, and Lisa, left New Orleans, LA yesterday at about 9am, made it to Houston, TX where we had a 5 hour layover.  Then we left Houston at 3:15pm.  
(Houston Airport)

        All of this for my first airplane ride ever!  After we landed in London we went through customs to make sure it was legal for us to enter the country.  The man that helped me was very nice and asked me what I was studying, if I had ever visited the country before, which I had to inform him that was actually my first plane ride ever, so he asked me if I liked the flight. I told him that it wasn't as bad as I had thought it was going to be.  

         After customs, we had to go find our luggage that was checked on the flight.  Luckily I bought a bright pink suitcase so that I wouldn't miss it.  And I did not miss it! After that we met Dr. Davies and some of the staff members and students.  Then we boarded on coaches (buses) to take us to King's College London dorms.  

         Once we got to the dorms, we checked in, got our room keys, and got in to our dorms.  I unpacked enough so that I could take a shower and rest up before meeting up with Cassie and Whitney for lunch and shopping.  For lunch we went to Fishcotheque and I had the fish and chips.

        After lunch we walked back to the dorm to drop off leftovers and headed straight back out to go shopping for groceries at Sainsbury's.  Then we had a break until our orientation and neighborhood tours with our professors.  

        Dr. Griffis and Dr. Welsh led us on our LIS tour.  They showed us the important things like the place to do laundry, where we have class, several food places that look quite good to eat, Waterloo station for the Tube, good theatres, good bookshops, and a place to mail things off.  After that, we ate dinner as a class and walked back to the dorms.  Now I get to sleep so that we can go see Parliament tomorrow.
(The National Theatre)

(St. Paul's Cathedral)