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.

Rocks, Romans and a 200 mile journey

Early yesterday morning I found myself once again sitting in a large coach, this time hurtling down the M3 motorway through the English countryside. We were headed West towards Stonehenge and Bath for a class day trip, taking a private coach with a tour guide the entire way. As I have a strong disdain for buses and organized tours this would not have been my choice method of travel, but it turned out to be very informative and one of the most fun days I've had here yet.

The coach picked us up at the house and took us through London, while the guide pointed out various landmarks, most of which I have already seen. But before getting too far out into the country, we took a detour through Windsor where the queen is currently staying (as evidenced by a royal flag that was flying over the castle when we drove by). It was a gorgeous town.

The ride to Stonehenge was a little over 2 hours long, and took us through gorgeous countryside and farmland, over narrow hilly roads and through beautiful forests and hunting grounds. That part of England is very much as you would imagine it, and seems like it literally has not changed since about the 19th century.

As we got closer to Stonehenge, we started seeing these mounds in various fields. These are the burial mounds of the Beaker People who built Stonehenge. There is one person under each mound, buried with various artifacts.

And then out of no where, there's Stonehenge! It's in the middle of hundreds of miles of plains with a highway running past it.

There is a sheep field next to it as well, with some of the happiest looking sheep I have ever seen. I suppose I would be a happy sheep too, if I got to live at Stonehenge.

And at last, the rocks, famous for various reasons. They were moved here from hundreds of miles away around 2500 BC. This in itself is pretty impressive, but furthermore the rocks were erected to stand in a circle so that the sun shines through a different slot at the middle of every month. During the summer solstice it shines through the largest rocks in the middle, and in the winter, it shines through the shortest.

Most of the rocks at Stonehenge are actually underground, and the main circle is partially collapsed, so this is only a fraction of what it used to look like. There is also a large trench around it, in a perfect circle. No one really knows what it was used for, besides as somewhat of a giant calendar, probably for ritual purposes.

Just outside of Stonehenge is apparently a large British military base. There were 2 large helicopters flying low overhead, which was a little disturbing but kind of cool. Also nearby was an entire abandoned town that was used solely for British Army urban warfare training.

In addition to a few cattle crossings, they also had some tank crossing signs!

This is the Westbury White Horse, the oldest of 14 white horses carved in the ancient hill forts around the area. This one was really far away, and we only got a glimpse of it from the bus on our way to Bath.

Town of Bath. Many famous people live and have lived there in the past, including Jane Austen, Thomas Gainsborough, and Johnny Depp, who currently lives there and whose house we actually walked passed.

The Roman Baths. I would NOT want to bathe in there, especially considering there were signs that said not to touch the water...

Cool statues and architecture!

The baths were quite extensive and the path led in and out between outdoor pools and enclosed excavated portions of the facility. Although the actually building was built in the 1800s, the baths themselves were built by the ancient Romans who discovered a natural hot spring in the area. The water stays at a constant of about 114 degrees at the surface.

You think we find interesting stuff in our pool drain sometimes -- this is the stone from a Roman-era ring or jewel of some sort, with a carving of a discus thrower. The picture looks deceiving, but it is actually about the size of your pinky fingernail!

Standing in front of the main pool.

More of the interior. I wish we would have had more time, but we had about an hour and a half to see the whole thing and have lunch. It was definitely a cool visit though!

The town of Bath was just gorgeous and it was a beautiful day. Sunny, warm, and absolutely perfect.

After lunch, our tour guide took us through the town, pointing out various landmarks and giving us tons of information.

The River Avon

All too soon we had to leave for a 2 1/2 hour drive back to London. The scenery was spectacular though, and the day was clear enough we could see all the way to Wales (on the horizon in the picture).

It was an exhausting day, but just incredible in every way.