I went down to the Imperial War Museum around 10. It's in an old insane asylum, Bedlam, which I think I've heard of before. I was talking with people on the floor today, and they said my building used to be a mental institution as well. Weird.
Anyways, when you walk into the building, it's sort of like going to the National Aeronautic and Space Museum where they have all the planes hanging from the ceiling. But here they had the tanks all around on the ground too.
I have to say, I'm usually not one for looking at tanks and guns, but this museum was great. They focused on mostly WWI and on, which I thought was fascinating. As an American, the World Wars were distant, the impact wasn't really felt. We sent people over there, some on the ground, some in the air, while we hung out in America with no real concern for our lives. In the UK, they were getting bombed on a nightly basis. The battleground was their homes. What really struck me was reading about how families would go sleep in the Tube stations. It made the war so much more real.
They had great exhibits, one on WWII through the eyes of children, what their lives were like. They also had a recreated trench from WWI which was interesting. I got a kick out of the propaganda posters and I spent a long time watching video from V-Day.
Then I went upstairs to the art galleries on war (not that exciting) and finally up to the Holocaust exhibit.
It was terrific. I spent hours in it. It really showed the evolution of the war, the rise and fall of Hitler, how his ideas came to me, the processes that were undertaken, and it was done in a graphic but respectful way. They had recordings from people that experienced it first-hand, lots of information, and the displays were all well done. It made me think of Dr. Schmidt out in Hungary on a train saving Jews, it brought really vivid images, made me realize how amazing his story is again.
I went through the entire exhibit, it was brutal but fascinating. I spent much more time than I thought I would there, so I decided to skip the Victoria and Albert Museum today and go to the Wellcome Foundation exhibits, which I had to for class by tomorrow. It was medical exhibits, and the big new exhibit was none other than War and Medicine. So after spending a few depressing hours in the Holocaust, I got to learn about blown off limbs and melted faces and some Nazi experiments thrown in as well. It was alright, but after the other museum I wasn't going to spend too much time there.
I came home, made a pizza, and wrote a column that I sent to RedEye. I like this one, if they don't take it, I'll send it around to some other places, I feel like it can find a home. I also sent an interview I did with Sebastien Grainger to Londonist (part of the Gothamist network which I read a lot, espeically for things to do) and they ran it with one of the photos I took at the show on Friday. It's not pay, but it's a good outlet for things here. It can be read here.
Since it was a nice day out, I didn't want to sit around in my dorm, espeically while I had the weekly pass for the Tube, so I went down to the Westminster stop and went to church.
I wanted to watch the choir at Westminster Abbey since the last time I was there, and since they gave free performances at five most days, I went for it. I got there around 4:30 and they let us wander for a little bit before bringing us back to the choir stalls. I had a seat in the top row, a row behind part of the choir. The choir was really impressive, it was all boys, from probably 6 or 7 up to their 40s, mostly young boys though. They were errie in that old cathedral, and incredibly good. It turned into more of a serive than I expected. I was standing and kneeling and reading prayers, I even think we all confessed on behalf of the entire world.
The Evensong lasted for maybe a half hour, well worth it. Just to get into the church for free for about an hour was great, let alone hear the choir. As we left, we literally walked over the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, pretty incredible.
Since I was in the area, I walked across the street to Parliament and asked if the House of Lords were in session. They were, so I went got a pass and basically waltz right in. Unlike the House of Commons, there was no glass barrier. You are pretty much on top of the Lords. The room was also more decorative, with the throne for the Queen there and the fact that it wasn't destroyed during WWII like the Commons was. They were talking about a bill about marine access, of which I understood about nothing. I stayed for a half hour, and for much of the time, I was the only person in the viewing gallery.
Once again I wandered around Westminster Hall and took some photos. I would pay just to get in there, and on top of it I got to see a debate. It's too bad the US doesn't have this kind of access.
I walked along the Thames to the next Tube stop before going home again, made a veggie burger, sent the column, and got ready for bed. With my sleep so messed up, I figure it wouldn't hurt to sleep early tonight. I didn't get to book any trips, which I hope I'll do tomorrow. I also want to call Dr. Schimdt to see when he's going to be in Spain, I'm sort of nervous to call him though.
Other than class tomorrow, I also want to go get the Cairo stuff rolling, so I need to stop by the International House, I can probably do that in between classes tomorrow.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment