Playing Tourist

Last Sunday my flatmate and I went to visit Holyrood House, the 'official residence of her majesty the queen.'  However, the queen is rarely here, so mostly it's just really cool to visit.  It's also one of the palaces in Scotland that was used by Queen Victoria, and was Mary, Queen of Scots' residence where her husband Lord Darnley murdered David Rizzio.

my flatmate Ailsa in the courtyard

the outer gate

listening to the included audio guide

into the inner courtyard.  yes, the guards were wearing tartan pants.

obligatory tourist photo, courtesy of Ailsa

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was a really interesting look at the royal history in Scotland, and also a bit about how the palace is used today.  The queen was here to greet the pope on his visit in the fall.  He brought a replica of a really famous book, and that was on display with pictures of the reception.  On the grounds are also the ruins of Holyrood Abbey, which was built by King David and was the original structure on the land.
Apparently the site (Holyrood) gets its name from the 'holy wood' that resided in the abbey-a piece of Jesus's cross.  The ruins were beautiful, and I can totally understand why Mendelssohn was inspired by the surroundings to write his Scottish Symphony.

I'll leave you with a bit of the symphony.  This is the second movement, inspired by Scottish folk dance music.

Spring Break: London (part 1)

So it's been a while since there was anything of substance up, for which I apologize.  I'm done vacationing, though, so it's back to work for a couple of days until my parents get here!! I am so excited.

After Luxembourg, I was off on an early-morning train for London.  My friend met me at King's Cross station and off we went!  It was exciting to be in a big city again for a couple of days, and also to see so many amazing museums!
We started by heading to Trafalgar Square, home of the National Portrait Gallery, and National Gallery.

 The galleries were incredible, and I saw some beautiful works by Degas, Monet, Sisley, and Turner in addition to portraits of Jane Austen, Gilbert and Sullivan, and an exhibit of the Russian Ballet.  We even got into trouble!  There were tons of people in the impressionist rooms, and there was a huge school group surrounding the Turner's.  May Alcott, who I portray at work and who's letters I've been transcribing over the past couple of summers lived in London for a while as a Turner copyist, so I was really excited to see those.  My friend and I were discussing them, and trying to figure out if we recognized any as matching Alcott's copies when the tour leader shushed us!! That hasn't happened to me in years.  oops.

Trafalgar Square was neat, but really crowded with tourists.  I know, I know, I am a tourist, but working in the industry for so long has taught me several things about being a good tourist:

1) research in advance the places you want to visit.  Know the opening/closing times, nearby attractions or places to eat, and vaguely how to get there (knowing the address is also very helpful).

2) Try not to stop aimlessly in the street to take pictures.  If you are going to take pictures, try to stand out of the way or wait for a clear moment.  You are not more important than the traffic.

            2a) Also, if you are in an area full of other tourists, be aware of other people's pictures.  Walk around them if you can, which I recognize is not always possible.

3) If you wish to walk slowly to look around you, do so on the outside edge of the sidewalk in the correct direction of travel.  Actually, this just applies to everyone.  I walk fast, and that death glare I'm giving you as I move into the street to get past your slow-moving, hand-holding set?  Not a joke. I am actually that annoyed.

But anyways.  Something that appealed to me about the area of London I was visiting was the literary historical charm.  For example:

This is an entire street of antiquarian book shops.  We popped into some of them, and they were fantastic.  Also, out of my price range.  But very cool.  One of them also had one of the original prop Daleks from old (pre-2000s) Doctor Who.  Like, a real one.  It was extremely cool.

a clothing shop we walked past.  I wish I knew more people who dressed like this.

 We also saw a book shop which had been the home of Randolph Caldecott, the illustrator the Caldecott Medal is named for.  The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to a new American children's book with original illustrations.  Some of my favorite books as a kid, including Make Way for Ducklings, Where the Wild Things Are, The Polar Express, Mirette on the High Wire, and Officer Buckle and Gloria, are all previous medal winners.  (and if you haven't read these, do so immediately.  They are all fantastic and will brighten your day.)

Next we popped into the British Museum to see the Rosette Stone and the clock room.  The Rosetta Stone was neat, and reminded me of how cool learning about hieroglyphics was in elementary school.

 We were there until closing, and afterwards went back to dinner and the UCL dorms for an early-ish night.  Plus Black Swan, which I still hadn't seen.

On my one full day in the city we hit the two most exciting parts of my trip: the Freud Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

The Freud house was his residence and office for the last year of his life, from the family's escape from Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 until his death in 1939.  The Freuds were lucky enough to have help getting through border control, and so were able to take many of their belongings with them to England.  The museum is able to display Freud's famous couch for psychoanalysis, some of his massive antiquities collection, his library, and many other belongings.  They also have a collection of his daughter Anna Freud's belongings--she lived there until her death in 1982.  Also a psychoanalyst, Anna specialized in child psychology (and the relationship between development and parenting) and founded Hampstead War Nursery, a foster care center for children affected by the war.  Several years later (1947) a children's clinic was added. Anna Freud said: "I don't think I'd be a good subject for biography...not enough 'action'!  You would say all there is to say in a few sentences - she spent her life with children!" I actually think she's awesome.  

Both Freuds are really interesting as people, even if I don't agree with the most famous parts of Freud's theories. The museum was a really special, really dorky treat.

We were awarded these on the way out!

   We spent the afternoon at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which was founded as a museum of art and design, displaying marvels of craftsmanship and engineering.  It has amazing collections of my favorite museum items: table services, jewelry, theatre costumes, and fashion.  I had such an amazing time it will have its own post later on! 

 Plus, I love Queen Victoria (we would so have been best friends), and it was really interesting to learn more about British pop culture during her reign!

Busts of Victoria and Albert

Imitating one of my favorite historical figures :)

The guards actually had to kick me out-I was so not leaving until absolutely necessary! At that point we were both museum-ed out for the day, so we headed over to a different kind of institution: Harrods!

Totally unaffordable but very very pretty...especially the shoes.  I really need to get over my love of rhinestoned shoes-it's such a problem.

My final day in London we woke up early to see the 'treasures room' of the British National Library.  It was amazing!  There were works from all over the world, but my favorites were the ones about famous works--some of the earliest mentions of the Hamlet story and journal entries by authors such as Austen and Bronte.  There was also a really neat display of different publications of Alice in Wonderland, including the original Dodgson copy for the real Alice and his journals/letters.  I was especially fond of the Dali-illustrated version.

Dali's interpretation of the caterpillar scene

The rest of the day was spent doing traditional site-seeing: walking along the Thames, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey.  In the evening we caught a train to Edinburgh.  A whirlwind couple of days, but a wonderful trip!

the 'London Eye' from across the river

me with Big Ben

Westminster Abbey with some artsy-looking trees

St James Park 

a war monument near Buckingham Palace

outside the palace gates!

Spring Break: Luxembourg (part 2)

After a relatively relaxing first day, Lydie and I got down to business sight-seeing.  We drove to the capital city, Luxembourg City (mostly referred to as 'the capital'), and Lydie gave me the grand tour.  We also went shopping.
The buildings were lovely, and the city ranged from older areas that looked like an 18th century movie set to modern glass European Union buildings.

We made a stop at the city's main cathedral, which had a great timeline of the country and basic history, which I found really helpful.  I hadn't realized how many countries had claimed it before it became its own nation!  In fact, the country was part of the Roman empire, the Carolingian empire, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Prussia/the German Federation before its independence was ratified in 1867.
The cathedral itself was lovely, and the bells were much more musical than I expect church bells to be.

 The later history of the country was also very interesting, and I was very lucky to have the cathedral's display expanded on by my own private guide!  Actually, in general Lydie was a huge life-saver, because although Luxembourg has three official languages (Luxembourgish, French, and German) I speak none of them.  I know, I'm useless...but I could translate some of the Latin in the cathedral!
Anyways, during WWII the ruling monarch of Luxembourg, Grand Duchess Charlotte, was able to escape during the Nazi invasion and travel to London.  She was criticized for leaving her people, but became a symbol of Nazi opposition by broadcasting regular radio programs, and was able to speak to her people and encourage their resistance that way.  There is a statue in her honor in the capital.

 Given Luxembourg's multi-national history, I think the country's motto is perfect.  Here's a picture of it on one of the buildings.  It translates to "We want to remain what we are."

Luxembourg City also has great shopping, which we investigated after lunch.  There were a lot of designer stores, so I did a lot of looking-but-not-touching.  One shoe store we passed had the Manolo Blahnik shoes from the first Sex and the City Movie.  I don't really watch the show, but Lydie was very excited.

Chris Noth as Mr. Big proposes using the Blahnik heels in SatC

Lydie eyeing them through the glass

I may not be a die-hard Sex and the City fan, but I am certainly a shoe fan.  They were really gorgeous.
After our shopping and lunch break, we did some more sight-seeing, including some landmarks and the Casemates, underground forts part of the city's early structure.

the Nana statue

view from inside the Casemates

 The tunnels were really interesting, but small, dark, and a little scary.  Eventually we hit this massive spiral staircase that just kept going down and down and it got darker and darker...that was when we decided to call it a day and head back into the sun.

We also went to see the Palace, which is now a municiple building but still has the traditional guard out front.  Lydie had to run an errand so we also stopped by the new judicial buildings, which were very impressive, and the 'eternal flame', a war memorial.  Unfortunately, the flame wasn't burning very eternally in all the wind.

We finished the day in the capital with AMAZING hot chocolate and tiramisu cake from the chocolaterie across from the palace with one of Lydie's friends.  It was a really neat system: there were wooden spoons stuck into big blocks of chocolate in different flavors, and you chose the one you wanted, then stirred it into a mug of hot milk.  I tried pear and cinnamon in dark chocolate, which was delicious.

We spent the evening with Lydie's grandparents, which was really nice.  Neither of them spoke English so it was an interesting experience for me, and I especially loved their stories about meeting American GIs stationed in Luxembourg after WWII.

The next morning we got up early to tour a castle, which was on top of a big cliffy hill, the way proper princess castles are.

Inside there were several rooms to walk through, and some interesting displays about the uses of the castle and medieval warfare.  My favorite bits were the kitchen (obviously) and one of the bedrooms, which had a gorgeous canopy bed.

the castle chapel, with ceremonial well in the middle

stained glass including the Luxembourg crest

Oh hey, and also: Patrick Swayze filmed a movie there.  And signed a 'thank you' picture.

The movie came out in 2004, and is called George and the Dragon.  I found the preview on youtube.  It looks kind of horrendous, but it was filmed in Luxembourg, which is cool.


That afternoon we went to see the florist shop where Caroline works.  It was like walking into a magical garden, and really really pretty.  It also smelled really nice, which makes sense as it was full of flowers.  The we had ice cream.

Unfortunately, this is the point at which my camera died.  That night we taught Caroline and Ralph how to make sushi (something my family taught Lydie) and I got to play with their cat!
Sunday I had lunch with the family, which was delicious, and then Lydie, Caroline, Ralph, and I went hiking in a park called 'Little Switzerland' because of it's hills, and then roller skating on a path around a lake.  I also got to pet a really fluffy and adorable black lamb! Definitely a highlight.  I left early the next morning, and was definitely sad to go.

It was an amazing trip, and I highly recommend a few days in Luxembourg to anyone travelling that way.  The history is extremely rich and the countryside is gorgeous.  Personally, it also felt like hanging out with family, which was great.  Merci Beaucoup! Thank you very much Mariutto family.