Hampton Court Palace

Despite the fact that I am now posting from home instead of London, let's talk about how awesome Hampton Court was. I'm torn between this and the Tower as my two favorite historic places we've visited. Hampton Court Palace is a curious piece of architecture and much of the history of the place can be read in the symbols and decorations. It began as Henry VIII's friend Wolsey's private home but was eventually purchased by Henry VIII. He transformed it into a palace worthy of being the seat of English power. The Great Room was the biggest anyone could have seen outside of churches at the time. More on that later.

Henry VIII and eventually his children used Hampton Court as their official residences. Through their influences, the place has the distinct Tudor architecture- sort of Gothic, but with its own proportions and details. Part of the state and private rooms are in the totally different Neo-classical/kind of Baroque style of the Georgian period. I can't remember the details of when or why and exactly which George, but luckily that is all in the guidebook we bought. So, I can talk about how strange the contrast was to see. In the central courtyard, on the left and front and back you see textural Tudor brickwork, arched windows, and the darker colors of wood and red brick. On the right, a large colonnade with smooth white columns and elaborate capitals juts out into the courtyard. Inside that part of the palace, there are miles of carved moldings in various styles as well as Grinling Gibbons woodcarvings. The walls are otherwise smooth but covered in frescoes with a distinct humanistic and classical slant. Cherubs, court-goers, and classical figures are all depicted in a bizarre twist on bringing the "now" and old Rome together. Contrast that to rich tapestries and plainer walls and elaborately ribbed ceilings.

The reworking of the palace was never finished. And thank goodness! Otherwise the people acting as Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Cromwell, and various others would never have known where they were supposed to be! Actually, their acting was really excellent. They are all historians in their own right, ad-libbing their lines based on what they think might have gone on in a day at the palace. The day we went, the whole court was in an uproar because Anne was hollering out windows, clearly upset about something. Later she went nuts when she discovered Henry had received a gift from his banished wife, Katheryn of Aragon.  Even better, another courtier got the better of her with a snarky comment and they both broke out laughing, mid-act. Something about what on earth could be in it for him/why does he do something. The lady's answer was "God." I'm really quite sad I don't remember the whole thing. Maybe Marilin knows. Hmm.

Anyway, what else? Oh the Great Hall. That was a really interesting part. There appears to be soo much history oozing out of this one room. It was still under construction when Anne Boleyn worked her way into Henry's affections. Her personal/family crest was built into many areas around the palace. Once she fell from favor however, her heraldry was torn from every surface except for the very highest point in the Hall's ceiling where no one could easily reach. So at meal times, one could look up and remember the second queen while watching the third, etc. Rather morbid, eh? Don't let Henry catch you looking. To put my earlier comment about the room's incredible size for a non-church building at the time: most public school lunch rooms around my house are three times this thing's size. Possibly 4 or 5. But lunch rooms are ugly and the Great Hall is very much not. The above photo is of us sitting in the King and Queen chairs at the top of the hall. The lovely arch behind leads into the beginnings of Henry's state rooms.

On a random note, also at Hampton Court is the oldest grape vine in the world. It still produces sweet black grapes. I wish we could try them! I wonder if they make wine for the Queen's table. The gardens here were incredible. The privy gardens were the model for Kensington's Sunken Gardens. It was a very good imitation, but the real thing is still more breath-taking. On either side of these were big fields with topiary spaced out really far apart-- something not really done anymore and easier to understand with a picture. Also there were the Yew trees. All of them were clipped in sort of mushroom shapes. The Smurfs would have been very excited. Also, I just Googled yew trees and learned that everything but the red part of its berries is poisonous. (Moreso to animals than people. You'd need to eat a number of branches to really hurt yourself. Meanwhile, it's used in some medicines.) I'm not sure of the history of the Yew-lined pathway leading away from the back of Hampton Court, but it sure was pretty. Also sort of fitting to see a lot of yews living happily where, previously, the English had devastated forests across Europe in search of yews for longbows. Apparently, they made very good bow wood but very very little of it per tree due to the twisty-knotty-splitty tendencies of its trunk. More later if I think of anything, but this about covers Hampton. Other than the fact that I could have happily followed the actors around all day. Two days would have been perfect: one for each era/set of actors.

Oh rose garden!! We found the rose garden by accident!

 

Natural History vs. Victoria & Albert

Breakfast today was delicious. Last night, in our wanderings, we spotted a small cafe on the block just past the Earls Court Tube station that advertised cheap breakfast plates. So today we tried their full English breakfast, just to say we did the whole grilled tomato and stacks of toast thing. Technically, we also each had one banger, even though we haven't managed to find bangers and mash yet. The breakfast included 2 eggs, country ham sort of things, mushrooms, and a ball of hash browns (?!) The plain black coffee I ordered turned out to be French pressed and thick as the infamous London fog that we've yet to see.

Our goal was the Victoria and Albert Museum today, but we got a little side-tracked at the Natural History Museum next door. The building alone in spectacular and has curious animals perched on its walls in place of gargoyles. We popped in just to see it and ended up perusing the geological and gemological sections. There was a neat metal globe which circled the main escalator to the upper floors in this wing. So, we also journeyed through the Earth today. We won a free hot drink with a scratch-off card too. Hopefully there will be a chance to go back and redeem it!

From the Natural History Museum, we crossed to the V&A for a short talk about the relationship between fashion and armor and a presentation by Juliana Sissons, an artist who was inspired by the collections in the V&A. Sissons presented slides of her knit-wear designs and thinking process after an introductory talk. (on display in the Medieval and Renaissance gallery) A scholar associated with the museum explained "fashion was a young, rich man's game" and the clothing and armor were subject to the same whims of taste. He presented examples of period clothing from the 15th-17th centuries and armor from the same periods. The styles were practically mirror images of one another. Most obvious were the changing waistlines, decorative patterning, leg-guard shapes, and shoulder & breastplate forms. One suit of armor even had the same long, pointy-toed shoes (like elf shoes, stretched out) as its cloth contemporaries. They would've been entirely useless as armor; the man could never walk in them and never intended to. (His groomsman would connect the foot-guards to the man's greaves once the man was settled on his horse.)


After the talk, we made our way to the Medieval and Renaissance gallery suite. Sissons' knitwear was displayed alongside gilded armor in a long hallway full of wrought iron gates, fences, hangings, posts, and chests. I suspect, with photos from here and various fences around London, that these designs will be influencing my work-to-be. Thinking about armor in a different light was also fun after all the armor we have been seeing in places like the Tower.

Other exhibits in the V&A didn't really hold everyone's interest today, so after this we popped back into the Natural History Museum. I will explore the V&A more on Friday, between lectures. I suspect that, after all the objects we have seen in situ and in action at the various palaces and churches, seeing objects behind glass is not nearly as interesting as it might have been for anyone not terribly invested in objects in the first place. Afterwe closed down the Natural History Museum (which closes at the very odd hour of 5:50pm), we spotted an art show associated with the London Design Festival which sounded interesting.

One of the rooms was described as a place where 8 different designers made "wonder cabinets" with things from their studios. I was excited, because I was curious to see what others might do with the subject of wonder cabinets. The displayed turned out to be eight raw plywood boxes with absolutely nothing to do with wonderkammern. Instead, all that enticing language was a cover for "this is a diorama about my studio practice." Lame. There was one guy on the top floor who had created an interesting and funny app which prevented the whole excursion from being a bust. Individuals could enter headlines into the app and the app would in turn generate new headlines from pieces of old ones so that they sounded exactly like any real headline but made absurd claims such as one about President Obama spilling some juicy gossip about a famous pop star. The artist was at work setting up and printing new playbill-sized sheets as we watched.

I thought this was interesting and potentially pertinent to wonder cabinets, early science/categorization, etc: 

My thoughts ran something like: this seems similar to how, given a starfish and a cactus, both with spines, a renaissance-era collector/alchemist/scientist/naturalist might have drawn a parallel between what we now know of as two very very different things because of this similarity.  I see a "natural pattern" between this big copper blob, the dendritic pattern in the smaller stone, and the outline of the river system (aerial view). Dunno, what to do with this info, but thought recording the thought is always good.

That concluded our adventures for today-- I think we are all tired and needed this slower pace before we dive headfirst into Hampton Court tomorrow. I was originally going to go to Oxford instead, but I'm pretty sure I can get my fill of the Pitt Rivers Museum and see the Ashmolean in one day instead of two. It'd really be silly to get all the way over here and miss out on Hampton Court!

Westminster and Kensington

I'm a day behind on this record, but let's start with today.

Today began early and we popped out of the Westminster Tube station with an unexpected and breathtaking view of Parliament and Big Ben. We were right across the street from it as we came up a deep stairway. Unfortunately, in order to get inside we would've had to book ahead of time, so we had to content ourselves with snapping away at the outside and staring up at it from the sidewalk. We were not alone. In between those trying to get to work were dozens of other tourists cluttering things up and nearly getting run over.  Anyway, it was absolutely stunning. Did I mention how much I love Gothic architecture? I could stare at the windows and vaulting and gargoyles forever.

We next dashed across the street to Westminster Abbey. We approached from the side and sort of missed the full-on glamor of the front entrance, but I could hardly care. Speaking of gargoyles, the ground-level archways here had a never-ending assortment of dragons curled about the bases of empty pedestal-like protrusions. Each was a different dragon and I hard a difficult time not trying to photograph every one.

Inside the abbey was absolutely awe-inspiring. I think I could arguably link it to my self-"study" of wonder simply because no one who walks into this place is unaffected. Even with hordes of the least considerate tour groups yet, I admit to being frozen in place with awe a couple of times. The view from the organ screen gave me chills. The organ is split (? Or there are two) on each wall adjacent to the richly decorated screen which includes a memorial to Isaac Newton. He was buried in the church. Nearby is a memorial to Charles Darwin, who was actually buried elsewhere. Through the screen was the choir (spelled quire, for whatever reason) with rich, dark wooden seats. I bet the acoustics in here are wonderful. Elsewhere the are long winding paths (ambulatories) which have, over the centuries, been filled with tombs, memorials, and grand statues almost to the point of blocking the pathway. Poets' Corner, on the opposite side, is much more open. It commemorates many English writers, mostly poets. The corner was begun because Chaucer was buried here at his death. Strangely, it was because he had friends in the abbey and worked for the government at the time that he was able to be buried here, not due to any recognition for his writing.  Also, a large number of monarchs were buried here, including Elizabeth and Mary who were buried one on top of the other but with only the effigy of Elizabeth.

 I also (FINALLY!!!) got to see my favorite ceiling: Henry VII's Lady Chapel. Much to my dismay, no photos were allowed inside the abbey. I will have to live with just the memory and some bad black and white photos in an old textbook. They won't do justice to it, I'm sure. There are round, flowery lace-like areas that drop down to end in delicate knobs. Like paper ghosts made out of doilies, only much better. The designs are still crisp and clean and seem to be completely intact.

After Westminster, we explored the more homey palace of Kensington, where we had a lovely proper English tea. But I am too tired to write about that. If I'm nice to myself I'll update later. If not, there is a lot of nice info in the souvenir book we bought. (There's also a good book for the Tower, which was awesome and took most of yesterday to explore. I'll also write about that when I'm not pooped. Ha.) After tea were the gardens and a meandering walk back to the hotel with stops at vaguely interesting clothing shops and the more interesting grocery store. We had wine and cheese and bread and apple and chocolate night! Everything was good except for the wine.... :/

The Grand (Audio) Tour of Buckingham Palace

Today can officially be called the Buckingham Marathon Day. Equipped with London Passes, we arrived at the Queen's official residence to see her place while she is away in Scotland. I read that she is in Holyrood this year. We were a bit panicked over time, and the likelihood of a long line/queue, so after rushing around one long wall of the grounds, we ran right on past the magnificent front gates and plaza to the ticket line. I had a quick impression of ornate black iron gates with elaborate and immaculately-kept gilt tops. Our rush turned out to be for nought because of the passes we were able to go right on in. VIPs to the Queen!

Once inside, we were given audio guides and let loose inside the State Rooms. "Glorious" does not describe them. I'm not sure what does, actually. It is mind-boggling to think that these rooms are real, the gilt-edging on everything is real, and that state events and private events still take place in these luxurious halls. They are all so highly and richly decorated, but even the Nash's white and gold ceilings, George IV's French (?) furniture and floor-to-ceiling color schemes (blue, green, red, and white being the most striking) are stunning instead of stuffy. (Compared to French Rococo, especially!) Meanwhile, the gigantic silver gilt centerpiece of the dining room would be laughably out of place in any home in America.

As a special exhibition in conjunction with her Diamond Jubilee, the Queen had laid out a display of royal diamonds. In the dark, dramatic spotlights lit the diamonds to great effect. It was difficult to notice such things as experimental cuts on the older stones or the difference between gleaming gold, silver and platinum settings. This room was a draw not just to my outer jeweler and inner child but to everyone else in the whole palace-- it was very difficult to get people to move along so we could see the next display. Even so, the collection of tiaras, necklaces, brooches, and jeweled swords was well worth the wait!

Tangent: I was particularly interested in what I am sure is just some insignificant side to the main decorations. Pictures were not allowed in the State Rooms, so all I have is description. They were large, oval vases with smooth curving necks. Some seemed almost oriental in the simplicity of form. The decorations and materials varied for each vase or pair, but the handle motif of intertwined snakes stayed constant. A pair twisted around each other on each side and gripped the vases in different positions. They were so graceful and seductive. I wish I knew more about this motif-- where it came from, who made them, what it might symbolize. I certainly never heard of it in (sadly-lacking-in-objects) art history classes. Stone carvings with a similar style sat on the on the balcony leading to the gardens, alternating with low-handled Greek calyx kraters. Perhaps the snake-urn is a Neoclassical invention? Probably, the snakes were not referencing any Christian mythos.

Back on track: From the State Rooms, we trekked all the way around the palace again to grab tickets (free!) to the Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews. The Mews let us in right away but we were able to secure tickets for later at the Queen's Gallery.

So, the Mews were full of carriages and horses which, honestly was a shock. Birds are more traditional. Apparently, the building was the Royal Mews for George II (I could be making up the name) some time before it became the stables. Now, the Queen frequents the place. Like many other aspects of the palace life, she is a very active participant in daily care of the horses and choosing of carriages for state occasions. This one here is known as the Glass Carriage and has traditionally been used for Royal weddings and engagements, among others.

After learning about the confusingly named Mews, we stopped at an Italian cafe for lunch. Best chorizo, potato and spinach omelet ever. Also coffee, to stay alive with.

Finally the Queen's Gallery. I tested my camera's battery power with this one. The entire exhibit was made up of Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical studies/notes/drawings/doodles for an intended book of anatomy. He never published the book, as he was unable to complete the project before his death, but his systematic dissection and discoveries of human anatomy were centuries ahead of his time. Of the several hundred pages shown, I think I may have only missed 6 photos and a couple of the information cards. I've got my own personal library of da Vinci drawings now. Muahaha! I could probably go on forever about his quirky brain. However, one neat thing: in his quest to figure out the hows and whyfores of human anatomy, he often dissected animals (such as oxen) because human bodies were rather hard to get a-hold of outside of medical practices and hospitals. As a result, in some of his more "complete" drawings, da Vinci cobined both human and animal parts where his knowledge of human anatomy was scarce. It might sound like something a superstitious man would invent, but Leonard da Vinci's main problem was not a lack of willingness to discard old models (like his peers) but rather that he was so far ahead that he had no one to use as a springboard for new theories and discoveries.

With a mostly dead camera, we then dragged our tired selves to Harrods, became overwhelmed by the crowds, the maze, and the scent of money wafting from Muslim ladies in very, very nice black veils that we escaped back to the Tube and dinner at a Filipino hole-in-the-wall around the corner from the hotel. Great food, not so great service. For tonight, that will be all. I believe I wrote enough and I'd like to go soak my feet.

The Day we Walked Too Much

Today I learned how close together London is. The map is imposing but it's actually a lot more like a miniature painting with incredible detail than a large mural like most cities I've been in. We started in Leicester Square, where we picked up our London Passes and yet another book to look at as a guide. From there we headed into Trafalgar Square and let our tourist side loose. (Safely, among other tourists. Many, many other tourists.) The National Gallery sits at the head of the square, but we were more tempted to climb the lions of the naval monument than to go into the Gallery. That could have been a day all in itself! There were also new-to-me statues of mermen that had tails on each foot rather than the single fish tail version. Makes more sense in the procreation department if you think about it.

Instead we visited St. Martin's-in-the-field, a lovely, small church with a very odd stained glass window behind the altar-- like a time portal might be opening up in its center-- and a cafe in its crypt. Odd, yes, but very nice. Gently curving brick arches (like the insides of many tents) hold up the church above.

From St. Martin's, we walked Pall Mall, and up to Piccadilly Circus. Pall Mall was composed of rows upon rows of very white very ornate buildings. It must have been spectacular in the sunshine in Victorian days (read: without the violently red double-decker buses. Side note: It is very difficult to get a photo without one of them.) Piccadilly Circus's square is dominated by a statue of Eros covered in fat pigeons.

We strolled through Soho, did some interesting people-watching, and ate lunch in China town. I got my sesame balls and pork buns. Mission accomplished!

From there, since London is so darn close together, we explored the Covent Garden area as well as the official City of London (a separate legal entity). Covent Garden included getting lost (again) and finding Lincoln's Inn Fields and the Sir John Soane's Museum. The museum was an amusingly bizarre building cram-packed with bits of plaster casts, sculptures, Hogarth paintings, and sarcastic/morbid inside jokes created by Soane and usually involving his dog, Fannie. Soane enjoyed the play of light and space, an essential part of Gothic architecture which he collected, but despised the asymmetry and lack of mathematical proportions.

Lincoln's Inn Fields later featured in the Blood and Tears Walk that we took. This tour was a whirlwind of walking very fast to hear interesting if brief stories. Fun fact: Fleet Street is actually a buried river. In the 1800's it got so gross due to runoff from the slaughterhouses nearby that it was paved over and made into a road. It still run about 7m below.

Before the tour, we visited the nave of St Paul's in the City. It is BEAUTIFUL and the acoustics (there was a choir singing at the time) are perfect. I wish places were built like that now instead of using speakers. Maybe we will climb to the dome or descend to the crypt if we have more time another day. Sadly, no photos were allowed inside, but I made up for it by clicking away at the outside. 

We saw the spire of Greyfriar's on a neighboring block, but couldn't figure out if Blackfriar's was still standing anywhere. We walked along the Victoria Embankment (after 3 tries to find the correct path) in an attempt to find it in the area across from Blackfriars Bridge, to no avail. The walk was very pretty though. You can get a photo of the London Eye and Big Big and another place (Buckingham?) all together on the waterfront.

We also stumbled across the Apothecary's Guild Hall and were invited in by a very kind person who happened to be standing in the doorway. This led me to find the Goldsmiths Hall later when we were passing by. I got photos of the seals above the doors, as well as the official seal of the City (dragons instead of a lion and a unicorn for the Queen.)

Hopefully I've gotten all the events in here.

Day One/Two: Arrival

Arrived in London yesterday! Totally jet-lagged and severely dehydrated, we set out to stroll through Hyde Park only to realize that it's a bit further than we imagined and we had taken the long way around. It was a pretty walk, through a weird mix of back alleys and tourist-clogged roads. By the time we reached the entrance to Hyde Park and found our first Large statue of the Royal Seal, we decided we were desperately hungry. So, one pub stop later (no beer yet-- too tired!) we headed into the park during the last hour of good daylight. It was beautifully sunny, by the way.

We stumbled upon the side entrance to Kensington Palace, which was closed, but which had really neat gates. On our walk, I also discovered how much I like the British version of barbed wire. There are several varieties.

And then we went back to our hotel and passed out watching Willy Wonka.

Welcome!

Or, not really "welcome", because I'm starting this blog up for myself. I intend to make an extended body of work (jewelry?) based on my experiences and encounters in London and I have only two weeks to make all these encounters happen. Needless to say a LOT will be happening at once and I will recall only blurred colors and shapes for most of it. (Perhaps I should avoid the pubs, eh?) I will combat my terrible memory and tendencies to remember only parts of things by writing it all down sooner.That's the theory. I have my doubts, but anything's worth a try.

So. This entry is to a) remind myself what the heck I'm doing and b) scare you away if you're a stranger with the ill luck to find yourself on my blog. Read at your own risk. You have been warned.

-Rachel