Westminster Abbey

Today we visited the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. While the Tower was fascinating, the crown jewels are beautiful and the history is amazing, Westminster Abbey is awe inspiring. There are graves and plaques for every king, queen, poet, playwright, scientist, engineer, soldier and statesman you've ever hear of and then some.

It is huge and impressive beyond compare (well we visit Notre Dame in a couple months...we'll see), and it is simply wonderful.

In the section where scientists are found are Newton, Darwin, Lister, Wilberforce, Hershel, Green, Stokes, a plaque for Joule, Watt, and a dozen others. A walk through this building is literally a stroll through a thousand years of the British Empire carved in stone.

They're Here!

Leaving Heathrow

On Wednesday (22nd), the students began arriving. First the interns, then on Friday the rest of the students (shown above) arrived at Heathrow. Renee, Dietrich, and I went to the various terminals at Heathrow (there are 5, but most flights seems to come to 1, 3, 4, and 5) to greet the new arrivals and escort them to a meeting place. We then fetch the bus and we all head for Madison House.You'll not be very surprised to know that the 14 young women above filled the luggage area under this full size bus.

Highgate Cemetery

So are we all, eventually.

It's pronounced hi-gt, one syllable. It is one of the magnificent seven. One of the cemeteries created in the 1830s to deal with the burgeoning London population. We learned in our tour that at the peak, Londoners were dying at a rate of 17/day. The cemetery then was a very noisy place.

Bridge over the river Cam

Trinity College

On Saturday we visited Cambridge. An amazing town with hoards of bicycles everywhere and beautiful architecture abounding. The picture above shows the court yard at Trinity college. On the right is the Great Gate through which we entered the college. On the left is the Trinity Trinity Chapel. The section of the building in between, on the second floor (the British call it the 1st floor), in the middle is the room where Isaac Newton lived. He was admitted in June 1661 and he graduated in 1665. In 1665, he discovered the generalized binomial theorem and began to develop differential calculus. the university closed soon after he received his degree in August of that year.  In 1667, he returned to Cambridge as a fellow of Trinity.

Exploring London

The tube platform in East Finchley.

Since we went to Canterbury, we've been exploring and learning about London. Tuesday we were visited by the landlady while the heating systems was checked and certified and the lock in the front door was updated. It seems the mechanism in the front door dates from some time before 1982. In itself, this is no biggie. The problem was that the keys had narrow bits on them that were bent and this made operating the door hard in a poring rain.

A Canterbury Tale

Thomas Becket was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162 by King Henry II. In 1170, the conflict between Becket and the king reached a boiling point and the king had him murdered in the cathedral. This alter was installed in 1986 to mark the spot of his martyrdom. There is a plaque on a nearby will nothing that Pope John Paul and the then Archbishop knelt in prayer here.

Getting Oriented

Today we had an orientation meeting with Charlotte in the afternoon, so we decided to make a day of it and do some exploring. Above is a shot of the Great Blue Rooster (well, what would you call it?) in Trafalger Square.

We have arrived

This morning - middle of the night to all of you - we landed at Heathrow. Getting through immigration was a bit of a pill. We managed to find ourselves the one immigration officer that didn't really know what she was doing and we stood there for at least ½ an hour waiting while she talked first one person then another to figure out what visa to admit us with. Finally, she got us sorted out. By this time everyone on our flight was already through - not a full flight by any stretch. Our luggage was waiting on us. We loaded up a cart and waltzed through customs. The poor driver was wondering what happened to us. A delightful fellow. It was interesting to ride again on the left side of the road. Glad I'm not driving.

We've spend the day getting settled in. We walked down High street a bit and found something to eat, stopped at the grocery to pick up a few things for this evening and in the morning. After a bit we found the magic handbook with such vital information as the wireless password.

The picture above is of the back garden. We looked out the window and there was the fox. By the time I got there with the camera he was headed out the back. I tapped on the window and just as he turned his head, I got him.

I'd say we've arrived. We have a back garden (how British is that?), one that is visited by a fox (!), behind a house in East Finchley. Tomorrow we head into the city for a bit of exploring.

Hey, It doesn't look so cold

Back in the valley now sharing space with the "polar vortex". Vaguely reminiscent of a medical procedure, isn't it? Ever met a doctor or nurse with warm hands?

Having a cup of coffee in Staunton while E has an appointment. Looking out the window it could be summer or the year 2034 since there is no vegetation in the scene. However, do not be fooled. It was 3 degrees this morning when we finally emerged from our hotel room in Harrisonburg. It is not quite 18 degrees now. Single digits are again promised for tonight.

Hanging out in DC

So. Just in time for the snow storm, we go to DC. Caught the Metro on Friday to the national mall to visit the National Museum of the American Indian. Really great place to visit. Every other museum I've been to is about stuff: paintings, sculpture, artifacts, etc. This is the first museum I've visited that is all about people. Great stories. Great traditions. Beautiful artwork. Humanity. Also great food in the restaurant. Don't miss it.

And then there is the National Botanic Garden.

Pet sitting

Our house sitting gig involved a cat (Zoe) and a dog (Raven). Two handsome and very well-behaved critters.