Much of what Ethan and I saw today did not allow photography, so the images here will not be a full record of the day.
Our plan for the day was to go explore the British Library and the British Museum. We walked through central London, stopping in a few areas that piqued our interest. This brought us to the Royal Opera House and Covent Garden. Covent Garden reminds me of a greatly improved Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market area. There are many shops, cafes, and open areas to walk and talk.
Like much of London, there was a great deal of music in Covent Garden. We listened to a quartet of two flautists, a violist, and a cellist play a variety of Celtic folk songs, pop medleys, and classical tunes for a few minutes and as we walked by the shops. We've also heard lots of great music around Southbank with the many buskers and even saw some acts at a busking festival outside the National Portrait Gallery yesterday.
We visited St. Paul's Church, just off Covent Garden, which is known as the "actor's church." As we went in, we passed people working on painting sets for Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to be used later this summer. The church was built in 1631 and designed by Inigo Jones, who was inspired by the writings of Vitruvius and designed Covent Garden and the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall.
We found very cute (and very sleepy) cat taking a nap in St. Paul's. Cats are traditionally kept in churches to help catch mice, but this one seems to be slacking on the job. But the cat was quite soft and a pleasant surprise!
From Covent Garden we went to the British Library, not quite sure what to expect. We went in and followed a sign to the highlights of the library. There we were greeted by many and diverse wonders. We saw the musical notations of Purcell, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and so many other composers. My personal favorite piece we saw was a notebook Mozart kept with the names and opening bars of all his compositions. We saw the original brainstorms for the lyrics of Beatles hits like "Help!" and "Hard Day's Night." We saw sacred texts from every major religion, including Ethan's favorite items of the day: the Codex Sinaiticus and William Tyndale's English translation of the New Testament. We saw personal letters from Anne Boleyn, Horatio Nelson, Winston Churchill, Michelangelo, and more. I'll stop listing now, but if you ever have the chance, go see the highlights in the British Library.
Below is pictured of the large bronze sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi that greets those entering the library.
We were unable to enter any of the reading rooms of the library, since we did not have the proper documents to get a reading pass (we're planning on getting these in order and coming back another day). We wandered around some of the publicly accessible parts of the building, which mostly focused around the King's Library. The collection of 65,000 volumes was collected by King George III and donated to the British people by King George IV. It is contained in a specially built gallery that was completed in 1997. The collection focuses on the Age of the Enlightenment.
We spent much more time in the British Library than we had intended, so Ethan and I decided to go get a late lunch. We passed through Russell Square and saw the Hotel Russell. The architect of the hotel, Charles Fitzroy Doll, was influenced by the Château Madrid, a lost château built for Francis I of France. The decoration of the exterior includes life-size sculptures of British queens and and the coats of arms from around the world in 1898, the time of construction.
Although there are double-decker buses everywhere in London, we saw an older model still being used. It reminds me of a model car I played with often as a kid.
After lunch, we decided we didn't have the time to dedicated to the British Museum as we were planning to go to the evensong service at Westminster Abbey. We walked through central London again, seeing many buildings used for the United Kingdom's government. The Somerset House below is used both to house some government offices and facilities for King's College London.
As we were almost back to our hotel, I spotted a strange installation at Hayward Gallery. It seemed like some sort of training for paragliding that had participants harnessed into a contraption that swung them in a circle. Still not sure what was happening here, but there was quite a line to participate!
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After a quick shower and shave, Ethan and I headed to Westminster Abbey for evensong service. The service was just over forty-five minutes long and featured music mostly from the 17th century. This included a piece by Thomas Tallis, titled "If ye love me," which I sang seven years ago with a choir (and I still know the tenor part very well). It was truly a pleasure to hear (although both Ethan and I were not exceptionally impressed by the choir, which was not the Abbey choir). Ethan was a bit disappointed by how we were shepherded in and out of the Abbey and not allowed to really see the interior.
We are remedying this tomorrow! We've found a package deal that allows access to many sites around London, so we're trying that tomorrow. I'll give an update of how the London Pass is tomorrow.
Fun Fact #27: Charles Fitzroy Doll, the architect of the Hotel Russell, was also the designer of the dining room on the RMS Titanic. Supposedly, the restaurant in the Hotel Russell is almost an exact replica of the dining room on the Titanic. I wonder if they serve any of the same dishes!
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