More fun things in London!

So much has happened since my last post, so bear with me if this gets a little long. On Friday, the 29^th, we took a day trip to Cambridge. There was a little bit of a mix up on the way there, where half of the seminar group got on a underground train, called the Tube, and the half I was in did not make it in time. We thought we were going to all meet up at the next stop, but apparently they wandered off to look into getting discount rail passes. About 45 minutes later we all managed to meet up at King’s Cross Station. From there we got on a non-stop express train up to Cambridge. It only took about 45 minutes, which wasn’t that bad. Once we got there, we walked into town, past some of the college of Cambridge. The University system in different in England than how it is in America. Each university is composed of many different colleges. When you apply, you apply to a college, not to the university as a whole. All of the colleges have their own characters, financial support, chapel, housing, and dining hall. Classes are handled by the university though, so there could be students from many different colleges in the classes. One of the colleges on the outskirts of the Cambridge University grounds, Pembroke, was open for visitors, so we walked around and looked at the chapel and the grounds. After that we headed into the main center of the city of Cambridge. We found a market there that has been in that exact same spot since the time that the Romans occupied the city, about 2000 years ago. We got lunch at the market and then went down along the Cam, which is the name of the river. There are flat boats that they run along the river, called punts. Two groups of my classmates decided they wanted to try punting down the river themselves. I quite enjoyed watching them try to figure out how to get the boat to go in the right direction. I opted for the guided punt tour of the river along the part that runs behind and through a bunch of the colleges of Cambridge. It was really pretty and I took a lot of pictures that I now have to go back through and try to remember what all we saw. When we were all back on dry land, we went back into to town to meet our tour guide. He was an American who had been living in England for many years. We walked through the complex of the Cavendish Laboratory and passed by the spot where Watson and Crick had their lab where they discovered the structure of DNA. We also went into the display where they have some of Darwin’s collection of animals that he collected on the voyage of the Beagle which helped him develop the theory of evolution. We also got more information on some of the better-know colleges at Cambridge, including Trinity College where Isaac Newton lived, worked, and studied for most of the time he was developing his theories. After the tour we went to a local pub called The Eagle, where Watson and Crick first told people about their DNA discovery. We had traditional fish and chips, with, basically an entire fish, minus the scales, eyes, and bones. We then hopped on the train back to London and had fun playing with the sign for Platform 9 ¾ from the Harry Potter books.

Saturday we got up early and went down to a farmer's market that they have every Saturday morning in one of the parks near our residence hall. We found a bunch of fresh stuff, for good prices and found food for the rest of the day. Later, we went to the Tower of London, which was ridiculously awesome. We stood outside and watched a demonstration of a catapult. We went into the Tower and joined a tour of the Tower and heard a bunch of really cool stories of things that happened there. We also got to see the memorial near the spot where 6 people who were killed inside the Tower, including Anne Boleyn, were beheaded. We also got to see the Crown Jewels, which was pretty amazing. After that we went through the White Tower, which is the oldest part of the Tower, which was used as a torture chamber and arms warehouse in the many years since its construction. All in all, it was pretty cool and I basically went into history major overload.

Sunday we went to this fun Chinese place that serves something called din sum, which is where they bring all kinds of food around on trolleys and you sit at a table and pick what you want as they come around. It was in the China town section of London, which was pretty cool to see. After that James, Ryan, Zoe and I went off to see the National Portrait Gallery. They had a good collection of portraits from different periods of England’s history, starting mostly with the Tudors.

Monday, after class, we went to the British Library. they had a really awesome collection of different books, including a working copy of Persuasion, by Jane Austen and her writing desk. They also had several copies of the Magna Carta and different pieces from many different religions, including Taoism and Buddhism. They also had a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, which was the first book mass produced after the invention of the printing press. After that we went up to Notting Hill and had dinner at a really cool pub. We were looking for a Jamacian Festival, but figured out that it had probably happened the week before.

Tuesday we had another seminar session in the morning, followed by a scientific walking tour of London. We got to see the homes of a couple of people we’re talking about in our seminar. When we were done with the tour, a couple of us went up to Abby Road and saw the recording studio where the Beatles worked. I also stood by and watched four of my friends from the seminar attempt (rather badly) to recreate the photo on the cover of their album.

I’ve been having a really awesome time so far. I love London. It doesn’t really have the feel of a city that I’m used to from visiting New York City. Where cities in the United States expanded up because of the restrictions for how far out they could to, London seems to have expanded outward, with some of the buildings constructed in the 1600’s being among the tallest in the skyline. I’ve really started to enjoy the Tube, now that I know how to navigate my way through it. The seminar is a little boring at the moment. The professor doesn’t really know how to teach history, seeing as he normally teaches physics. That should get better next week, when our presentations start. Although, the one really cool thing that Professor Marschall has done is ask about getting cookies from the dinning hall at Gettysburg, sent over to us. We still have a lot coming up this weekend, including a trip to Greenwich all day Friday. James, Ryan, Zoe and I are thinking about going up to check out Stonehenge on Saturday, or possibly checking out a much bigger farmers market back up in Notting Hill. Friday is also my birthday, so we’ll see what kind of craziness we can get into, which should be fun.