May 31, 2012
Our last day is free until we meet for a group meal at The
Spaghetti House. It's on the Corner of Southampton Row and Vernon Way, about a
half mile down the street from our hotel. Most of the students are spending their last
day of the trip sightseeing in London.
Karla and I took the tube to the Victoria and Albert Museum
and then another tube to the Big Ben/Westminster Abbey/Houses of Parliament
area. From there we walked to Trafalgar
Square and St. Martins in the Fields Church, and finally we walked back to the
hotel along Drury Lane.
This is our last blog entry, but some of the students might be
working on their blogs until Wednesday. It’s been a great trip with a great bunch
of students. Dave & Karla
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In the Victoria & Albert Museum, a marble sculpture of
Sampson slaying two Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.
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Tableware for the royals from around the 1600’s.
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A Modern Silver Vase
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Ceremonial Shield and Swords Made of Silver and Gold
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A Few More Modern Things
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A very cool sphere made of metal rings that are fastened
together, but at the top of the sphere, instead of finishing it, the artist
hung rings down from the top and created another sphere hanging down inside of
the big sphere. (In real life it looked much cooler than this sounds.)
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Karla with copies of three silver lions from the Rosenborg
Castle in Denmark.
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Close Up Of One Of The Lions
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A communion set from the earliest Methodists, who were some
of the first to break away from serving communion from a single large chalice.
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This is the cast of an enormous column, known as Trajan’s
Column, from Rome. The original column
was erected in AD 113.
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Casts of some other incredibly large religious items.
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An original oak spiral staircase from the 1500’s. It is from the west of France.
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A bunch of little busts mounted on a brick wall next to the
old spiral staircase.
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Sarcophagi of Medieval British Royalty
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Sarcophagus Of A Lady Who Liked To Read
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St. George Eternally Slaying A Dragon
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An Intricate Marble Sculpture Of The Crucifixion Of Christ
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Bronze Sculpture Of
Perseus Beheading The Gorgon Medusa, From About 1610
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Samurai Uniform In The Japanese Display
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More Artifacts From The Japanese Display
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An enclosed inner courtyard in the museum – there were many
school groups visiting the Victoria & Albert Museum while we were there.
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An overseer of the museum commemorated his dogs on a wall in
the courtyard.
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Boy Playing A Bagpipe
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Neptune, god of the sea, with his son Triton who was a
merman. A marble sculpture from 1623 by the Italian master Giovanni Lorenzo
Bernini
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Last picture from the Victoria and Albert Museum. We spent about two hours there last year and
another two hours again this year, but we still haven’t seen everything.
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This is the South Kensington tube (subway) stop, one of
several that is above ground.
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Big Ben
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The River Thames was busy today.
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More Of Big Ben
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A Sculpture In Front Of The London Eye
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The Union Jack flying over the Houses of Parliament.
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The Parliament Building
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A direction signpost at the intersection by Big Ben, the Houses
of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.
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More displays being prepared for the Queen’s Jubilee.
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Oliver Cromwell In Front Of The Parliament Building
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King Richard I In Front Of The Parliament Building
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The Back Of Westminster Abbey
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Security Forces Guarding An Entrance To The Parliament
Building
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Entrance To Westminster Abbey
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Detail Above The Door To Westminster Abbey
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On Sunday, June 3rd, two days after we leave, the
Queens Diamond Jubilee week will kick off with her on a boat at the head of a one
thousand boat flotilla going down the Thames River. We won’t be here to see the flotilla, but I
think we caught a glimpse of one of the boats.
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A busy crosswalk between Westminster Abbey and the Houses of
Parliament.
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A statue of Winston Churchill across from parliament.
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Number 10 Downing Street is about fifty yards down from here
– they have heavy security to protect their Prime Minister.
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One Of The Horse Guards
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A busy intersection across from Trafalgar Square. You can distinguish the locals from the
tourists because the locals always start crossing the street about 5 seconds
before the walk light turns green.
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The Canadian Embassy Decorated With A 60th
Anniversary Celebration Banner
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A view of Nelson’s Column (to the left) at Trafalgar Square.
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A London Street (Nicole and Kairsten saw a matinee of
Sweeney Todd yesterday afternoon – they said it was great.)
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A colorful restaurant on Drury Lane (Oh, do you know the
muffin man who lives on Drury Lane?)
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