Fires and Falls

well it has been an exciting weekend and I feel the need to report. I had dinner at Camden Town on saturday night. Probably around 18:30. Apparantly shortly after that, (19:20) Fire broke out in the market, which is about 2 blocks from where we ate dinner. From what I hear the fire was huge, 100 firefighters, according to the reports. I don't remember what time we ended up getting home but it must've been sometime about then. that certainly could've ended up being a much more interesting dinner than it was. Then on Sunday after returning from church, I was walking down to the kitchen when I decided walking wasn't fast enough and decided that falling down a whole flight of stairs would be the appropriate thing to do. Luckily no broken bones to report. I've just sprained my ankle a bit and it's already on the mend, and I can hobble around a bit. It was definitely an exciting weekend though. with luck this week will prove to be entertaining as well.

London Stone

I went and saw the London Stone not too long ago. Legend has it that it is the zero mile marker left from roman times. Now It simply is behind a grill waiting to spring out upon the unsuspecting visitor.

Oh Oxford!

Oxford is amazing! I can't wait till I can go again. They have these amazing botanical gardens, that were pretty even now in the midst of winter and I can only imagine how beautiful they will be come spring. The colleges are truly a remarkable place and it was delightful to romp around in Merton College this afternoon. I think though that one of my favorite places was Blackwell's Bookshop. One of the rooms, the Norrington room is the biggest single room of books for sale in the whole world. It has the best collection of Penguin books I have ever seen. They even had TWO whole copies of the Penguin Classic of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall That is singularly impressive.
One of the other things I particularly enjoyed was climbing to the top of the tower of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary's and looking out over the whole of Oxford. It was absolutly worth the two pounds I paid. It was so incredible. Seeing The Eagle and Child was a lot of fun too. That is the pub where the Inklings used to meet. It was a wonderful little place, next time I go I think I'll eat there for lunch.

Down once more

The Paris Opera House is rather lovely to look at, unfortunatly we didn't have time to go inside but the outside is beautiful.




Our trip was full of things that were somewhat unexplainable, like why there were streets named after Woodrow Wilson or FDR, or why there is a statue of Washington in the middle of one of the streets leading toward the Arc du Triomphe.

Versaille was also a fun place, though it thoroughly disgusted me how much gold and silver and stuff was in that place. You could've sold all the finery in the front two rooms and fed all of France, and sold all the wealth and ended world hunger. It was a little ridiculous. Never the less it is a beautiful palace, and the grounds are delightful, and would be even more so in the summer, when they wouldn't be so barren. It was incredibly windy when we were there. It seriously felt like we were going to blow away. But it was a fun trip, and nice to get out of the big city for a bit.

Paris you know may improve upon closer acquaintance

As it turns out Paris does improve upon closer acquaintance. I am reasonably pleased to say that I wouldn't mind returning, though again I wouldn't need to spend more than a few days. Really I just want a couple days to explore the Louvre and the D'Orsay. then another couple days to explore more of Paris' plethora of delightful museums. We stopped at one the Orangerie, and it was quite delightful. It's main exhibit is a collection of Monets that are displayed in the round. Legend has it that Monet only agreed to donate his paintings if they were displayed the way he wanted them to be. so there are two oval rooms with 4 paintings in each. and it is a wonderful way to feel the paintings, since they all connect to each other creating this wonderful sense of being surrounded by them.

That was a delightful Museum, I really liked it.
Seeing Notre Dame again was quite fun, I climbed all the way to the very top of the towers, and that is a fantastic view of Paris, almost as good as the one from Sacre Couer (whose climb to the top of the tower was sadly closed).

and the view from the top of the Arc du Triomphe is worth the climb as well.

And this one is the promised view from Sacre Couer.

Overall Paris is dirty and has lots of stairs.

High Street Kensington

This is a picture I took as I walked along High Street Kensington a week or two ago. It was a beautiful night.

Where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours

Unreal City,
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infreuent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours,
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.
-TS Eliot, The Waste Land

This morning I got up early and took the tube down to the London Bridge station and flowed with the commuters over the London bridge, and up the hill and down King William Street, in order that I might here the bells of Saint Mary Woolnoth. I was rather upset to find out that the bells no longer ring at 9 am. I'll never be able to find out if the really sound dead on the final stroke of nine now. I can believe that they did though. The start of the work day can be rather deadening.

time to play a little catch up

last wednesday we took our first fieldtrip, and we went to Canterbury, Rye and Beachy Head. It was incredible! It was so nice to get out of the city to the slower pace of the country. Canterbury, as you may know is known for the Canterbury Cathedral, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is also known for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The story in which several pilgrims chronicle their pilgrimage to Canterbury to see the Tomb of Sir Thomas A Beckett. The cathedral is quite beautiful. I love the Gothic Architecture.

After Canterbury we got back in the coach and traveled to Rye, a beautiful little english town. There isn't really much to see there as such, but it was a beautiful little place, I think I could live there. One interesting thing about Rye is that it is a port town, but over the years the sea has receeded and it is now two miles away from the town. rye is a landlocked port. the below picture is the parish church at rye.

After Rye we went to Beachy Head, which is along the coast, and is the home to the highest part of the White Cliffs. We got there just around sunset and it was spectacular. I only wish that I could capture the beauty on film better.

Overall it was a splendid trip, I can't wait for the next one.