Frolicking

Parks and playgrounds are wonderful things. Perhaps not quite as wonderful as Tiggers...actually I may be in the wrong country for that. Anyway, green spaces and imaginative possibilities are wonderful for children and really people of all ages.

Today our group visited Hyde Park/Kensington  Gardens, and Memorials to Princess Diana of Wales. Hyde Park has quite a bit more to offer compared to the many squares and gardens around London. Though there are still wide open spaces for many of the same activities as the other green spaces of London, water is much more prevalent in Hyde Park. Along with a pond near Kensington Palace, there is Lake Serpentine, where park goers can rent pedal-boats and row boats to enjoy the lake and get up close to swans, ducks, and other foul swimming along.

Another piece of water that is significant in this area the Round Pond where, according to J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan sails across and lands each night to play once the Gardens are closed to the public. In that area now stands a statue that was put up over night. Barrie wanted it to appear as if by magic. It's a beautiful statue with Peter at the top and fairies scrambling up to him.

We also visited two memorials to Princess Diana of Wales. The first is also related to Peter Pan in that a pirate ship can be found there. I am, of course, talking about the Princess Diana of Wales Memorial Playground. This playground has typical playground things, like swings, slides, and things to climb on, but it also has a Pirate Ship, teepees, a storytime area, and interactive music stations. I've noticed quite a few moments of interactivity for children in the places I've visited here in London. The Museum of London offered touch screens to play with and hats to try on; at the Architecture museum in Paris, children were invited to try to recreate building structures, put together stained glass windows and create their own characters. At the Victoria and Albert, there were a few interactive sections, one in particular encouraged visitors to try their hand at perspective drawings. Interactivity is important for learning. For instance, if someone just showed me various forms of multi-media I wouldn't learn as much about them as I am by creating multi-media of my own.

What's also phenomenal about the playground is that it is only open to people with children. There is a special hour--from 9 to 10am--where adults without children may visit, but once the playground opens at 10, you will be asked to leave. I was making my way toward the exit when a worker stopped me to be sure that that was exactly what I was doing. This ensures that the kids and parents feel comfortable in the playground and also prevents vandalism. Frolicing

There is a second memorial for Princess Diana which is a memorial fountain, except it's not like any usual fountain. Instead it's more like a really shallow lazy river and is a place for children of all ages to frolic and cool off on a hot summer's day. The fountain is quite beautiful and has a couple of different drop offs to keep it interesting. Children in various forms of dress and undress were enjoying the cool water. While sitting back in the shade, I watched three girls circle four or five times in the twenty or so minutes I was there. I also noticed that some little ones had swimwear that resembles swimwear from the twenties. It was definitely made for water, but it had longer legs, more like shorts, and sleeves. My only guess is that this is because the water was quite cool even though the day was very warm.

The day was topped off with high tea at the Orangery near Kensington Palace. When we arrived our tables were set up with our tea trays, lemon water, and cups awaiting very hot tea. It was a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Brittany was our table's guide to proper tea etiquette--we were sure to start at the bottom with the sanwhiches and work our way to the top for sweets. I'm very glad that I had the opportunity to enjoy high tea in London.

Finally, Mexico is not speaking to me today because I forgot to take him with me. He really wanted to see the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. Pikachu, on the other hand, was thrilled to not be left home alone again.

Fastpass

Day 2 of my Paris trip was also jam packed with activity, excitement, and even a little flirtation.

While visiting the Louvre on Friday Angela noticed a sign for Museum Passes, which allows access to 60+ Museums and other sights of Paris. The pass cost 35 euro for two days. I referred to as my Disney Fastpass because twice we were able to bypass long ticket lines and go right in. So the pass not only saves money, but time, which is quite valuable on short trips.

Cassie enjoying the interactive features
of the Architecture Museum. She's creating
 her own stained glass window.

A small group of us stuck together throughout the day and visited a few of the lesser known museums of Paris, including De L'Architecture & Du Patrimoine and the Musee National De La Marine (the Architecture and Maritime museums, respectively). The Architecture museum holds many replicas of various popular architectural marvels including Notre Dame Cathedral. As Angela pointed out, it's just as amazing and important to see replicas and reproductions as it is to see the real thing. In some cases it's actually better because you can get closer to the reproduction. It's also pretty outstanding because some of the pieces, like archways, were used in the architecture of the museum building.

Full bodied masthead

The second Museum we flitted off to (and conveniently located right next to the Architecture Museum) was the Maritime Museum. This was awesome because boats and things having to do with boats are awesome. When you first walk in there's a glittering ship having something to do with Napoleon. It's pretty interesting, but I preferred the carved mastheads, including the full-bodied masthead. This statue is quite rare in that it is one the few to survive in excellent condition.

Another piece that caught my eye was the diorama showing how the Obelisk was moved from Egypt to Paris. It seems like it was a difficult undertaking, because before moving the structure they had to "wrap" it in a wooden shell to prevent damage. I intend to find out more about this subject when I get back. There were a few bonuses at the museum too: our cards got us audio guides so we could get more information about certain objects, and many of the placards provided explanations in both French and English.

Close up of the Obelisk Model: The wooden obelisk is the "case."

View from the top of the Arc.

We also made our way to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. This was one entrance where we fastpassed it. There was a rather long line of people waiting to purchase tickets. We walked up to see what we had to do, and someone flashed a museum pass at the guy guarding the door. The rest of us showed our passes and headed up to the top without any waiting. It was 284 steps the top. One the way to the first level I had to pause because apparently it was a race. Luckily there was a perfect spot to rest and make my heart stop pounding. It's also good that I don't mind losing.

Events following dinner were the best part of the day. Cassie and I made our back to the metro to once again visit the Eiffel Tower. Along the way a very cute Lebanese guy with a wonderful smile asked Cassie for directions to the Tower. He'd been wanting to see it since he was six years old. He actually missed his stop because he was chatting with Cassie. Needless to say, this encounter made her quite giddy. When we reached the top of the steps at the Trocadero and the Tower started glittering there was nothing to keep her from jumping up and down. We stuck around and saw it sparkle again at 11pm.

Whoever told Cassie to be sure to see the Eiffel Tower at night is a wonderful human being. It was absolutely beautiful. Seeing it lit up at night made me realize why they sell gold versions of it. If you are ever in Paris for the night, be sure to head over to the Trocadero and watch it glitter.

Sparkling Eiffel Tower

Paris!!

Gallery in the Louvre

Paris on Friday was a bit fast paced, but it was an opportunity to hit the highlights in a day.

We started with a two-hour dash in the Louvre. That may sound like a long time to some, but considering the size and the famous pieces that are in the Louvre, it's not much at all. On this trip I came across the Mona Lisa, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and Liberty Leading the People, just to name a few. Although the Louvre is a huge tourist attraction the only way to really get the history while you're there is to take a guided tour or an audio tour in your native language. I kept trying to check out the placards to get more information on the piece to discover that it was all in French. You might be looking for pictures of these things, and they do exist but they are awfully fuzzy. There are two reasons for this: 1) You're not supposed to use a flash in the Louvre and 2) some were very difficult to get close to.

Once we regrouped, we were off on a tour bus that lets you hop on and hop off at various points around the city. Our destination was the Eiffel Tower, which took about an hour to get to, simply because the route is very circuitous. I was enjoying riding up top taking pictures of the sights. All of a sudden I looked to my left and there was the Eiffel Tower. Even though I was in Paris it was a bit of a surprise, and a reminder that I wasn't in London anymore. Once we stopped it's clear to see how large the structure is. I'm sure the view from the top is amazing, but there was no time on this trip.

Sandcastle along the Siene spotted
during the boat ride.

We hopped back on the bus and headed toward Notre Dame, where we were to catch a boat for a tour along the Siene. This had to have been my favorite part of the day. Riding along in the boat was breezy and there were more opportunities for fantastic pictures. Also, Dr. Everhart and her husband Harry had a surprise for us. They started passing out glasses and Harry popped bottles of Peach Champagne. (We must hunt this down for New Year's next year, it was delicious!). We rode along the Siene listening the tour in three languages and enjoying not trudging around with our full packs.

Following the ride was some free time. I walked around the outdoor stalls with Kalyca and was happy to see that some of them sold maps like one I picked up in Ireland. I didn't have much time to browse before we were due to meet up again for dinner.

Dinner was another best part of the day. We crowded into a restaurant that caters to groups. We each chose a starter, an entree, and a dessert and the wine, soda, or water was as much as we could drink. Wine tastes so much better in France.  All the food was delicious, but this was only the second full group dinner we have had. The first was within the first few days of our arrival. Now that everyone knew each other better, we spent hours eating, drinking and chatting. We were all very sad when Dr. Everhart said it was time for those not staying in Paris to head back.

After finding our hotel, the remaining group conked out for the night. We had all gotten up around 3:30am or so to make our way to Paris by train, which left at 5:25am. The excitement of spending the day in Paris (and the Eiffel Tower keychain salesmen, which I'll talk more about later), were enough to keep us all awake.

It was an extraordinary day in Paris and if I had left Friday, I would have an amazing memory to take with me. Luckily, I stayed so there are more amazing memories to share. There were also a few difficulties during the day. For example, we stopped at a little take-out bakery place to pick up a quick lunch for the bus ride, and when the woman told me my total, I had no idea what she was talking about. They seem to be used that, however, and she just pointed to the register so I would know what to hand over. The other thing is that it is much harder to determine what something really costs (to my American mind) in euros than in pounds, especially since I've been dealing with pounds for the last few weeks.

Viola! The Eiffel Tower


You may be asking yourself, why I've posted pictures of this twice with that title. During our boat ride, the guide explaining various points sent our attention to the Eiffel Tower using that exact phrase. She sounded bored though, as if she had just taken a moment and placed it there merely for our amusement and pleasure.

Library!

Today our group visited Platform 9 3/4 quarters and the British Library!

King's Cross Station is currently undergoing a renovation, so Platform 9 3/4 has (temporarily?) been moved up and out of the station. This assists with construction and the daily commute of many not having to deal with Harry Potter fans flocking to the placard. Hopefully, once King's Cross has been renovated, the platform will be returned to its rightful place.

The British Library, like many other sites of London, has more to offer than one can see in a time-limited capacity. Today our focus was on the Treasures Gallery and the Reading Rooms.  The Treasures Gallery gets its name because it holds many unique books and documents. I had a look at Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, A Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare quartos, and a copy of the Magna Carta.

Although the library has these priceless pieces as part of its collection, it also has many modern titles in a broad range of categories. For example, when Cassie and I visited the Reading Rooms, one of her selections was The Art of Finding Nemo, and I pulled a book titled Cats in Books. My selection was actually a lot more interesting than I what I thought it would be; it covered the history of cats and where they are found in familiar titles through the ages.

The most interesting aspect of this library is that everything is library-use-only. You request your materials and read them in one of the many reading rooms available. You also have the option of asking them to hold the materials again for your next visit. The procedures for the Reading Rooms was a lot like using The Smather's Library at UF. You can only have the materials you need, like a notebook, laptop, and only a pencil. The difference at the British Library: you show your ID to enter, keep all your materials in a clear plastic bag (which is checked when you exit), and give your seat number to the desk so they know where to find you if the materials don't make it back.

I recognize that the British Library's purpose as a place of research rather than a place for recreation. As much as I enjoyed using my new British Library Card to access the reading rooms and taking a look at some materials from their collection, open libraries are definitely more my speed. I like the idea of individuals entering and browsing to find what happens to suit them at that particular moment in time.

I'll be incommunicado for a few days while I explore PARIS! See you on Monday.

Backtrack

Tonight, I'm going to back up a few days. Monday's blog consisted of information related to my video project, so I didn't relay the information of the day.  Monday's roaming included a trip to the Museum of London and an official inside tour of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Close up of the old leather fire hat.

The Museum of London could also be called the History Museum of London. It follows the city's history from before the Romans to the present. The museum houses artifacts, replicas, and popular culture items in eye catching and interesting displays. I also like that they had hands-on things to do throughout. Many of the informational placards had a (computer) mouse icon, meaning you could head to the nearest computer bank for more information. There were also hats and shoes to try on from Medieval times as well as trying out the old versus new fire helmets. 

Mexico having lunch in the park.

Next was lunch in St. Paul's Churchyard. This was favorite part of the day. After chowing down with my classmates, it was relaxing to stay in the park and people watch. My digital story from today has many of the covert pictures I snagged in the churchyard, including one couple that were enjoying each other more than their lunch.

I think the most interesting aspect of this is that it involves every type of person. There was a man in a suit napping nearby, families enjoying the day, along with various other groups and duos here and there. I imagine the impetus for lunching in the park is the result of the difference between dining in and getting take away at many of the popular lunch spots. For example, Pret A Manger's products cost more if you eat them in the store.

St. Paul's dome.

The last part of the day was visiting St. Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral and its history is incredibly vast and intriguing. Christopher Wren was inspired by the architecture and decoration in Catholic Churches, but was forbidden to include anything remotely Catholic in the cathedral.  Even though Wren never saw it as it looks today, it's been updated with decorations added to fulfill his full vision of the marvelous cathedral. He's buried in the crypt with a very simple stone marking the place. But really, what better monument could he have than St. Paul's?

I'll also mention briefly that I have seen three shows while vising London. They are Billy Elliot, The 39 Steps, and Anne Boleyn. I also have my ticket for Les Miserables next week (so excited!!) I have a post about the four shows in the works. Keep an eye out next week for my London Theatre experiences.