Libraries, Palaces, and Museums; There Are Wonders Like I've Never Seen

As I watch the snow fall past my window, I am almost abruptly reminded of the fact that I am not in California anymore. I am childishly excited by the small build up outside my flat, hoping that come morning there will be enough for me to make a fool of myself playing in. My roommates, who call Virgina their home, are less impressed, but that has not stopped me from pressing my face against the glass and staring at the flakes, wide-eyed and enamored by the first snowfall I have seen in four years.

Okay, maybe it's not really the first, since it did snow while I was in Cambridge on Saturday. Those were giant flakes that slapped you in the face as you walked, and while I hate to admit it the snow is slightly more enjoyable when I'm wrapped up indoors.  And after a small amount of playing in it around midnight here, I can say it's definitely much colder outside than I'm used to.

It's been a week full of walking and seeing incredible things, to the point where curling up in my desk chair and writing my papers sounds less terrible than it did before my legs started hurting. But it's all been completely worth it.

The first outing of this past week took place last Sunday, when my roommate and I took a look at a few of the buildings in Oxford. The first was the Museum of the History of Science, one of the oldest museums in England. It contained several floors of astrolabes and microscopes dating back to the 15th century and beyond. The basement level contained an old chemistry lab, where scientists had worked away on a polio vaccine, though in its current state it looked a lot like a meth lab with all of its tubes and flasks sitting inside glass cages. On one of the walls hung a blackboard Albert Einstein had written formulas on during a lecture he'd given at the university. In another case were some of the photography chemicals that Lewis Carroll, also known as Charles Dodgson, had used. Historical treasures hidden away in a building that creaked with experience and secrets.

When we'd finished wandering the halls and staring at the old clocks and the fanciest microscope I'd ever seen we walked further into the city, through the doors of a beautiful church called the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. With stars painted on its ceiling and hand painted glass windows it was an incredibly  gorgeous church, and we wandered through it climbing stairs and staring at the enormous organ in the center of the building.

We stayed in the church for a little while before heading over to Nando's and splurging for dinner. Nando's is apparently very big here, and the waiter was absolutely aghast that we'd never been there before, at least until we explained that we were American. It was good food, even if the initial understanding of how the restaurant worked was a little confusing, and my roommate has been insisting that we return soon.

The rest of that week was consumed by tutorials and writing papers in preparation for the upcoming weekend trips, were we'd be gone both Saturday and Sunday on different day trips in England.

As I mentioned before, Saturday was spent in Cambridge. A city very similar to Oxford and complete with a stunning school rivalry that has both schools calling the opposing university the "other place". Cambridge University began in the 1200's, around four hundred years after the town had been formed. And it all began with a murder.

The story goes that some students at Oxford had been out one night when a woman was murdered. One of the students was found guilty and hung, and the others took off for safety. One of the students' homes was in Cambridge, so his friends accompanied him and a university was created there so that they could continue studying.

The city is much more centralized that Oxford, with its various universities and libraries widely sprawled out. Cambridge has them all tucked in between student residencies and shops, but with its own curious quirks. The Cambridge climbing society was mentioned several times during our tour, including  notable stories of how years ago several engineering students had brought up an automobile piece by piece and assembled it on the roof of one of the buildings. It took the city engineers a week to get it down. Another few students stole the golden sword from the statue of Henry VIII and replaced it with a chair leg, which is still there today.

We were taken on a walking tour of the city and King's College, walking past a tiny church and several of the older science buildings. The King's College Church, though, was the best part of the tour and is absolutely phenomenal. It took about five kings' reigns to build, including Henry VIII and Richard III, and once it was completed it looked nothing like what the original plans had been.

The organ was playing as we stepped in from the cold, the sound echoing around the cavern-like room and immediately stealing the attention away from the beautiful stained glass windows. When it quieted down a short time after, though, my attention was turned back to the windows, which told stories from both the old and new testaments. Our tour guide told us that they had been removed during World War II for their protection and it had taken five years to put them back up. Many years before that, during the War of Roses, soldiers took up residency within its walls, painting graffiti that is still visible in some places inside. Those soldiers were usually the ones who went around smashing religious windows and such destructive things, but it was winter and very cold outside, so the windows survived if only to keep the soldiers from freezing.

We also got the chance to see the Raff Bar, also known as The Eagle Pub, where Watson and Crick had lunch every day and made the announcement that they had discovered the secret of life; DNA. On the ceiling of the very same building, soldiers from World War II hoisted themselves on each others' shoulders and traced out their squadron numbers, plane names and numbers, and even the outline of the bar keeper's daughter. But they never wrote their own names.

After that we spent several hours in the Fitzwilliam Museum, an enormous piece of architecture filled with Monet paintings, Greek era statues, porcelain plates from long ago Chinese dynasties, and a whole slew of medieval armor. I was (and am still) quickly falling in love with the beautiful ceilings in the buildings here and have spent a fair amount of time almost falling down stairs because my eyes have been focused skyward.

Our time in Cambridge drew to a close with quite a bit of snow and rain, but plenty of interesting stories. The following day was a trip planned for Hampton Court Palace, a gorgeous building that had been used as a home for several royals, most famously King Henry VIII and his many wives.

Walking through those halls I was awed constantly by the idea that kings and queens had wandered these halls before me. I got to see kitchens used specifically for the manufacturing of chocolate drinks, the secondary bedrooms of royals, where their attendants would dress the kings and queens separately, throne rooms, art galleries, and an incredible garden with trees that looked like giant mushrooms and manicured lawns filled with statues.

I learned more about the life of Henry's first wife, Katherine, who was married to him for twenty years. In the rooms I saw with troves of information displayed across the palace the two seemed to be quite the power couple, complimenting each other and working as equals to both raise their daughter and rule the country. Katherine lost five of her six children either through still births or within weeks of their births, but never once did she waver from her husband's side. Until he decided he needed an heir and went about creating a new religion and marrying five other women. We often hear about Anne Boleyn and how sad it was that she fell from the king's favor in only a year, but after learning about life at the palace I feel more pity for Katherine, who once she was sent away never again saw her daughter, Mary.

A weekend full of history and beautiful sights, leading up to a week where I once again have to return to the present and write my papers. My tutorials are going well and I'm feeling confident in my paper writing ability, so perhaps for just a little bit longer I'll allow myself to step outside and play in the snow.

With a chilly send off, good night Oxford and good morning California,

Sam

The basement of the Museum of the History or Science

An astrolabe clock

The fanciest microscope I've ever seen (science classrooms step it up)

The Einstein Blackboard

Lewis Carroll's photography equipment

University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

The organ at St. Mary's

The stained glass windows are all hand painted, giving them a lot more detail than the normally colored paned ones

St. Mary's

Cambridge; King's College

The ceiling of The Eagle Pub

The Eagle Pub

King's College

King's College Church

The ceiling and organ in King's College Church

Some of the stained glass windows

I walked in and this sight just blew me away, and accompanied by the organ playing it was indescribable

Trinity College in the snow

The Fitzwilliam Museum

Fitzwilliam

One of the Greek rooms in the Fitzwilliam

Greek tomb in the Fitzwilliam

A room filled entirely with ceramics and delicately made glass work. I felt like an elephant walking through here.

The fanciest tea pot I've ever seen

Crossbows from the section of medieval armor

One of the art galleries in the Fitzwilliam

Monet in the Fitzwilliam

Fitzwilliam

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace

One of the kitchens

I really liked the depressed looking peasant statues in this courtyard, it added a whole other element to it

The ceiling artwork was just beautiful. I swear I spent more time staring at the roof than anything else

The room was furnished with firearms. The designs on the walls are all made out of guns set side by side

Throne from Hampton Court Palace

A book and some letters dating back to the 1600's

There were just hallways and hallways everywhere, all filled with different artwork

Courtyard

The chocolate kitchen (yes they had a specific kitchen just for chocolate)

Some ridiclously fancy napkin art

My love of ceilings is growing

The Privy Gardens (look at the mushroom tree!)

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace

The Privy Gardens were restored two days before I was born

The Privy Garden

The Privy Garden

The Great Vine, otherwise known as the largest vine in the world

One of the dining halls

I alternated singing 'On The Steps of The Palace' and 'Ten Minutes Ago' while I was here