Monday
One of the things I love most about
London is everywhere you go there are literary sites. For example, on the way to the British Museum we saw the
building where T.S. Eliot used to work when he worked for Faber &
Faber! There was a blue plaque to
denote it, as there are for all such famous sites. When we got to the British Museum, we first went to the
Elgin Marbles that Keats wrote about.
On the way there we saw the Rosetta Stone. I was excited to see the Marbles, because last summer I was
in Greece and realized a good chunk of the Parthenon is in the British
Museum. I can now say I have seen
all of the Parthenon (even the replica in Nashville, TN). I also got a nice
pamphlet from the museum about why they won’t give the marbles back to
Greece. In addition, I realized
the British have stuff from all over the world that is not theirs! Even our
stuff! Hmph.
After the marbles, Dr. Coolidge
took us to see the medieval artifacts from the Sutton Hoo ship discovery. It was cool to see things that tied
into what we have been reading.
All of the medieval things were beautiful and intricately designed. It is amazing what they created with
such limited technology. In
addition we saw a special exhibit about the evolution of the horse. All racing thoroughbreds came from
three Arabian horses. There were
also videos of the Derby, which excited me greatly, until I realized it was the
English Derby, not the Kentucky Derby.
Afterwards we went to the British
Library to see a display of old manuscripts (Note: If you don’t have an intense
love of books you may not appreciate these next two paragraphs and wonder: “Why
is Shelby raving about old books?”
Feel free to skip ahead.)
Dr. Coolidge directed us towards the old Chaucer and Shakespeare
texts. We also saw parts of the Magna Carta, Jane Austen’s journal,
coronation notes from King Henry VIII’s rise to the throne, the original
handwritten lyrics to Beatles’ songs, Wordsworth papers, a Gutenberg Bible, and
countless others. My favorite in
the room was Jane Austen’s writing desk!!! I stood there staring at it, open-mouthed, for at least two
minutes.
This was only the beginning of a
wonderful experience. There was a
special exhibit called: “From Wastelands to Wonderlands: Writing on Britain”
that showcased authors who wrote on Britain. Dr. Coolidge paid our way in, and the magic began. If I listed everything I saw, it would
be extremely long. My highlights:
a drawing by Tolkien of the Shire for The
Hobbit (I got chills as I looked at it), George Eliot’s manuscript for Middlemarch, the manuscript for Persuasion, some original T.S. Eliot
publications, a Winnie-the-Pooh book, and a copy of Pygmalion with Shaw’s revisions. It was an amazing exhibit and made me reconsider my
childhood dream to be a librarian.
If I do, I hope I someday work in this library.
Then, we ventured to Kensington
Palace and Gardens. Three of us
toured the Palace. It is
beautiful! Royal news for anyone interested: Kate, Will, and Harry will be
moving to Kensington soon. Harry
sometimes likes to dress up as a guide and “give tours”. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there
yesterday. Kensington is where
William and Mary lived, Victoria grew up, and where Princess Diana lived for a
while. Only forty rooms are open
to the public. My favorite exhibit
centered on Victoria and Albert’s love story. It was beautiful. I saw the staircases where they first met! If you have
ever seen The Young Victoria, you
know what I am talking about. If you haven’t seen it, you should. After a charming visit to the Palace, we
went to see A Midsummer’s Night Dream. However, that adventure deserves a post
all to itself.
again...SO JEALOUS!
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