Day of the Fandoms

 My friends and I in London are nerds. We accept that and today we went around London looking for the places of our fandoms. For those of you that do not know what fandoms are they are is "he community that surrounds a television show/movie/book etc." So... we set out into London in search of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where Sherlock Holmes jumped to his 'death' during the end of series two on BBC's Sherlock. We thought that we were unable to find the place, but when we looked online later, it turns out that we were there we just did not know it. The place where he 'landed'/where it was filmed is basically a shrine/memorial to Sherlock Holmes. There was a phone box that had letter to Sherlock and Watson on it. After that we went to St.Paul's since Angelica had not seen it yet. To me glee there was a wedding. It was beautiful! I wanted to use the bathroom before we left so we went to the restaurant  cafe, and gift shop area, where I bought a post card. Then we took the Tube to King's Cross-St. Pancras and saw Platform 9 3/4. You could not get pictures with the trolley and the set up they had unless you paid and waited in a long line, so we just got pictures of the wall. 

This is St.Paul's during the Blitz, which is the image on the postcard that I got. 

St. Paul's

The wedding party

St.Paul's

A statue of John Smith, (yes, the one from Pocahontas) that we found down a random alley.

Notes to Sherlock

Letters to Sherlock

Memorial to William Wallace, the guy from Braveheart, on the side of St. Bart's

Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross

History Overload

 
  This is going to be a bit different sort of post than ones I have done in the past. This morning, as you probably know, I went to the Tower of London, which for me was a dream. I had a few hours rest and then Melissa and I went to cinema. Down the street from us is a small little theatre; and when I say small, I mean small. The Gate, as it is called, has one screen, and in the front of the building there is a small bar-like concession stand where you can get beer, wine, or buttery popcorn. When you go you actually pick your seat when you get your ticket, like you would at a normal theatre. You have to wait until the designated time then you go in and find your seat. You do not get the normal trailers, or trailers at all actually, just advertisements. Melissa and I were there to see Lincoln, which I have to say was an excellent film. I was not expecting much, someone had described it as two and half hours of CSPN, but it was not. It deserves all the nominations and awards that it has received and will continue to receive. Melissa, who is a political science major, loves American history and the Civil War is her favourite period. We both very much enjoyed it and I would recommend everyone seeing it. The British people in the theatre also seemed to enjoy it, and laughed quite heartily at the joke poked at them by Lincoln in the movie. Overall it has been a fabulous day and the historian in me is quite satisfied. 

I was a Queen

    The title of this post refers to the fact that my friends(Sarah, Taylor, Melissa, and I) decided that I was a queen in a former life. We came to this conclusion while we were touring around the Tower of London, which was majestic. I will describe our experience to you through the pictures that I took.

It is a beautiful sunny day(which is surprising because it is not often sunny here in London),. When we walked out of Tower Hill Tube Station we saw this statue. We thought it was Julius Caesar  but it was not. Melisa loves the Romans though and wanted a picture.

The Tower of London which was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. 

This is Taylor in King Edward I's bed room. 

This room has been reconstructed to look like how the king's room would have looked back in the Norman period(I believe). There were people dressed in medieval garb playing music and such. 

The king's private chapel.

Melissa trying on one of the soldiers helmets. She looks like John Smith from Disney's Pocahontas  We felt like we were a part of the Night's Watch from Game of Thrones. It was epic, we walked along the whole wall. 

One of the many towers that we walked into as we were walking the wall. Look how blue that sky is...

The White Tower where we saw all the armour and weaponry. It is where lords would have stayed is is the strongest structure in the fortress. 

The Bloody Tower which got its name in the 16th centuray after two princes went missing while staying in there. It is believed that they were murdered. 

Sarah, Taylor, and Melissa in their natural state. 

This awesome statue was hanging out on the wall, showing us twenty-first century girls how to protect a the Tower.

The ravens. There was once a prophecy that stated that if the ravens left the Tower of London the realm would fall. Now, ravens are kept here permanently. Fun fact for the Game of Throners: The old Celtic word for raven is Bran...

A beautiful stain glassed window in one of the towers.

The chapel that many of the people who were executed int he Tower of London(including Anne Boylen ) are buried. The last execution took place in 1941. The tower was used during the Second World War. 

This marks the spot where many famous people died; including two of Henry VIII's wives, Anne Boylen and Katherine Howard, along with Lady Jane Grey(the nine days queen) and many more. The tower was not always a place of execution and prison though. It was a place of royal residence and royalty stayed there the night before their coronation. 

This is a rack and was a form of medieval torture. 

The tower as a prison was not all bad. These rooms belong to Walter Raleigh. 

Traitor's Gate which is how the condemned were brought in. In the past the best way to get around London was by river so it made sense to enter the fortified Tower by river. Originally a moat surrounded the Tower of London. 

Henry VIII's armour from the time when he was married to his fifth wife, Katherine Howard. 

In the White Tower there was a collection of gifts from around the world that was given to the monarchy. There were shields and swords and armour and this Native American headdress that America gave...

This dragon is supposed to symbolize how the Tower of London was a symbol of power. 

You are probably wondering, where are the Crown Jewels? Unfortunately we were nnot allowed to take photos of any of the jewels. It was a marvelous day though and I was geeking out the entire time from a history overload. It was extraordinary and we all had a ton of fun. To end the post here is Sarah with a stuffed hawk from the gift shop. 

Me and Queen Victoria

They had Victorian men's clothing that you could try on.

   
 This afternoon Philip brought us and some other study abroad Arcadians to Kensington Palace. It was amazing. There are three parts: Victoria Revealed, the King's Suites, and Queen's Suites. Kensington Palace is where William and Kate live and where Diana lived till she died. I am going to explain the day with the pictures. After the palace some of us went to Waterloo to an old bookstore under the bridge. It was beautiful, with a view overlooking the Thames and buy the London Eye.

William III Orange. He married Princess Mary and after her father was overthrown for being Catholic they were invited over from Holland to rule. They died childless and Mary's sister Anne took over. There was a creepy room with 18 baby chairs to represent Mary's 18 pregnancies...it was weird. William and Mary built Kensington Palace in the 17th century. William and Mary College is named for them.

One of Queen Victoria's dresses. Perhaps her wedding dress. Before her white wedding dresses were not popular, but she popularized them. 

Taylor pretending to be Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's beloved husband.

This was the nursery. The photos on the wall were Albert and Victoria's children. all nine of them. 

The Queen's Suites. It told the story of the Glorious Revolution and how William and Mary came to the throne. It was stunningly decorated. So beautiful and different. 

Taylor and Sarah looking at the portraits. 

This was a 'tree' and the different branches were different rulers and their families. 

The King's Staircase.

The king's throne. This is where he would hear petitions. 

Popular men's fashion. This is how knights would dress.

The drawing room in the King's Apartments. 

This dress was fashionable during the era.

The bookstore under Waterloo Bridge.

Overlooking the Thames.

High Above London

Jillian, Stephanie, Me, and Lena on the London Eye

     Very early this morning--and by very early I mean 8:30-- Lena, Jillian, Stephanie, and I went to the London Eye. We already had tickets from when we went to the museums last month, but we did not want to wait in line for hours. Stephanie and Jillian had been in the area the day before and said the line was a mile long. The actually eye did not open till about 9:45, so we had a bit of waiting around, but we were one of the first groups on. You will notice that I have no pictures of the experience because when I turned my camera on this morning I realised that it was out of battery. Oh well though, the rest of the group took pictures for me. I will include some from the internet so that you can see what it is like. I thought I would be really scared because although I am not afraid of heights, I do not like them, but I was fine. I felt secure and the pod moved slowly enough that I could barely feel it. It was amazing looking out over London. They said that on a clear day you can see all the way to France, but that it is never a clear day in London. It was decently clear this morning, but I do not know what France would look like from up there, so I could not tell you if we saw it. It was awesome, but now I am doing homework. Tonight though Philip is showing the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, so that should be fun.