Day 26: Finding a Friend

So this post will be much shorter than it deserves.  I was able to meet a friend from Harvard this evening and prioritized catching up and socializing than being back at a reasonable hour.  Apologies for the brevity!

Ethan and I had a busy day walking around London.  We started by heading from our hotel to the Imperial War Museum.  The collection there is pretty amazing and affecting.  Highlights were the Lord Ashcroft Gallery that displayed the medals and stories of those who have won the Victory Cross or the George Cross and the Holocaust exhibit.  Both were moving for the extreme bravery and spirit shown by British soldier and by all peoples victimized by the Nazi powers.

After a long visit in the museum, we headed across the Thames and through Westminster again.  This time we spotted the Jewel Tower, one of the few medieval buildings from the Palace of Westminster to survive the fire.

We went into St. James's Park, making our way towards Buckingham Palace.  We were both surprised to see pelicans swimming in the park lake.  They were presents from the Russian ambassador in 1664.  This spurred a tradition of giving exotic and unusual waterfowl as diplomatic gifts and this is reflected in the fowl found in St. James's Park.

We walked up to Victoria Memorial at the end of the Mall and just before Buckingham Palace.  The massive monument was unveiled in 1911 and completed in 1924.  The main features are a statue of Queen Victoria, as Queen Empress, in Carrara marble and a gilded bronze winged Victory standing over the queen.

Although we had missed the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham, we did happen to see a changing of the sentries on duty.  It was pretty fascinating to watch the rigid formality of the process.  A commander led four replacements out and relieved the sentries two at at time, before leading them back in.  All done in perfect unison.

The guards who act as sentries at Buckingham Palace (and as protection to the royal family and residences) are known as the Queen's Guard.

The Queen's Colour was flying over Buckingham Palace, signaling that Queen Elizabeth II is currently in residence at the palace.  Were she not there, no flag would fly.  It would also affect the number of sentries outside Buckingham.

Using a self timer on my camera, Ethan and I were able to get our first picture together in London, with the Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace in the background.

From Buckingham Palace, we walked through Piccadilly Circus and towards Trafalgar Square.  We stopped in St. James's Church, Piccadilly.  There was a small market of wares outside and a beautiful organ inside.  The church also allows homeless people to sleep in some of the pews during the day, which seems a lovely continuation of Christian charity.

We ended our busy day in the National Portrait Gallery.  Sadly, many of the rooms of the museum were shut due to some sort of construction or something.  We're hoping that the closures were just for today and we might be able to revisit and see some of the pieces we missed (especially the Caravaggios).

Here are three personal highlights from what we saw today:

A 15th century depiction of St. George slaying the dragon by Paolo Uccello.  I love this image because it reminds me of my childhood and I remember seeing it when I visited London fourteen or fifteen years ago.

The museum had a wonderful collection of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens.  The painting below depicts the myth of Samson and Delilah.  I love the drama of the men about to come through the door in the top right corner.

Finally, a piece by El Greco, a Greek painter whose career was based in Spain.  In seventh grade, I did a research project and presentation on El Greco and have loved his work ever since.  The painting shows St. Jerome as a cardinal.

We were unable to see much of the museum and exhaustion in our feet might have sped our exit.  We headed out through Trafalgar Square, stopping to look at the large monument dedicated to Admiral Horatio Nelson.

We went back to our hotel and out for a bit of a disappointing dinner.  But the night was greatly improved with another drink and dessert.  From there we reached the highlight of the day, meeting with a classmate of mine (and fellow classicist) for a drink (or two) and having a lovely evening.

Fun Fact #26: The gun shown in the first picture is a 1914 15-inch gun.  Each gun weighs around 100 tons and could shoot a 1,938 pound shell 16.25 miles.  Sounds like a pretty terrifying sight.

Day 22: Visiting the Spa

Ethan and I had a busy first full day in Bath.  After a nice breakfast in our hotel, we headed into the center of Bath.  We decided to visit the Roman baths and museum first.

Even though we were at the bath complex relatively soon after opening, the place was PACKED.  There were so many families and tour groups that it was nearly impossible to move around.

The visit starts at viewing platforms over the main pool.  The platforms go all the way around the pool and are decorated with 19th century statues of Roman emperors, governors of Britain, and generals.  These include Julius Caesar, who led the first Roman incursion into Britain, Claudius, who ordered the large scale invasion of Britain, and Julius Agricola, a Roman governor of Britain known for subjugating and Romanizing the province.

The bath complex was built in a Roman town called Aquae Sulis, the Waters of Sulis.  The site had been known for its natural hot springs and before Roman times, had been considered the home of a Celtic goddess, Sulis.  The Romans adapted this belief, creating the syncretism of the Sulis Minerva.  A large complex and holy site developed around these springs.  The complex contained a naturally fed pool, tradition bathing rooms, and a temple dedicated to Sulis Minerva.  Above is an employee of the museum, dressed as a Roman priest.

From the main hot springs pool, we entered the museum.  I was surprised by how much the museum, and the site in general, was dedicated to the holy area of the complex.  I think that the name Bath distracts from what I've ever heard about the site.  It's so much more than the typical Roman bathhouses I've visited.

The temple was just next to the baths.  Though it was dedicated to Sulis Minerva, there were many altars and depictions of other deities within the temple courtyard and the surrounding area.  Facing the interior courtyard were two large depictions of Sol and Luna, the Sun and the Moon.  Below is the depiction of Luna, with the crescent moon behind her.  It also seems she is holding a whip, probably to urge on the horses of her biga, a two-wheeled chariot.  Sadly, the depiction of Sol is lost.

There were altars to many and varied gods found in temple area, including those dedicated to Aesculapius, Diana, Mercury, Jupiter, and Celtic deities, like Rosmerta.  The carving below supposedly depicts Celtic mother goddesses in a triplicate form.  There was even a dedication from the tomb of a German veteran, showing that some Germanic deities were worshiped in Bath.  All of these different religions came together in this sacred area.

One of the things I was dying to see in Bath were the curse tablets found in the spring.  This practice represents another blending of Roman and British religious customs.  Traditionally, Roman curse tablets were placed in places linked to chthonic deities and crossroads, such as cracks in walls or underground, but in Bath they were pretty much exclusively thrown into the spring.  The Romans adapted to native beliefs of connections to deities, using water as the access point.

Though many curse tablets were just addressed to "the goddess" (presumably Sulis Minerva), others were dedicated to gods like Mercury and Mars.  This curse tablet is a complaint about a theft, which seems to be what most of the Bath curse tablets were about, and lists the names of possible suspects to help the gods curse the right person.

Below is a depiction of Sulis Minerva in gilt bronze.  Not much is known about the goddess Sulis before the introduction of the Romans, other than that she was worshipped in the area of the holy springs.  She may have had similar characteristics to Minerva, such as wisdom and decisions, but this is not necessarily correct.  Sadly, we'll probably never know much about the original worship of Sulis.

Through much of the museum, it was possible to see how the natural hot springs fed the main pool of the complex and how the Romans harnessed these waters.  Much of the original Roman construction remains in use, but has been adapted by later users of the baths.  Ethan very intelligently pointed out that the areas around the spring were covered in rust, as the water is high in iron content (We can both attest to this, as they had a tasting station of the spring water.  It tasted eerily like blood.).  The water was warm enough to be steaming and casting some heat; the water coming out of the springs can reach up to 115º F.

On either side of the main pool were more traditional Roman bathing rooms.  The baths were on a fairly large scale, much larger than the town of Aquae Sulis would have required.  This is because the holiness of the site would have drawn many to come visit the baths, much like tourists flock to it today.  Below are some of the hypocausts found beneath the floors of the heated rooms in the baths.

After we finished the baths (and escaped much of the crowds), we headed into Bath Abbey.  I believe that yesterday I called the church Bath Cathedral.  This is not accurate, although the Abbey was once a cathedral.  Bath Abbey was founded in around 675 as a convent, but was later changed to an abbey. Bath Abbey was purchased in the late 11th century and turned into the seat of diocese.  It only held this title for seventy-eight years, before the diocese seat was moved again.  The church eventually fell into disrepair.

Moves to restore the church were made as early as the 1570s, when Queen Elizabeth I personally advocated for the restoration of a grand church for Bath.  The majority of restoration to the church happened in the mid-19th century, restoring the exterior and the interior of the abbey.

The famous fan ceiling of the abbey was completed in the 1860s, but had been the brainchild of a 15th century bishop.

The organ of the abbey was replaced in 1997 with this beautiful Klais Orgelbau pipe organ.

Ethan and I wandered around more in the afternoon, including walking along the River Avon.  The picture above shows Pulteney Bridge, a Georgian addition to the city.  The bridge is lined with stores and restaurants.

We made our way up through The Circus and went to the Royal Crescent.  The Crescent is another Georgian architectural wonder of Bath.  The building was originally designed as thirty terraced homes, but now only ten remain single family homes.  Twelve have been split into apartments, one is a museum for the Crescent, and one is a hotel.

With many of the maps of Bath we've collected, Ethan and I have found many options for discounts for food and beverages.  Sadly, none seemed to be available on a Saturday night.  But we did have a lovely restaurant at a French restaurant.  We seem to be taking a tour of Mediterranean cuisine!

Fun Fact #22: In the bath complex, there is a depiction of a legendary King of the Britons, Bladud.  He has no basis in history, but seems to have been a creation by Geoffrey of Monmouth.  On top of founding Bath (in the 9th century CE), he is credited with being educated in Athens and founding a university in England that was later suppressed by Augustine of Canterbury.  Seems like a busy (fictional) guy!

Day 20: Singing a Goodbye to Wales

I made a tough decision this morning.  I had been planning to go visit Caerwent today, but when I woke up, it felt like too much.  I would have to take a train back to Newport, catch a bus, visit Caerwent, and then wait for the next bus, and then back to the train.  It would have taken the whole day and I just didn't feel up to it.  I was bothered by my lack of motivation and it felt a bit like I was going out on a fizzle.

But I decided to head a bit out of Cardiff to see Llandaff Cathedral, which was supposed to be beautiful.  I walked down Cathedral Road and came to Llandaff Fields.  The park is full of open, grassy areas, a playground, and cricket pitches.

As I walked through the fields, the day turned from gray and slightly rainy to a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

At the other end of the park, I came into the village of Llandaff, which has been incorporated into the city of Cardiff.  It's a very picturesque little place to live.  The town seems mostly dominated by The Cathedral School, an co-educational independent school for ages 3 to 16.  There is a short High Street (the British equivalent of Main Street), leading to the town center.

Just off the town green, are the ruins of the Bishop's Palace.  The building was probably built in the mid-13th century, but was abandoned after it was attacked by Owain Glyndŵr.  Now it houses some beautiful rhododendrons.

In case you didn't know, rhododendron comes from two ancient Greek words, ῥόδον, meaning rose, and δένδρον, meaning tree.  One of the trees had beautiful, large, white blossoms, living up to its Greek roots.

I then headed to the ruins of the old cathedral bell tower.  The ruins are now memorial to those who died in World War I and have been designated to always be a protected, open space.  The stones sit on a rise over the current cathedral.

The contraction of the first cathedral in Llandaff began in 1120, under the bishop Urban.  The church has been renovated and rebuilt multiple times over the centuries.  The church was expanded and refurbished throughout the Middle Ages and then again in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Llandaff Cathedral was the second most damaged cathedral in the British Isles, after Canterbury Cathedral.  On January 2nd, 1942, a parachuted mine detonated near the cathedral, destroying the roof and damaging the spire, among other portions of the building.  The building was extensively repaired and reopened by 1958.

The poor luck continued in 2007, when a lightning strike damaged the cathedral again, ruining the electronics of the organ.  The organ was replaced in 2010 and the new one looks fantastic.

In the 1950s, an aluminum sculpture, titled "Christ in Majesty," by Jacob Epstein was installed in the church on a concrete arch, designed by George Pace.  George Pace also designed a free-standing bell tower for the Chester Cathedral.  The sculpture is suspended over the nave of the cathedral, with Christ looking towards the entrance.

Behind the sculpture and the high altar, there is a lovely chapel.  The Lady Chapel features a beautifully painted ceiling, a stained glass window depicting the story of Jesse, and a reredos with flowers labeled in Welsh.  The original, Victorian reredos of the cathedral, that would have been behind the high altar, was painted by famed pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  It was moved both to protect the paintings and to make a more open view from one end of the cathedral to the other.

In this view, looking from the Lady Chapel back towards the entrance, you can see the rear of "Christ in Majesty," sitting on its arch, and parts of the newly installed organ.

The exterior of the cathedral is just as beautiful as the interior.  The spire is covered with statues, depicting saints and monks, and gargoyles, both demonic-looking and angelic.  This small statue of an angel crowns the chapter house of the cathedral.  If you look closely (and watch Game of Thrones), he bears quite a striking resemblance to Joffrey Baratheon.

In the evening, I went into Cardiff center for my final dinner in Wales.  I had heard from my tour guide yesterday that there was an all male choir that had open rehearsals very close by.  I ate quickly, trying to make sure I could go (and not walk in late).  When I sat down to the side, with some other observers, I was immediately approached by one of the choir members.  He asked me if I sang, and when I told him I did, he asked me what part I sang.  Next thing I knew, I was placed in the choir with the rest of the Tenor 1s.

For the next hour and a half, I sang with the Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir.  I would say that we ran through fifteen to twenty songs, both in Welsh and English.  I recognized maybe three of them.  I'm still not sure which was more challenging, sight reading the music or sight reading the Welsh.  It is really impossible for me to express how wonderful this experience was.  The music was beautiful, the people were lovely, and I was struck by just how similar the experience was to so many I've had in singing groups I've participated in.  It was truly an amazing, spontaneous experience.

As we finished singing, the man I had been sitting next to gave me a pin from the choir.  It is something I will treasure forever.

What a wonderful way to say goodbye to Wales.

Fun Fact #20: The Welsh National anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (Land of Our Fathers), became the de facto national anthem because it was so popular at rugby games.  The national anthem had been "God Bless the Prince of Wales" and was meant to be sung before rugby matches.  To accommodate the popularity of "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadua," for a time both songs were sung before the start of the match, but eventually it was just reduced to "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadua."  Though the anthem has never been legally made the national anthem, it has been accepted by all and is used in government ceremonies.  And on a sidetone, it's far easier to sing than "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Day 1: Making it to Chester

Twenty-four hours after beginning this trip to the UK, I'm sitting down to write my first post for this blog!

Important things I learned today: 1.  When traveling on trains in the United Kingdom, don't lose your ticket!  You need it to exit the train station (Side note: I hate this idea; why do I need my ticket to exit?  I just want to leave!).  Luckily for me, a nice man guarding the exit took pity on my idiocy.  2.  Chester is a madhouse when there is a race going on.  I struggled to find a hotel in Chester while planning this trip and had no idea why.  Now I do.  Stella Artois sponsored a day of horse racing in Chester today and the masses came out.  Getting trapped in the train station was made more traumatizing by the fact that I was surrounded by men in suits and women in summer dresses with massive hats.  Yet, despite the fact that everyone looked like they were ready to be prim and proper, this evening proved otherwise.  Every single restaurant in Chester was packed with the day's spectators, continuing a day of drinking with plenty of happy hour cocktails.  If I had more than an hour and a half of sleep under my belt, I might have tried to slip into a bar and people watch for a while...maybe...

So I made it from Boston to London to Chester!  Not quite in Wales yet, but stopping in an important Roman settlement before I cross the border.  Chester began as a Roman castrum, or army camp, called Deva Victrix.  This small settlement grew in size and population, becoming a possible capital for the province.  But I'll know more about that tomorrow!  I decided that after so much travel and so little sleep,  I wouldn't be able to do my best research.  Instead, I decided to walk through Chester to get the lay of the land, decide what I wanted to see, and take a little time to visit the cathedral.

Taking a little time at the cathedral turned into an hour and a half long visit.

The earliest parts of the cathedral date from 1092 (or 1093) and many signs and informational pamphlets brag about its 1,000 year history.  And it has plenty to brag about!  The architecture is beautiful, with a mixture of modern and tradition stained glass windows, mosaics depicting biblical stories, a beautiful coffered ceiling, and more.  The cathedral also contains a consistory court, or a court in which the bishop was the judge, and it is the earliest example in the United Kingdom. 

The real joy of the cathedral was my accidental timing.  As I came in, the choir was preparing for an evensong service so as I walked through the church snippets of sung polyphonic melodies and echoing notes from the organ accompanied me.  The organ was so strikingly beautiful.  The current Gray & Davison organ was installed in 1844 and has undergone modifications, relocations, and remodels since then.  A favorite detail for me was the video screen that sits before the organist so he can watch the choir director conduct, ensuring choir and organ keep time together.

I decided to stay and listen to part of the evensong service.  I caught the choir leaving to take a quick break before the service started.  The choir was an all male choir, utilizing a boy's choir for the upper voice parts.  I was impressed by the discipline that even the youngest singers showed and their musicality and intonation was impressive.  Though I didn't stay for the full service, it was truly a magical experience.  Even after an exhausting day, sitting in a cathedral and listening to a choir made it such a beautiful day.  All around, a success on my first day here!

My plan for the end of each blog post is to share a fun fact I've learned from my research.  So here's Fun Fact #1: Chester is home to the only Roman shrine that remains in situ in all of Britain, and possibly all of Western Europe.  All other such shrines have been removed from their original location.  The shrine is dedicated to Minerva and dates from the 2nd century CE.  I'm excited to see it tomorrow!