Tag: History

Britain, Expat, Humor, London, Travel, University October 9, 2014October 9, 2014

Cambridge Part 3: King’s College

“Cambridge was a joy. Tediously. People reading books in a posh place. It was my fantasy. I loved it. I miss it still.”
– Zadie Smith

King’s College is the jewel in the Cambridge crown. It’s a glorious Early Modern architecture find with the imprint of the Tudors all over it, and the chief attraction is the chapel. The spires dominate the whole city and in good weather (which we had, because the weekend gods were kind) the composition just gleams.

When Mum was a student we could get into the chapel for free. So when I was on “study abroad,” and therefore dashing home on weekends with armfuls of friends in tow for home cooked meals and general Rodgers clan entertaining, we’d wander through it before trotting down to the Cam to be punted along the river by attractive male students in various degrees of shirtless-ness. Memories.

This visit was much more dignified. I adore the chapel for another reason: it’s choir. Come Christmas time, they dominate the both my iPod and Spotify and I wander around in a state of perpetual fuzzy holiday bliss.

That fan vaulted ceiling at one point was the wonder of Britain. Architecture nerd fact.

We took our time going over every nook and cranny of the chapel and I found many delightful elements I hadn’t noticed before.

Like the greyhound on the right, which looks like it’s judging us.

Afterwards we wandered down to the river a bit and circumnavigated the grounds. The weather has taken a sharp turn for the chilly this week but up until then, this summer and early fall have been absolutely glorious and the gardens have lasted much longer than usual.

Britain, History, Humor, London October 1, 2014September 26, 2014

Tall Ships Festival Part II

“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
― William Shedd

Some more shots from the Tall Ships Festival around the Royal Naval College and the Cutty Sark. The day started out fairly overcast but cleared up beautifully by the afternoon and I got to enjoy the sun bathed history to my heart’s content. Royal Museums Greenwich had a naval encampment on its green to show some of the skills employed by the navy and river-side Thames dwellers who supported them.

Not quite Horatio Hornblower, but pretty nifty all the same.

Blacksmith.

Wool dyeing with natural and old school methods.

Cartography.

Call out the marines!

Unlike some of the other vessels, the Cutty Sark is not a small ship.

Lord Nelson is feeling serious.

Sir Walter Raleigh is feeling sassy.

Britain, History, Humor, London September 29, 2014September 26, 2014

Tall Ships Festival Part I

“A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.”
― Herman Melville

I think that it’s easy for some people to forget that Britain, with all its history and wars and books and world impact…is a group of decently small islands. There isn’t a spot that is more that 70 miles from a coastline throughout the whole of the country, the sea is ever present. Plus through much of recorded history, Britain was covered with bogs and marshes in addition to being crisscrossed by rivers. In other words, boats and ships have been an intrinsic part of British history.

This is especially true in London with its prime spot along the Thames. It has been a major travel and shipping hub for centuries and if you take a look at almost any historical representation of the city, you will see ships depicted as lining the river with masts as thick as as forest. Though the Thames is a lot less crowded these days, it’s fun to get a glimpse of the city’s maritime history, which is why I trotted along to the Tall Ships Festival in Greenwich a few weeks ago.

A mix of historical presentation and street food, this sort of thing was straight up my alley and I ended up walking nearly six miles along the river to look at the variety of sailing ships moored so that visitors could have a chance to board and get a sense of what this vessels were like. There were also costumed interpreters and amateur naval enthusiasts parading around in clever and wacky get ups as only the British seem to be able to do.

What most people don’t realize is that most sailing ships were tiny, almost unbelievably small. Explorers and privateers circumnavigated the globe in crafts not much longer than a bus with about as much personal space. As a child I had some idea that ships were solid things but getting to see them up close and personal you realize that they are as much rope as they are beams and are quite literally tied together in a lot of cases. One wrong knot and you’ve lost a major function that could leave you and your entire crew lost at sea.

At one point, the British navy was virtually populated by kidnapped men and criminals, largely commanded by child officers who had purchased commissions, and funded by a prize system that turned almost everyone into privateers. It was kept in check by a system of legalized brutality and fueled with some of the worst food imaginable with a side of drunkenness. And it was a system that conquered the world, led to some of the most important scientific finds of human history, and kicked off globalization. A complicated history that deserves being better known.

Britain, Expat, History, London, Travel September 17, 2014September 16, 2014

House Guards and Horses

“It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.”
― Adlai E. Stevenson II

Meandering past Horse Guards Parade in Westminster a couple of weeks ago, we got the unexpected pleasure of seeing the riders and horses put through their paces. The Household Cavalry are made of of some of the most prestigious regiments of the British Army due to the fact that they are members of the Queen’s personal guard. Their history goes back to the 17th century and their museum (housed in the Horse Guards building), which forms the traditional entrance to St. James’s Palace, is well worth seeing if you’re interested in British military history.

The first hint that something was going on was the sound of hooves on stone.

Inspection.

The other half of the guards regiment (the Life Guards are in Red, the Royal House Guards and and 1st Dragoon, also called the Blues and Royals, are in the blue. For obvious reasons).

Of course, the men are only half of the stars of the show.

I was really impressed to see the riders actually on guard while on horseback. Specifically that the horses were tolerating the hordes of tourists butting up against them to try and get pictures without kicking them straight in the head. I was waiting for some kind of equine disaster, but the training the horses get is impeccable.

Britain, History, Humor, London September 9, 2014

To Arms!

“The age of chivalry is past. Bores have succeeded to dragons.”
― Charles Dickens

Specifically, the College of Arms. I found its location entirely by accident on a long wander one afternoon and spent the rest of the walk schooling Jeff on various assorted history. He was attentive but admittedly uninterested, so you minions get the lesson instead. Which you will appreciate, yes?

The College is one of the few remaining authoritative heraldic organizations left in Europe. It’s been in operation since Richard III and is charged with the keeping of records related to pedigree and usage of coats of arms. If you are granted a coat of arms yourself, this is the institution that would develop it and store the history of the family. Historically one of the most important tasks of the College was to mediate the legal battles of who got to claim and wear which coats of arms and symbols.

This is done in the fantastically named Court of Chivalry. But don’t get too excited, there’s precious little jousting. Like I said, the battles were mostly legal to resolve disputes about heredity. And if you know your British history, heredity can be ridiculously complex for something that held the entire system together.

For example, the head of the operation is the Earl Marshal, a hereditary office held by the Dukes of Norfolk. Though every single Duke has descended in some way or another from Edward I, there have actually been multiple creations of the title. The family that’s held the title since the 15th century are the Howards, who are the second most historically powerful and ranked clan of British peerage after the Royal Family. The family is also the most historically prominent Catholic family in Britain, no mean feat after the various Reformations, Counter Reformations, Civil Wars, and various Acts of Parliaments to limit Catholic rights. By an Act, no Catholic can become monarch, which is why we got the German Hanover family and all their various Georges in the 18th century. The government had to bypass 50 people with a better blood claim to the throne in order to find a suitable Protestant in George I who could not speak a word of English at the time.

Something that I found fascinating in learning more about the College (why, what do YOU do on the weekends?) was that contrary to almost universal popular belief, coats of arms are not technically held by a family. They are held by an individual or a corporate body like a guild. So if you think there’s a coat of arms associated with your family, bad news. You’re probably one of the many twigs on the family tree who isn’t entitled to claim it.

See? Interesting!

Britain, History, Humor, London August 11, 2014August 6, 2014

London Snapshot

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
― Winston Churchill

Britain’s in the midst of honoring the first year of WWI this year, but this monument is one of my favorite wartime memorials in London. A little vague, still deeply appreciated.

A handbook was issued to American GIs stationed in Britain during WWII that cautioned them how to behave to British women. It pointed out how most of the women they encountered, whether in uniform or out, had been at war a lot longer than they had and had already sacrificed time, skills, labor, and lives to the cause. They had mobilized to grow food, work in factories, provide medical and military service, run businesses, protect communities, and perform critical work to keep the nation together. As such, the handbook stressed they deserved to be treated respectfully as comrades in arms. So say we all.

Britain, History, Humor, London July 24, 2014July 22, 2014

London Snapshot

“Funerals, I had decided, are for the living.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

This business has been operating as long as my nation. Gallows humor?

Britain, Expat, Food, History, Humor, London July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

There is only one fish and chip shop in London

“Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

At least, one worth knowing. The Golden Hind, named for Sir Francis Drake’s famous ship, is 100 years old and has been serving acclaimed fish and chips for the entire time. It’s an absolute culinary landmark in London and a required stop on any gastronomic tour of the city.

The shop itself is not grand. The tables and chairs are beat up and wooden, I’m not entirely sure they all matched, and the crockery is utilitarian. The cash registers are straight out of the 80s and the decor is minimal and mostly involves photographs from the city area in the early 20th century. Don’t let that fool you. There is almost always a line to get in, and you need to go in slightly off-peak hours to guarantee a seat.

The plaque detailing the ownership of the Hind.

The only major deviation in the menu is the type of fish you can serve, and the sides that can accompany your main course. I recommend the cod, which along with haddock is the traditional choice. The fish slabs are absolutely massive, I could barely finish a third of mine on our last visit, it was easily the length of my arm from fingertip to elbow. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t order the chips, though. Slather those suckers in vinegar and get stuck in!

Feminism, History, Humor, Religion July 14, 2014July 17, 2014

Shallow and deep all at once

“I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.”
― Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

A friend sent me one of those silly Buzzfeed quizzes, which I decided to take for fun. “Which is your patron saint?” However, when one of the questions turned out to be…

…given my longstanding personal conflict, I couldn’t help but smile.

I guess I’ll take it.

Britain, History, Humor, London, Travel July 7, 2014July 6, 2014

London Snapshot

“The train is a small world moving through a larger world.”
― Elisha Cooper, Train

Please read the following sign in the voice of a campy super hero, put an exclamation point on the end and add any “POW!” or “ZAP” signs you need for effect.

Small Dog Syndrome

Tag: History

Cambridge Part 3: King’s College

Tall Ships Festival Part II

Tall Ships Festival Part I

House Guards and Horses

To Arms!

London Snapshot

London Snapshot

There is only one fish and chip shop in London

Shallow and deep all at once

London Snapshot

Humor. Opinions. Life in London.

Humor. Opinions. Life in London.

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