Cambridge

When going to school at a university, what stands out to people? Is it the large buildings that dot the campus? Is it the library that provides all the research material? While all these things do stand out, they are not what makes the memories. Although I only spent a day at Cambridge, I feel I learned more about the university by floating down the river Cam in a punt, then by touring the school and visiting the library.

A punt is a flat bottomed boat that is stirred by a person with a pole. This provides a slow and enjoyable ride down the river. According to the St John’s College at Cambridge, this activity is fairly young and started at the beginning of the last century when river traffic died down; originally punting was used for hunting waterfowl in the marshlands and other activities that needed to be done in the shallow water (Preston, 1).

As I floated down the river with the guide, not only did I get to see various students studying and heading to exams, but I got to see them drinking and staying off the grass. Cambridge has immaculate grass because the only people who are allowed to step onto it are the professors. Visitors can not walk on the grass, and even students can not place a toe on the perfectly flat, green. immaculate lawn. That would not go over well at BYU.

By floating down the river, I got to see the “Backs.” Literally the back lawns of various colleges, these backs provided a view into the oldest colleges at Cambridge. I loved seeing King’s College and Trinity.

I learned that Stephen Hawking and John Milton both attended Cambridge University. I guess I really have never considered what famous people attended this university.

I find it interesting to learn how many different accounts are floating about over the Mathematical bridge. This bridge crosses the Cam river and is part of the Queens college. According to Professor Talbot, the bridge was originally constructed without any bolts. The Cambridge students wished to know how it was put together; to figure it out they took it apart and were unable to put it back together. Our river guide said this was false, claiming that the bridge was never taken apart but bolts were put in to make it so the bridge could pass the legal requirements of safety. Queen’s college refutes all of these stories saying that the bridge was constructed 250 years ago with coach screws at the joint and “only a pedant could claim that the Bridge was originally built without nails” (Walker, 1). Bless those show offs for messing with the poor tourist’s heads.

Another enjoyable scene I saw as I floated down the river in the Punt, was the lovely sight of King’s college Chapel. This chapel I later went in. It was commissioned by Henry VI who had great ideas for the whole college, but his untimely murder in the tower of London (I saw the room where he died) meant that only his plans for the chapel where completed and that only happened through the patronage of following kings (King’s, 1). This amazing Chapel creates an impressive sight when the visitor first walks in. Narrow but very high, the chapel is eighty feet high with fan vaulting; this breathtaking view was completed between 1512 and 1515(King’s, 2). It was an amazing sight.

Although I did not get to talk to any of the university students, I do feel that floating down the River Cams provided a wonderful look into how the university life is. Unfortunately it was Exam week, so we saw mostly the studious life, but we still were able to catch a glimmer.

King’s College: Cambridge. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Preston, Aeron. The History of Punting. April 2008. St. John’s College: May 2008.

Walker, Robin. The Mathematical Bridge. Queens Collage: May 2008.

St Paul’s Cathedral

Do not feed the Birds was the first thing I was told when I decided to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral, much to my disappointment. Although the old lady in Mary Poppins was able to share her generous supply of bird seed, this is no longer allowed. While this fact troubled me, it did not deter me from making the pilgrimage, and I am glad I did.

St. Paul’s is a lovely Cathedral that stands out as a landmark on the London skyline. This cathedral’s architect was Christopher Wren who gave it a more classical style described as cool, light and rational compared with the early Stuart churches (Morgan, 396). I guess I am not exactly sure what the Stuart churches are, because I still found the building to be intense and overwhelming. The building is large in an open air way, enabling it to seem airy, but it is still a rather impressive building. This Cathedral is according to the history channel only second to Westminster Abbey ( St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1) has become an icon of London.

Christopher Wren was quite the architect. Interesting enough, he was not trained as an architect, but was sent to Oxford where he studied mathematics and astronomy (Roberts, 394). Even without a formal education, he was able to design such remarkable buildings that people refer to his London. Everywhere I go, I seem to always be running into something that Christopher Wren designed. For example, we were punting down the river in Cambridge and the guide informed us that the Library at Trinity College has the mark of being designed by him. Anyway, it was still fun to go and see what could be considered his architectural masterpiece.

I decided for my trip to St. Paul’s that I would couple it with enjoying my first Anglican ceremony. I went to Evensong. As I approached the building on a Sunday evening, I could hear the bells tolling throughout the area. It was a beautiful sound. It was a sound that dominated the air until I stepped into the church itself and then a hush seemed to overwhelm this sound. The bells lost their dominance and dropped to a distant hint that could be easily forgotten.

One of the first things to stand out for me as I approached St. Paul’s Cathedral was the amazing dome. I approached from the side and as I looked up, this is what I could see. This dome was, again according to the History channel was designed to give the cathedral a more “reposeful outline than that in St. Peter’s in Rome.” The dome is truly beautiful and it dominates the landscape. I found it interesting inside the church to look up and see the beautiful paintings on the dome ceiling.

The paintings inside the church were to me surprisingly elaborate. I guess because I have seen other churches that were completely whitewashed in during the transition from Catholicism to the Anglicism, I expected people to keep to that tradition. The ceilings are not as elaborate as Catholic cathedrals in still remaining Catholic Cathedrals, but as you enter the St. Paul’s, the level of paintings on the ceiling increased until it reached its max at the Altar.

St. Paul’s really is a beautiful Cathedral. I did feel sometimes that it was a little too ornate, but the overall effect of the building is aesthetically pleasing. I really enjoyed going to Evensong there and hearing the choir's voices echo through the old passageways of the building, delighting even the birds resting on the steps outside.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Story of England. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006.

Morgan, Kenneth O. The Oxford History of Britain. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Roberts, Clayton. A History of England: Prehistory to 1714. United States of America: Prentice-Hall, 1998.

St. Paul’s Cathedral. May 24, 2008. The History Channel: 2006.

The Tower

Early one morning, my fellow students and I set out on a mission. It was a mission to visit the infamous and dreaded Tower of London, the famous place of death, murder, treachery, and despair. We set out on this journey with happy hearts for we were simply tourists going to see what all the world goes to see when they come to visit London.

We started our journey by waiting for one of the Yeoman to give us a guided tour. We began the guide with a brief overview of the Tower. To ensure I got my facts straight, I checked out another Yeoman’s brief history. I remembered correctly that the Tower was built by William the conqueror as a symbol of his power and a place to hold prisoners (Mermel, 1).

As we passed through the walls into the main fort, the Yeoman told us the etymology of the word Password. Apparently they used to have a secret word to enter through the gate. The guards would have the individual who wished to come in write the word on a paper and then pass the word through the gate. This evolved into the word password.

Many famous prisoners were held here in The Tower. After we walked in, we saw the lovely tower where Elizabeth I and Sir Thomas More were both held prisoner. This tower overlooked the royal entrance. It is at this royal entrance where Anne Boleyn entered as Henry VIII’s bride.

The next spot the Yeoman took us to see was the Water Gate, later known as Traitor's Gate. This is the entrance Anne Boleyn used when she entered The Tower to lose her head. I found it interesting that even though she was a condemned prisoner, she was still treated royally until the moment of her execution. She was placed in the same chambers where she spent her wedding night and an executioner from France was specially imported for her (Experience, 33).

Anne Boleyn was not the only famous death at The Tower. This was also the sight of the famous murder of the two princes. What is known is that Richard, Duke of Gloucester seized control after his brother died, and his two nephews who were to inherit the throne mysteriously disappeared after being taken to the Tower (Prall ,205). The bodies of what is believed to be the princes were found in one of the towers.

After the tour, it was exciting to go and see the crown Jewels. I for some reason had not thought through exactly what the crown Jewels were. I thought it was really cool when I found out that they were not simply a bunch of jewels owned by the royal family, but that they were the Jewels owned by the British people and used in the actual ceremony to crown their new king and queen. It was amazing to think the gigantuous jewels were really jewels and not costume jewelery. The two things that helped to demonstrate the value of what I was looking at was the thick walls giving the impression that you were walking into a vault when you walked into the jewel room, and the conveyor-belt moving people quickly past the row of crowns. It was very cool.

After we saw the crown jewels we went to take a tour of the White tower. This tower, had a lovely museum that included lots of armour, mostly from Henry VIII. It also had nice area where visitors could practice pulling a longbow and find out lots of information on weapons. According to our guide, this building had an observatory until it was moved to Greenwich.

Although The London Tower is a very touristy thing to do, I will say the afternoon was a well spent afternoon. I loved the tour by the Yeoman and enjoyed the historic moment I was able to enjoy in these walls.

Eperience the Tower of London. Surrey:Historic Royal Palaces, 2007.

Mermel, Craig. The Tower of London. August 2004. VirREn Team: May 2008.

Prall, Stuart E. Willson, David Harris. A History of England: Volume I Prehistory to 1714. United States: Dryden Press,1991.

The Globe

“The Theater, the Theater, what’s happened to the theater?” Although this exact question is asked in the modern movie White Christmas, it is a question that can equally be applied to Shakespeare’s Globe theater. What did happen to the Globe, and how did it get to its present state?

Shakespeare and his companions decided they needed to change venues, and in May 1599 they began building anew what later became known as the Globe theater (Aaron, 281). When I say anew, I mean there was something existing in the spot, and they used that material to build on. Shakespeare owned a portion of the theater, and commented in his play Henry V over his frustration in the delay before he was able to switch theaters (Aaron, 282).

Unfortunately nothing remains the same, especially in an age lacking fire sprinklers. Fire struck the Globe in 1613. Recovery from this tragic event was immediate as it was rebuilt in 1614 (Saunders, 401). Sadly, Shakespeare died only two years later in 1616 (tear). The Globe continued on without Shakespeare until the Puritans shut it down and then destroyed it in the year 1644. The Globe remained in this non existing state for many a year.

Time passed, and with it the memory of where exactly the Globe used to be. Finally in 1989, the remains were discovered, surprising people by not being the same dimensions as they expected (Egan, 11). The stage was is a different place, and the walls were a different shape. They recovered from the shock and went on to try and recreate it in the Elizabethan style. This, also according to Egan, was not possible (Egan, 14). Too much time has passed and people have changed. I tend to agree with Egan. No matter what the actors did to convince me that I was in Elizabethan times, the occasional noise of an airplane flying overhead, drowning out their voices, forced me to come to terms with where I was. I was in theater pretending to exist in a different time.

Overall, the Globe theater is a delightful place to pretend you are in Shakespearian times. Even if I was unable to suspend my belief through the entire play, I was able to do it enough to have a great time. The Globe is built with the idea of giving the same atmosphere and although the rebuilding crew included some differences from the original theater (they made it bigger), it still a delightful place to see a Shakespearian play. I will be honest, seeing the Globe from the outside was pretty cool because it looked like it was from the Elizabethan period. Seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream was even better because it was experiencing the period. I found it interesting that to provide lights, the theater provided a giant white glowing orb. It gave light without the effect of being modern. The theater took the liberty of being modern in some aspects (dyed blue hair) but not with technology. There were no special effects that could not be accomplished in Shakespeare’s time.

Even though the building now known as The Globe was built in the 1990s, it still creates a delightful experience for a Shakespearian play. It was O.K. to be sitting on a hard wooden bench, because many others have done it before. Besides I was glad that I was not one of the people in the crowd on the floor standing in the rain watching the play. The theater tried to convey the way it was, but there have been changes. What has happened to the theater? A lot, but the magic is still there.

Aaron, Melissa D. “The Globe and Henry V as Business Document.” SEL: Studies in

English Literature 1500-1900. (2000) 277-292.

Egan, Gabriel. “Reconstructions of the Globe: A Retrospective.” Shakespeare Survey,

(1999) Vol. 52. 1-16.

Saunders, J.W. “Staging at the Globe, 1599-1613.” Shakespeare Quarterly. Vol. 11, No.

4 (Autumn, 1960), 401-425.

Westminster Abbey

Have you ever wondered where the rich and famous are buried? I definitely have not, but if you are interested in seeing a lot of graves in one spot that you have heard of, Westminster is the place for you. On top of having a lot of very cool graves, this abbey will also intrigue you with its rich history and delightful architecture.

First off, there was a lovely king by the name Edward who decided that a really nice abbey should be built in London (Hibbert, 38). He began what has turned out to be one of my favorite buildings in London.

When I first arrived at Westminster, it did not strike me as a particularly impressive building. I was playing the part of tourist though, so I knew that I could not let this inhibition get in my way. I would be impressed by this building because the guide book said it was a must see.

I waltzed through the front door to promptly stumble on a grave that I was not duly impressed with simply because I had not yet seen the movie Amazing Grace. It was the lovely grave of Wilberforce. I duly tucked the information away in my mind until I was able to look further into the matter.

As I continued my journey around the Abbey, my eye was caught by the definite Gothic style of the place. This of course was added when Henry III had the Abbey rebuilt in the thirteenth century (Roberts, 149).

I continued walking around the abbey, and I was met with the marks for a lot of dead people I had never heard of, and a lot of royalty. Westminster Abbey was considered a shrine for royalty, meaning a lot of the royal family is buried there (Morgan, 240). For example, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary are buried side by side. According to professor Talbot, this is one of the greatest practical jokes in history. The two sisters that hated each other in life, are buried right next to each other. I found it rather amusing that Oliver Cromwell was buried there, but the royal family dug up his body and had it hung, drawn and quartered when they came back to power. He was not well liked.

It was exciting to see these politically important people, but my absolute favorite part of the Abbey was seeing the poets corner. So many amazing literary people are buried there. It made me happy to see their graves. I saw famous people like Chaucer, Wordsworth, and Dickens. It was a truly exciting things.

A random fact about Westminster Abbey is that it has the oldest door in England. The door is an ugly brown door that dates back to 1015 AD. I have included a picture of it because it was one of the few things that people can photograph in the Abbey.

Westminster also has the throne that the royal family is crowned on. They have this special stone called the stone of Scone (which is now in Scotland) and this is placed under the chair. I was rather surprised when I saw the throne because it was a rather ugly wooden throne. I would not want the thing in my house.

Westminster was a delight, and if I could visit the Abbey for free, I would pay a second visit. As it is, I will stick with just the first visit.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Story of England. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006.

Morgan, Kenneth O. The Oxford History of Britain. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Roberts, Clayton. A History of England: Prehistory to 1714. United States of America: Prentice-Hall, 1998.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury is a lesson on not always saying your thoughts out loud. This is of course good advice for anyone, but it is especially important for kings. King Henry II helped to make this already important cathedral famous by his foolish ramblings.

The history of this Cathedral began way back in the day when England was ruled by the Romans. The story goes that Pope Gregory the Great saw some Angle slaves for sale in Rome and said they looked like angels. In 597 AD he sent Augustine and some monks to convert England to Christianity (History, 1). Augustine arrived with these monks in England and was met by King Ethelbert, who was the king of Kent (Hibbert, 32). The king was converted, and gave Augustine land in Canterbury. While this was only a beginning, it was an important beginning not only in the history of England, but of Christianity.

I found Canterbury to be a rather impressive cathedral when I went to see it. I will be honest, most of this appreciation came from the history I knew of the church. It was a powerful church even when England was still Catholic. Martyrs made it famous and later kings ensured it was important when the Church of England was founded.

As I walked up to the Cathedral I was startled by the greeting of a statue of Christ that quite frankly freaked me out. It was grotesque in that it looked rather tortured and bizarre because it was a modern statue pretending to be old.

The Cathedral was beautiful it is old age. It is a Gothic cathedral equipped with flying buttresses and gargoyles. According to Talbot, the inside of the Cathedral was originally covered from top to bottom in colorful artwork, but when Henry VIII broke with the Catholic church, he had all the walls whitewashed. To see this building in its original colorful state would be impressive.

One of the first things I did when I arrived was go to the shrine of Thomas Becket. This important tale began with Henry II who made his close friend Becket the archbishop of Canterbury. The two had some miffs over court trials that lead to some foolish words being spoken by Henry II. Supposedly he said “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” (Roberts, 112). This foolish question lead to four knights riding to Canterbury and killing Becket while he prayed. Becket became a saint and now his shrine is a sight of pilgrimage.

I enjoyed my own pilgrimage to see what I had often studied. I now picture the scene where Becket died differently than I had before. It was a trip well worth taking.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Story of England. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006.

Roberts, Clayton. A History of England: Prehistory to 1714. United States of America: Prentice-Hall, 1998.

Canterbury Cathedral. Canterbury Cathedral. May 23, 2008.

Hampton Court

Fine homes abound in the lovely country of England, dotting the green and rather lush landscape. These often beautiful fine homes have a rich history, reaching back in time as it is discovered that generation upon generation has worked on making these homes a place worth visiting. Hampton Court is not an exception to this generalization, but it carries it to the extreme. Money, power, and love all are part of the history of the famous house located on the Thames in London.

To truly appreciate this house, I took a little jaunt with my fellow flatmates to the lovely grounds outside of London. We took a train out of London and enjoyed the privilege of seeing the beautiful green yard as we left the train and walked across the rivers Thames.

Hampton Court’s first important owner was Cardinal Wolsey. This famous Cardinal changed Hampton Court into one of England’s most significant great house of the early Tudor age from a simple medieval manor (Foyle, 128). Cardinal Wolsey was a very powerful man in King Henry VIII’s court, but because he refused to grant the King the divorce he wanted, he fell from power and Henry VIII moved into the palace. According to professor Talbot, at the time Wolsey famously said: “If I had served my God as diligently as I have served my King, he would not have deserted me in my old age.”

I was rather surprised at how little I saw that actually had Cardinal Wolsey’s mark on it. Of course he was the one who began Hampton Court’s story, so everyone else was able to mess with what he did. Of course Henry the VIII made sure that his mark on the house would never be forgotten.

Henry VIII lived with various wives in the impressive Hampton Court. Possibly the most exciting wife of his to live there was Catherine Howard, who is said to still haunt the corridors making it one of the most haunted places in England (Wiseman, 196). People have conducted serious and legitimate studies to determine whether or not the place is haunted, but of course the findings were rather inconclusive. I walked down the corridor and visited the rooms, but I felt nothing. This could be to my lack of belief in the ghost in the first place, but regardless, I felt nothing. Perhaps the fact that it was early morning and not the appropriate time of evening. I enjoyed the suns rays flittering through the chamber onto the Kings entrance to the palace chapel.

Henry VIII of course made Hampton Court his own by giving it his own touch. The place was under heavy construction between the years of 1529- 1537 (Thurley, 3). I thought the tapestries he purchased for the Great Hall were disappointing. Although they were faded and I had to take the audio tour’s word for the fact that they were woven with gold and silver thread, I did find it impressive that even though they were so old, they were still intact.

Henry VIII left his mark, but there were people after who still wanted to improve matters. Again according to Professor Talbot, William and Mary in the 1690s decided to expand giving the palace two distinct architectural influences. I may quote Dr. Talbot, but the audio tour at the Hampton Court said the same. The section designed by William and Mary was more conservative and private than Henry VIII.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Hampton Courts. Its lavish halls, and beautiful rose garden made for an wonderful and educational trip. It was fun to get lost in the maze and to wonder down a haunted corridor.

Foyle, Jonathan. “A Reconstruction of Thomas Wolsey’s Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace.” Architectural History, Vol. 45 (2002) : 128-158.

Thurley, Simon. “Henry VIII and the Building of Hampton Court: A Reconstruction of the Tudor Palace.” Architectural History, Vol. 31, (1988): 1-57.

Wiseman, Richard. “An investigation into alleged ’Hauntings’.” British Journal of Psychology, 94.2 (May 2003): 195-205.