We set sail for London (well, you know, in a plane) on February 13th, and at that point I was just thrilled to be going. Somehow I managed to come down with something awful and flu-ish two days prior to our departure, and was afraid that I would have to delay the trip. Miraculously, I woke up feeling well enough to get out of bed the morning of the flight, and with snacks and sandwiches packed by my wonderful traveling companion, Josh (who offered to carry my big duffel backpack every two minutes or so...my poor invalid self), we were off to London! I'd like to take this moment to thank the Stuttgart airport for being MUCH saner than it's Frankfurt equivalent...
We arrived a couple of hours later, only a little worse for wear thanks to some snow flurries in Stuttgart that had us sitting on the tarmac for quite some time. We were de-iced, we were prepared for take-off, the airport as 'shut down', it re-opened again briefly, and our opportunistic pilot snuck us out and into the air in it's brief (and earlier than expected) 're-opening'. I wondered the whole time what exactly 'closed' means for an airport. I kept picturing all of the lights being shut off and the entire building going dark, which is of course completely unrealistic, but seemed a lot more amusing than a bunch of planes neither allowed to land, nor take off while people continued to mill about the building, checking in and going through security anyway.
This meant we were about an hour late, and had missed the coach from the airport to London Victoria that we'd originally scheduled. Our plan was to beg the coach driver for the next departure to let us on anyway, and the ultimate back-up was to pretend we were married and feign some sort of pregnancy with a difficult first trimester that necessitated our getting home as soon as possible. We realized this might be a little tricky when we ran up to the bus and I had my large duffel on my back, but it turned out for an extra 5 GBP, we could change our tickets, and things were more or less solved. We picked up Anya on the commuter rail on the way out to Josh's, and a friend of his picked us up at the station and drove us home (after some plans for his younger brother to grab us somewhat fell through).
We slept in the next morning and cooked up a delicious traditional English breakfast with eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, fried bread, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon, and, of course, beans, which we quickly fell in love with! We had a walk around Farnham and moseyed over to some nearby ruins--Waverly Abbey--which, as it turns out, was the first Cistercian abbey in England (founded in 1128).
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After it got a little darker and chillier, we headed to a very old pub for a pint. This involved not only having my first 'real pint' (according to Josh), but also our meeting a 6 month-old Leonberger puppy. Leonbergers, it turns out, are an enormous breed of dog. This one was probably about 110 lbs, and is going to double in size. He was incredibly quiet and sweet, and happily greeted customers without bowling anyone over; needless to say, I was impressed. Such a cutie!
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The next day, we met up with two of Anya's friends living in London who studied with her in Regensburg in 2009. We hopped the commuter train into the city and made our first stop at the British Museum, which I couldn't not see while there. For those unaware the BM has a large collection of antiquities, but is most infamous for it's acquisition and retention of the Elgin Marbles. Very breifly, these are sections of the sculptural program of the Parthenon that include mostly pedimental sculpture (the traingular bits between the columns and the roof) and metopes (the square sections that run around the outer perimeter below the metope), as well as bits of the inner frieze that represents what is believed to be a procession associated with the Panathenaeic Festival. They were removed by Lord Elgin, the British diplomat to the Ottoman Empire, with permission from the then-government to take them as a gift, and he eventually sold them to the BM when he essentially went broke. There has been great debate between the BM and the Greek government about where the marbles belong, and with the new, state of the art museum in Athens, the argument is getting even more tenuous. I certainly won't get into it here, since most people reading this will likely find it less-than-thrilling, but what I will do is share some photos! This was an absolute treat for me to be able to see, and Josh patiently walked around listening to me yammer on about sculptural programs and styles and asking questions to keep me talking. Such a great host.
The Rosetta Stone--obviously a must
Mausolus and his sister-wife, removed from his tomb (fun fact: also the origin of the world 'mausoleum')
Absolutely beautiful caryatid--structural sculpture of a woman taken from the porch of the Erectheion on the Athenian acropolis
Inner Parthenon frieze: Child handing what may or may not be a new garment for Athena to an official--a very important part of the Panathenaic procession and festival. But the nudity (see that butt...) is oh so controversial. Is it a boy? Could it really be a partially-naked girl?! The things we have to wonder...
Pedimental sculpture from the Parthenon... you can see how it was originally made to fit into a triangle
Parthenon Metope: The relief of these sculptures (in this case a centaur attacking a human soldier) is unreal
Josh and an extremely large cat, looking very enthusiastic about our museum day!
Insert obligatory photo of pottery that no one else I know seems to find quite as exciting as I do. The Geometric Period stuff just slays me--too great.
I couldn't resist sharing what is essentially a Roman muffin tin...
We spent the rest of the day walking around London with Anya's friends, visiting and walking around Covent Garden, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and The London Eye (a ride on which was postponed until we could decide whether or not to spend the money...not cheap!)
The enormous, smashed 'Cadbury Egg' public art sculpture in Covent Garden
Inside Covent Garden...
...and outside...absolutely loved this place, it had such a nice atmosphere
Trafalgar Square
Looking towards Big Ben and Parliament
Buckingham Palace
Up close at dusk...it was crazy how close you could get as a tourist...nothing like the White House (which sort of makes sense, but was still really surprising to experience firsthand)
Victoria Memorial, right in front of the Palace
Obligatory photo of a red phone booth
Approaching Big Ben and Parliament...everything was so beautiful and well-lit at night
Westminster Abbey, which we enthusiastically considered from the outside to avoid entrance fees (we're talking more than 10 GBP...that's over $15)
The London Eye
Looking back across the river from the Eye side
The entire trip is now a bit of a blur in terms of order, but I believe the next day was our trip to the henges and Bath. We started out a civilized hour of the morning for Stonehenge, which just sort of suddenly rises up out of the rolling countryside along the highway...you're driving along and then bam, it's there. You rather amusingly park across the road and walk through a tunnel under the highway, listening to a free audio guide that, true to Anya's report of past experiences, seems to imagine you shuffling a snail's pace up to the monument entrance, at least based on the amount of information they relate and the intervals of the directions provided (as if following the path were very difficult).
Due to preservation (and defacement) issues, you can't actually really approach the monument anymore (disappointing, but truly understandable). A pathway that is roped off and takes you around the perimeter was under repair, so we were able to get a good look at about half of the henge, but it was definitely a decent look. Talking with two of the guides on-site, Josh discovered it's possible to come for a special tour either early or late in the day and actually walk through the stones...I'll have to put this on my list for the next time I'm there!
It was a blustery enough day, and early enough as well, that the site wasn't too busy, there were maybe 3x the number of people you see in this photo there with us. This, plus having half of the path closed, are how I wound up with so many people-less photos, which was a huge plus.
Anya and Josh, enjoying their audio guides and looking decidedly windswept
There is a ditch surrounding the henge area that has provided lots of very interesting information about the site...I believe the ditch was one of the first features constructed on the site, and I'm also fairly certain they've found both human and animal remains interred in it, as well as large pieces of antler that are presumed to have been digging tools.
Here we are!
We then headed down the road to Woodhenge, the theoretically 'living' equivalent to the 'dead' Stonehenge. a notable British archaeologist, Mike Parker-Pearson, has done excavation work in an area somewhere between the two, and believes he has found the site of the settlement where the builders of both henges would have lived. He theorizes that settlement here was seasonal, and that Stone-and Woodhenge provided sites for celebration and feasting, as well as communion with ancestors and the ability to maintain a relationship with the earth and the season that so affected the people who built the monuments. There's a very interesting documentary on the subject in which he plays a principal part, so I won't go into great detail here, but Parker-Pearson has lots of interesting ideas about the human activity here.
Woodhenge isn't preserved in the same manner as Stonehenge because, of course, wood decomposes. Postholes remain, however, and they have been filled with cement pillars to denote where the monumental components were.
Take 7: In which we achieve the perfect jumping photo
We also began a series of photos here that, *ahem*, explore the juxtaposition of technology and tourism on history and the past. Also known as "texting in inappropriate places". Note: Josh isn't actually texting of his own volition in these photos, he's just posing. Please, as if!
A better view of a chunk of the monument
The fun part about the area around Stonehenge and Woodhenge is that even though you can't approach the monument at Stonehenge, you're still effectively standing on an enormous site. The area around and between the two is chock full of information--burial mounds, other features (the cursus, most notably), and an entire archaeological landscape not really noticeable to the average tourist or even naked eye. Very cool.
We then made our way to Bath, a famous resort city/town (particularly for the Edwardians and Victorians) not too too far from Farnham (well, a couple of hours). The city, though it was a grayish day, was absolutely beautiful, and we really enjoyed walking around, especially with all of the beautiful architecture and stunning old townhouses for the wealthy. I'll take one!
Wandering the cobbled streets of Bath
Some lovely architecture
The Roman baths: yet another attraction we didn't enter due to price concerns. Too bad, really.
We sample treacle tart; deliciousness ensues
And we thought the leeks in Kaufland were enormous!
Mmmmm such nice houses
Very classy, subdued gray phone booths...intriguing
More old townhouses...this place was unbelievable
Inappropriate texting: Bath Edition
On the way home, though it was getting on towards dusk, we stopped in Avebury at the urging of the Stonehenge guides, which has it's own phenomenal megalithic stones standing in lines all around the village (the road even drives right through them!). My photos turned out horrible, thanks to the diminishing sun, but do please enjoy the wikipedia article, complete with great photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury
Thursday was another quieter day for us, and we drove to check out a local airfield where Josh had flown gliders as a kid, and then went to see Jane Austen's house, which has been turned into a lovely museum. No photos were permitted inside, but I have a few from the outside and another site link! The main house was full of Austen-related artifacts, belonging either to the author herself or family members. It was nice to discover more of the history of a female author who was actually recognized for her talent by her contemporary public.
Inappropriate texting: Jane Austen
Reconstructed Kitchen/bakehouse
On Friday we made our way back to London in preparation to take an evening coach to Cambridge. Anya and I decided to fork over the money to go up on the Eye, which is a 30-minute ride somewhat akin to a ferris wheel. It was very cool, and we were definitely glad we went! I took a zillion photos, so here is just a smattering:
Rising up in our little Eye-pod (no pun intended, I swear)
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
We spent the rest of our time walking around, venturing down to see the reproduction of the Globe Theater, the Tate Gallery, and the Tower Bridge (which I hadn't known most of us conflate with London Bridge)
There it is!
And finally, St. Paul's Cathedral in the rain...
After a coach ride and a very interesting evening at an infamous Trinity Hall dance party (Josh's particular college at Cambridge), we found ourselves relatively well-rested in our guest room at the college the following morning. We took a seriously lengthy walk around Cambridge to see a number of the colleges and get a sense for the city. I'm not going to go into great detail about this part of the trip, as it was a lot of socializing and meeting Josh's friends from school, eating at formal dinner, continuing to stuff our faces with English breakfast, and some tea and scones. We did make it out onto the Cam to enjoy some punting, at which point it began to rain. We know, we have such good luck!
The River Cam, on a beautiful day when we SHOULD have gone punting, but failed to
I'd take a nice bridge like that over my own personal river. Great.
Trinity College
A view of Trinity Hall beyond the bridge and tree, which, I should point out, is not to be confused with Trinity COLLEGE, is much older, and had a good deal of its land poached by one of the King Henry's (I think it was a Henry?) to found the latter.
Rather idyllic, no?
King's College Chapel, which is utterly beautiful inside
The Orchard garden in a nearby village to which we walked for some tea and a picnic. This was apparently quite the hangout spot for literary superstars. Think Virgina Woolf.
We were unfortunately obliged to leave Josh in Cambridge to do some work on his senior thesis, but Anya and I hopped several trains to take us up to the Lake District (think Jane Austen, here--"What are men to rocks and mountains?"--which, by the way, as entirely misinterpreted and misused in the most recent adaptation featuring Kiera Knightley. FOR SHAME)
We arrived at night, missing the extraordinary view, but were still able to take advantage of the delicious food served at our hostel. I swear, if cost weren't a constraint I would have eaten my dinner there every evening. Not to mention they served yet more English breakfast. Can't get enough of that stuff! Things were fairly empty while we were there (the one exception being Saturday evening, when there were several families with tons of kids running around), we mostly had our 8-bed dorm room to ourselves. We spent the first day wandering around the village and seeing the old Wordsworth house on the opposite side of the village...we snuck around the garden acting as though we were going to enter, but never did because we are stingy and poor.
Some of the view from our hostel
And some more of it...
Walking around in the town
Around the other side of Grasmere to the Wordsworth House
I couldn't get over how beautiful it was here...definitely understand where New England got it's name
Garden at the Wordsworth House
The house itself
The view down the lane
On our second full day there, we decided to take one of the walks with a written guide that's located in the area. We bought a packet that had several, but settled on one that takes walkers around Loughrigg Fell. Want to see some photos that are much more amazing than any I could capture? Just pop that name into google image search. Breathtaking!
The walk felt like part Lord of the Rings adventure, part Jane Austen stroll--it took us several hours, but we had such a good time!
The rocky, craggy top of the Fell was absolutely fantastic--definitely couldn't capture more than 30% of the awesomeness in my photos.
We stopped here for our picnic lunch--life is rough.
My new house, please and thank you!
It was a little gray while we were there, but the rain held off for the most part. We spent the rest of our time strolling, enjoying tea and scones with clotted cream and jam, and reading and relaxing. This was the perfect spot to do it, and we had a fabulous hostel. If anyone gets up that way, stay at the YHA--Butharlyp Howe. No, we don't know exactly how to pronounce it, but it didn't seem to matter.
Next up, the trip to Ireland! Coming shortly....
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