London

London:                                                               By: Haley Sefton

Our journey then took to the great city of London.  We started off visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral, the first Protestant Cathedral for Church of England and the seat of the bishop of London.  The original St. Paul’s cathedral burned down during the Great Fire of London in 1666.  Christopher Wren, a famous architect in almost every major site in England, rebuilt St. Paul’s in the late 17^th century in an English Baroque, late Renaissance style.

Today, St. Paul’s is a huge tourist attraction, not only because of its religious influence, but because of famous people who had visited, or got married there, like Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales.  The funerals of famous prime ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher were also at St. Paul’s.  Moreover, the magnificent stained class and the open sermons to the public draw large audiences to witness this historical ritual in St. Paul’s.

After our walk from St. Paul’s, we visited the Museum of London.  It was constructed around 1976, and is free to the public.  The exhibits range from prehistoric London, known as “London before London”, and all the way up to the present.  The exhibits do a great job of showing hundreds of years of history into a great timeline as you go along. We also got the chance to see pictures and replicas of buildings before the Great Fire or even before they were destroyed by bombings during the World Wars. 

From here, we all seperated and began to discover the city ourselves. We also visited the Millennium Bridge, a walking bridge, convieniently located acorss the River. Thousands of people walk acorss each day to enjoy these beautiful sites. During our walk across we saw the Shard, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and the London Bridge. 

 

Two of the students visted Kings Cross Station platform 9 3/4. It was made famous and became a popular site from the Harry Potter movies.

 

 

We ended our night by using the subway sysstem, known as the Tube, we journeyed to Camden Town, and had dinner and shopped around. Now, learning the Tube system as well as the bus system, we all can be real international travelers (hopefully!!!)

Hampton Court Palace

By, Erin Zito

Hampton Court Visit: 5/26/2013



Walking up to Hampton Court Palace

We started off our day at the beautifully constructed Hampton Court Palace, which began to be built around the year 1514.  This is a site of interest for many tourists, as well as locals, for it was a favorite of Henry VIII and the rest of the Tudor monarchy, although it was originally built for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.  Today, Hampton Court is separated into the exhibits of Mantegna’s Triumphs of Caesar, Henry VIII’s apartments and kitchens, William III’s apartments, Mary II’s apartments, Georgian private apartments, and the story of a young Henry VIII.  Its rich history and grandeur architecture show off the power, authority, and all over influence of monarchies.

  

Portrait of Henry VIII in his "apartment"

Hampton Court Palace conveys many different architectural styles stemming from the different time periods in which it was built.  When touring, you can see Tudor, Baroque, as well as many other influences throughout the Palace.



Base Court entrance

The Great Hall in Henry VIII"s apartment

As you enter the Base Court, your eyes are struck with the beautiful architecture and infrastructure of Hampton Court. One of the main displays in Hampton Court during our visit was the Royal Bedchambers.  The Royal Bedchambers are the best example of the theme of our class, that being “Power and Authority”.  These bedchambers were separate and unique for the king and the queen where their guests could gossip, mingle, and wait to be called into the bedchamber for separate time with the monarchs.

Entrance to the Royal Bedchambers exhibit

One of the most interesting things of the exhibit is the emphasis on a lock and key.  Who ever held the key to the bedchambers was the most powerful.  It’s hard for many today to imagine how just a simple lock and key were so important back then, as well as just how a couple of minutes that you could get to gossip or mingle with a king or queen definitely showed off your power as well.  



You can read more about the exhibit on the Hampton Court Website if you click HERE

The Pond Garden

One of the most beautiful parts (at least to us!) of the Palace are the Botanical Gardens.  There are 60 acres of these magnificently structured gardens are right along the River Thames and the Palace.  There are a plethora of unique flowers, roses, trees, and vines blowing in the wind, pushing the smells of these gardens around for all to experience.  The Privy Gardens were beautifully restored, and the Maze is a great sight to see, if you don’t get lost!  At the very least, you can visit the world’s largest and oldest grape vine that is over 230 years old! 

Back of the Palace near the Botanical Gardens

In the gardens, you can also see the Great Fountain Garden, The Tiltyard, The Wildnerness, The Knot Garden, and Home Park, all with a different experience and sight to see.  These gardens show off the luxurious lifestyle the people who lived here were accustomed too.  With that, they also show the history unfolding in front of your eyes with differing time periods influencing the gardens' structure. 

Learn more about the Botanical Gardens and click HERE!

The River Thames flowing near Hampton Court

Prodigal Luggage Returns

 (SRU Wroxton)

It has been a long (LONG) wait... but Dr. Paradis' checked luggage has been returned to her after 3 days. It decided to take a detour from our PITT-PHILLY flight and went to Phoenix without us. Thankfully it has been returned.

Oxford & Oxford University

(Brenda & AJ)         

SRU Wroxton College Summer '13 (Not pictured: Dr. Paradis)

  Oxford, one of the most historic cities in England, is widely known for Oxford University. Oxford University is one of the most prestigious universities in Europe. Made up of 38 individual colleges, Oxford University takes up the majority of the city of Oxford. To some, the concept of 38 colleges forming a University might be confusing. OU is unique in the way that each student that is enrolled here attends an individual college, for example the Christ Church College which specializes in producing graduates who have entered the professions within politics or another of the colleges: Magdalen College which specializes in Art. A couple of other colleges visited by the SRU group were; All Souls College and the Queens College. One fascinating thing is that each college has a quadrangle. This is the quadrangle at Christ's Church College:

 One sight sure to behold is the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. The Library is built above the old divinity school of Oxford. The main class room of the Divinity School is beautiful and its architecture is fascinating. The most fascinating part of the school room is the ceiling. Each section told a different part of the buildings history from its donors to the master stone mason himself, all had their own shields and characteristics added within the gorgeous stone work.

William Penn, Founder of Pennsylvania

Christ's Church College, Oxford University

 Christ's Church College also has beautiful ceilings and architecture that can be seen. The most exciting aspect here though is not necessarily the architecture, although it is fascinating to behold, but the dining room brings a different crowd of a magical sort. The Dining rooms at Christ Church College as well as some of the hallways and stairs were used in the filming of J.K. Rawlings Harry Potter movies. Many fans of the movies make a trip just to see the room for this occasion. However while taking in all the magical essence of the occasion, the group stumble upon a piece of Pennsylvania History. William Penn’s portrait hangs in the great hall or the dining room at Christ Church College. For you Pennsylvanians, William Penn attended Christ College until he was expelled from the entire university for practicing beliefs contrary to the church such as the Quaker religion.

This staircase is seen many times in some of the Harry Potter movies.

The actual dining hall also seen in Harry Potter, it is actually used daily by the CCC students.

 

Below are some of the random events/pictures from the group's day in Oxford.

The Oxford Covered market: opened 1 November 1774 continues to host pedestrian traffic and local shops.

A Constable on Patrol (Cop) who was kind enough to slow and wave a bit for her picture.

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-Oxford University Acapella Group