First of all, I apologize for the centered orientation of this post. Blogspot is not cooperating with me at this point in time. Also it sometimes makes the font and font colors weird. Anyway, this weekend was hands down my favorite weekend of the London study abroad experience (even though it wasn't technically in London.) I would like to thank Uncle Johnny for his advice to go off the beaten path on unplanned trips, because that is exactly what we did and it was so much fun and very memorable!
June 13: First, we had our last day of class in the morning, which included a field trip to a bizarre gallery, a walk around Princess Diana’s memorial, and a trip to a market.
The Marina Abramović exhibition at Serpentine Gallery, located in the middle of Hyde Park, was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. We walked in, were told to leave all of our belongings in a locker including our cellphones, and to be completely quiet. We entered and saw an entirely white room with people standing quietly, at various angles, some with their eyes closed, some who were standing in one place but moving their arms slowly around their faces. The ones working there were wearing long black cloaks and walking extremely slowly, clutching the hands of visitors and softly instructing them to walk slowly, quiet their thoughts, and listen to the silence.
We were not told anything about this beforehand, and were all expecting a normal art gallery. My immediate thought was that it was a conformity experiment, because I felt so uncomfortable not being a part of the group, even though what they were doing was so strange. There were three rooms in total, and I felt especially awkward in one of them when everyone was facing toward the window and we weren’t.
So there I was, thinking I had figured it all out, and I was really enjoying the whole thing. I thought it was so cool because I thought maybe the artist was proving how wired we are to adapt to our surroundings. But it turns out that I should have read the plaque outside the exhibit, because I was completely wrong. It was actually a meditation sort of thing. You are supposed to face and reflect on your inner self. I found out later that this artist is known for her unique performance exhibits, and that there was a line (or queue) several hours long just to get into this exhibit when it opened a couple of weeks prior. So I am not the best at interpreting art, but it was awesome that so many people were really into the exhibit. I wondered how many of those people knew what they were getting into before they went, or if they went particularly to partake in the meditation.
Next on our field trip was a walk to Princess Diana’s memorial. Unlike other memorials, this one was meant to be a place meant for families to come and enjoy themselves, because its creators thought that that’s what Princess Diana would have wanted. It wrapped around a large majority of Green Park.
Our field trip eventually ended at the Tube, and I met the group going to Scotland at Kings Cross station. Platform 9 ¾ is quite the tourist attraction-they have a whole section where you can take your picture running your trolley into the wall of the station.
We took a four hour train ride to Edinburgh, and as soon as arrived we concluded that it exceeded all of our expectations. I never would have expected that upon riding the escalator out of the train station, we would hear bagpipes, see green rolling hills, the coastline, and a buzzing city center filled with old Scottish architecture all at the same time.
June 13: First, we had our last day of class in the morning, which included a field trip to a bizarre gallery, a walk around Princess Diana’s memorial, and a trip to a market.
The Marina Abramović exhibition at Serpentine Gallery, located in the middle of Hyde Park, was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. We walked in, were told to leave all of our belongings in a locker including our cellphones, and to be completely quiet. We entered and saw an entirely white room with people standing quietly, at various angles, some with their eyes closed, some who were standing in one place but moving their arms slowly around their faces. The ones working there were wearing long black cloaks and walking extremely slowly, clutching the hands of visitors and softly instructing them to walk slowly, quiet their thoughts, and listen to the silence.
We were not told anything about this beforehand, and were all expecting a normal art gallery. My immediate thought was that it was a conformity experiment, because I felt so uncomfortable not being a part of the group, even though what they were doing was so strange. There were three rooms in total, and I felt especially awkward in one of them when everyone was facing toward the window and we weren’t.
So there I was, thinking I had figured it all out, and I was really enjoying the whole thing. I thought it was so cool because I thought maybe the artist was proving how wired we are to adapt to our surroundings. But it turns out that I should have read the plaque outside the exhibit, because I was completely wrong. It was actually a meditation sort of thing. You are supposed to face and reflect on your inner self. I found out later that this artist is known for her unique performance exhibits, and that there was a line (or queue) several hours long just to get into this exhibit when it opened a couple of weeks prior. So I am not the best at interpreting art, but it was awesome that so many people were really into the exhibit. I wondered how many of those people knew what they were getting into before they went, or if they went particularly to partake in the meditation.
Next on our field trip was a walk to Princess Diana’s memorial. Unlike other memorials, this one was meant to be a place meant for families to come and enjoy themselves, because its creators thought that that’s what Princess Diana would have wanted. It wrapped around a large majority of Green Park.
Our field trip eventually ended at the Tube, and I met the group going to Scotland at Kings Cross station. Platform 9 ¾ is quite the tourist attraction-they have a whole section where you can take your picture running your trolley into the wall of the station.
We took a four hour train ride to Edinburgh, and as soon as arrived we concluded that it exceeded all of our expectations. I never would have expected that upon riding the escalator out of the train station, we would hear bagpipes, see green rolling hills, the coastline, and a buzzing city center filled with old Scottish architecture all at the same time.
In Scotland, even the fake cows wear kilts.
We made our way to our hostel, and were startled to find that it was actually a 19th century church converted into a funky modern hostel.
The halls were hand painted, and each room even had its own theme that matched the paint on the outside.
Our room's theme was phones. There was a mini-exhibit showing the chronology of telephones, beginning with this one:
We decided immediately that we loved Edinburgh.
June 14: We started the day off with a visit to Edinburgh Castle. We happened to get there at the exact time of the changing of the guard. We couldn’t really see too well, but it definitely was a big production. The castle was so large that we easily could have spent all day exploring it, looking at the views, and learning about Scottish history. We saw the crowned jewels, a memorial of all Scottish soldiers, a previous prisoner of war chamber, and a few other rooms.
Edinburgh Castle
Preparing for a day performing outside the castle:
Based on the interest of all the people in front of us, we assumed this was the changing of the guard:
From a true king's point of view:
Now inside the castle grounds:
One of many cannons:
Another changing of the guard, this time in front of the Scotland War Memorial:
Since that day was the Queen’s (fake) birthday, we saw the 21 gun salute in her honor:
Couldn’t leave without getting pictures with these guys. Fun Fact: All of the guards are real soldiers, but every once in a while they get shifts at the castle. The same is true of Buckingham Palace in London.
Unfortunately the Camera Obscura exhibit outside the castle was way over-priced, but the mirrors outside amused us enough. There are a couple of people in this photo who we definitely don't know.
After the castle we visited the Elephant House Café, which is where J.K. Rowling began writing the Harry Potter exhibit. This café is really lucky that she did that, because it has become a really popular tourist attraction and many people go only for that reason, like we did. The bathroom was the best part; it was covered in notes to J.K. Rowling and quotes from the movies.
I apologize for the excessive amount of pictures of this bathroom, but it really was the coolest thing to see that there are nerds just like me that came from all over the world and wrote in here.
Look closely at the writing underneath the typed text:
After spending way too much time in there, we left and saw that the Elephant House inspired a nearby cafe to take an interesting approach:
After jumping up (or getting pulled up if you have no upper body strength like myself) we saw that the monument was indeed real, and that there was even a nice lady who got really into taking our group photo.
It was a great place to observe the happenings below on the rest of Calton Hill and to sing spontaneous mountain songs together. One guy who was part of a large celebratory group shouted up a request to sing happy birthday to his friend, and so we did. Later we found out it wasn't actually her birthday, so I suppose the reason they were so excited about our singing was because they had successfully tricked some tourists.
From the top: I think it was here that we decided we must do a hike up one of these mountains, because they were far too numerous and beautiful not to conquer before we left.
Walking back down Calton Hill: Other Edinburgh monuments and picturesque green-ness
I don't know this girl, but she was sitting there reading and created a very stock-photo scene:
June 15
Today we decided to begin our hike before our journey home!
On our walk over to the mountain, we encountered a huge marathon. We didn't realize how big it was until we began to see the whole event from above, and we liked to pretend that the announcer was cheering on our hike in addition to the runners.
Making our way up (and singing the Beatles, of course)
We don't know the name of the mountain we chose, but we ended up calling it Fruit Mountain because our friend Colin mysteriously bought everybody fruit on our walk over there without saying a word, and when he distributed it once we reached the top we found it hilarious for some reason. Really it was very nice of him; it was just such an unexpected surprise to spontaneously receive an apple upon walking up part of a mountain. Then Sean revealed a box of chocolates from Hawaii, and it was too much excitement to contain.
Really, I don't know what got into us, but we all had a splendid time.
The whole crew enjoying the scenery of green valleys and Scottish houses.
Typical tourist picture wheeee
Coming Soon: Final London photos, Arrival in Prague, and Weekend in Berlin!
This was the end of an awesome journey but certainly only the beginning of another.
