A Look Back

Still working on uploading most of my photos, but here's about 500 of them (out of about a total of 2,500!). More later!

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish (and chips!)

This is it. Tomorrow I embark on a 16 hour journey home. I can't believe this trip is almost over.
In some ways, I feel like I only just got here yesterday. There's no way I've been living here almost 4 months! There is still so much about the culture and the city I haven't gotten used to; I feel like I've only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg.

Then...

And in other ways, I feel like it's been years since I've been home. I found this picture of Mom and I that was taken at the airport right before I left. Looking at the picture, I feel like I have changed so much, both inside and out. The one thing I'm not sure about is to what degree I have actually grown; I feel as if I have changed, but how much of it is the influence of my environment? I guess the true test will be when I get home and return to normal life. Will there really be any difference?

Four months ago I had never traveled by myself or left the US. Now I can say I've been to 4 new countries, traveled thousands of miles on my own, and experienced life in so many new ways I never thought possible.

I am so sad to be leaving. There were a lot of things I wanted to see but never got to, so I know I'll be back. I'm going to miss just being able hop on the tube and jump off anywhere. I'll miss packaged sandwiches from Tesco. I'll miss walking through the street markets on weekends and watching the street performers in Covent Garden. I'll miss crumpets and tea, black cabs, double-decker buses, cross-country train rides, endless stairwells, ginormous museums, castles and cathedrals, fish and chips, and yes, even cold rainy weather.

And at the same time, I cannot wait to go home. This is the longest I've ever been away and I miss the family so much. I'm coming home with a completely new appreciation for my own country and sense of place in the world and I look forward to experiencing everything in a new light. This is certainly not the end the blog, or my own travels, but rather just the beginning.

I'm homeward bound tomorrow, and I can't wait to see what the future holds in store. Until next time!

...and now.

Get lost! (in Hampstead Heath)

All semester I've been wanting to go to Hampstead Heath, a renowned 300-some-odd acre park in North London. I've been sick all weekend, but today I was finally feeling better, so, ambitiously, I planned to spend the morning hiking around the Heath, ride the tube back down to Hyde Park by noon, and go see Speaker's Corner (which I also still hadn't seen yet).

I guess it should have been a sign to give up and go home early on, when I got off the tube at Hampstead and found myself walking back and forth down the same three roads trying to find my way to the park for about 15 minutes. Eventually I found my way there, of course taking the longest possible route and finding myself at a completely different entrance than I expected to be at.

The park was gorgeous though, and very crowded considering its massive size. There were tons of families, dog walkers, and joggers.

I wandered around for about an hour, weaving in and out of forest and field, up and down huge rolling hills that offered sweeping views of the foggy city in the distance. It wasn't raining today, but it was about 48 degrees and rather damp outside, and on the hills in the meadows there was a stiff, frigid breeze.

Eventually I decided to head back even though I knew I had only seen a fraction of the park. Speaker's Corner is only active on Sundays starting at 12pm, and seeing as this is my last weekend here I didn't want to miss it. The only problem? I had no idea where I was at this point. Hampstead Heath has a terrible lack of signage, and by a lack of signage, I mean it has no signage whatsoever, despite the fact that it has dozens and dozens of criss-crossing trails that wind around for miles.

At last I found a playground with a restroom and a map on the side of the building. I was shocked to realize that I was on the complete opposite side of the park I wanted to be on, and pretty much as far away from the tube station as you could get! I mentally kicked myself.

At this point, I should have done the boring thing and gone back the way I came, but NO, I had to go down what looked like a parallel trail to check out this strange white monument thing in the middle of a field. The map had said it was "The Stone of Free Speech" or something, but when I got up to it I was sorely disappointed. All it was was a crumbling, white-washed concrete pillar without any sort of markings. If that's the best tribute we can give to free speech... how sad!

But alas, I did not turn back and go the way I had come -- instead I followed the trail up into the forest, taking in the splended views, watching the birds, and ignoring how late it was getting.

The birdlife at the Heath was quite impressive I must say, and had I planned on being there longer I would have enjoyed some very fruitful birding. I saw several Eurasian Jays, Grey Tits, Rooks, and even a Great Spotted Woodpecker along the way.

But I still couldn't find my way out of the darned park. I could swear I was heading back south west towards the Hampstead tube station, but about 40 minutes later I found myself at an iron gate in the woods marking the entrance to Kenwood House, a place I had not even planned on visiting because it was so far north!

Scrutinizing the barely-adequate map, I decided that I could head back down another trail (obviously I didn't learn my lesson from the first time I chose not to retrace my steps!). Well, the next thing I knew, I was in a totally different place that I had never seen before. A young woman coming towards me stopped and asked if I knew where Kenwood House was, and after telling her I had just passed it I asked if she knew to get out of the park (note to self: never ask for directions from someone who just asked YOU for directions! Lesson learned). She vaguely said it was back where she had come from so I followed the trail, but soon got lost again when it branched out in half a dozen new directions.

I walked on and on, completely disoriented, always thinking I had finally found the right path and then realizing I had gotten nowhere. It was extremely frustrating looking back on it, but surprisingly I managed to keep my cool the entire time, even when I found myself right back at Kenwood House 30-40 minutes later.

By now it had been over 2 hours, my legs were aching from climbing up and down hills, and my shoes were soaked through from the cold dew on the grass. Eventually I found my way out to some fields and finally stopped and asked an older couple how to get out. They said they had just come from the Highgate entrance, straight down the path and turn right after the pond. Thank goodness! I didn't even care that it was the wrong entrance, I was just tired of walking in circles. I knew once I got out on the street I could use my own map to get back.

And so I did. It fel like the longest walk ever (halfway around the outside of the park), but at least there were street signs! At last I made it down to the Belsize Park tube station and collapsed exhausted onto the train. It would be after 2pm by the time I got back, so, tired and slightly annoyed, I rode it straight home.

To be completely honest, I am really disappointed I didn't get to see Speaker's Corner, although at the same time I'm glad I got to see Hampstead Heath. I'm not sure it was worth all that hassle but I guess it was just another adventure in the long run (and on the upside, I got to see almost the ENTIRE 300 acres of the park)!

Ancient East and West

Over the last couple weeks I've slowly been working my way through the entire British Museum. The last two exhibits I went to were the sections on Egypt and Asia.

Although the Egypt exhibit is world renowned, I wasn't expecting a whole lot since it's usually swamped with tourists; I was pleasantly surprised though! The whole place had a feel of classic archaeological adventure -- you could totally imagine Indiana Jones or some pith-helmeted English explorer excavating the incredible artifacts now on display.

As with the rest of the museum, the sheer mass and quantity of items on display in the Egyptian collection was completely overwhelming. Everywhere you look, huge statues, tombs, replicas, and display cases tower overhead with artifacts so ancient it is completely mindblowing that they've survived this long.

One such object is the beard of the Great Sphinx of Giza, above. This hunk of rock is about half as tall as I am, and is still only a fraction of the entire piece.

Another highlight of the exhibit is the famous Rosetta Stone. I was really excited to see this, but unfortunately so were about 3 dozen other people all crowding around to take pictures. It was still absolutely amazing to realize I was standing in front of one of the most important archeological finds in history.

These are some actual hieroglyphs.

A statue of Rameses

A stone coffin

Close-up of the hieroglyphs on the coffin.

I hadn't realized this before, but apparently Cleopatra is on display in the British Museum. Kind of fun to see!

One of the most interesting sections was on the animal mummifications. I had always heard about the Egyptians mummifying their cats and dogs, but at the museum they also had mummified bulls, crocodiles, an ibis, and even a falcon.

A few days later, I went back to visit the Far East exhibit. This one is less popular than the Egypt section, but I also didn't find it quite as engaging. Although it definitely had some worldclass artifacts, I think I enjoyed the Asian exhibit at the British Library a few months ago a little more enjoyable.

Nonetheless, it was certainly a lot of fun. This was one of three statues of Buddha in different forms. There were mostly just a lot of display cases with small items telling pretty much the entire history of all the dynasties of China, across the room from similar displays on the history of India and Hinduism.

I thought this little statuette was particularly interesting, as I am very fond of the Ramayana story. It is a sculpture of Ravana, the evil 10-headed, 10-armed dude from the legend. I remember laughing when I first read the story and trying to imagine what he would look like... well, that's what he looks like!

This little cat also made me laugh for some reason. It looks terrified!

I have a lot more pictures from the galleries, but I also have a lot more to do today so I think I'll stop there. At this point I've seen most of the exhibits I was interested in seeing at the British Museum, although I may go back one more time to look at the Enlightenment gallery and a couple others. Right now though, I just need to focus on getting through this last week before I come home next Saturday. Can't wait!

Westminster Abbey and Big Ben

As I climbed the steps out of the Westminster tube station, a massive structure rose so far into the sky I couldn't even see the top. Craning my neck, it took me a moment to realize I was standing at the foot of Big Ben tower and the Houses of Parliament.

When I looked up, this was all I could see, only you can imagine how much more enormous it is when you're right there. I was traveling solo today, out for an afternoon by myself at Westminster Abbey. Before going in however, I walked around Parliament and got a few shots of the area.

It really is a truly grand building. It is guarded by heavily-armed policemen with their funny hats and serious-looking guns, scrutinizing you suspiciously as you walk by. I was tempted to see if I could go in, but it was a little intimidating and I was more intent on using my time in Westminster Abbey.

The Abbey, too, holds the same grandeur of its neighboring buildings but unfortunately photography wasn't allowed inside. As a building, its interior wasn't all that different from other churches and cathedrals I've visited; it had the same Gothic architecture, sweeping ceilings, intricate decor, and what seemed like hundreds of tombs, memorials, and plaques commemorating historical figures.

It was crowded, as would be expected, but nonetheless gorgeous. I explored every corner of the place and found the Shrine to Edward the Confessor; Henry VII's Lady Chapel; the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I and Mary Queen of Scots; and the tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer. At this last grave, there was a tourist idly resting on Chaucer's tomb -- I stared at him for an awkwardly long time until he realize he was leaning on a coffin and got out of the way!

I snapped a couple pictures outside in the Cloisters, and Chapel and College Gardens, as there were far fewer people around and no robed church officials to shoo me and my camera away.

My favorite part of Westminster Abbey was actually a relatively small wing known as the Poet's Corner. It was laden with dozens of graves and memorials to famous writers, including Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, the Bronte sisters, and even the composer G.F. Handel.

My two disappointments were that I wasn't able to find the grave of William Wilberforce, and I didn't realize until I got back home that Charles Darwin was also buried in the Abbey! I guess I can't complain though, considering I'm living on the same street where Darwin used to live.

Well, I explored the whole Abbey in about an hour or so. All things considered, it was a little overpriced for what it was, but I'm glad I saw it and once again, it was a lovely trip out into the city on my own.

Tower of London

Last weekend I went with a couple friends to the Tower of London, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city, but also one of the oldest and most famous structures here as well. Built and used by Kings Henry III and Edward II in the 13th century, the Tower certainly has a long and fascinating history.

We spent the majority of our visit exploring the numerous towers and rooms on the site and learning about the different events that took place within the castle walls. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but there was actually a lot of violence associated with the Tower of London and the various figures who resided in it. Some of the famous incidents that occurred included the execution of Anne Boleyn, the murder of the two princes (William and Edward I think?), and countless prisoners held for crimes ranging from adultery, to religious disobedience, to simply ticking off the King.

Although some of these prisoners led fairly comfortable lives while refined to the castle, others did not fair so well. While taking a tour at the end, it was explained that underneath the White Tower in the center of the castle was essentially a torture chamber. The tour guide proceeded to tell us – in gruesome detail – about the various ways in which prisoners were tortured and executed.

Above is a picture of the White Tower, looking exceptionally white with the protective covering around it at the moment. Periodically, they have to essentially scrub the entire tower of all the "pollution" particles that accumulate on the walls to keep them from deteriorating. This is evidently a long process, because the tower has been covered like every time I've passed it, at least as long as I've been here.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was the story of the ravens at the Tower of London. According to a tale, ravens have always lived at the castle, but during the 17th century the astronomers who resided at the Tower of London complained to the king that they were messing on their equipment. King Charles II was about to order the extermination of the ravens, when he was advised by someone that if the ravens left, the White Tower would crumble.

Being the superstitious man he was, the King immediately ordered that 6 ravens should be kept at the castle at all times. And now 400 years later, the tradition still holds strong (the English really are set in their ways!). It was fun to see the ravens there, especially after hearing the legend.

The man in the cage with the raven in the picture I'm guessing is one of the caretakers or "Raven Masters" who works with the birds. He was sitting in there with it for a long time scratching its head -- it was quite touching. :-)

I quite enjoyed the Tower of London, even though it was a little touristy. It’s one of those places you just have to see when you come to the city, and was definitely worth the afternoon trip.