What's to Come

Dear Friends,

I apologize profusely for not posting for the past couple of weeks. I've been super busy with mid term papers. However, I've also gotten some good news--this summer, I'll be Denise Baker's research assistant over the summer, so that's really exciting. Also, my Spring Break Plans are coming together. First, Paris with my parents and Katie! Then, Dublin to visit Kyle and the manuscript of Piers Plowman that I'll be working on over the summer (YES). Finally, a possible trip to Rome and Florence! All in all, my life is awesome.

Also, I finished my essay before the due date.

Finally, I got the best birthday present EVER!!!! Nana sent me her famous double chocolate cookies and some white chocolate candy a la Aunt Ellen. Made my day! In fact, Mareike, my friend from Germany, is currently eating one of the famous cookies. They have gained international acclaim!

More to come: The Clink Prison Museum, Walking about the Thames, and Shakespeare's Globe!

Love,
Gina

The British Museum and Great Portland Square

Assyrian Hall. Some say Assyrian monarchs were big-headed. See, as evidence, the HUGE bust spotlighted behind that pleased looking Brit in the middle of my picture. "Oh, I say!"

Why decorate your palace with anything BUT these wonderful stone carving texts?

The Assyrian Hall, without flash.

!!!!! THE ROSETTA STONE !!!!! I only had to murder 2098080 tourists to get a good enough view of this piece of rock that apparently has some linguistic significance. Verdict: Much less disappointing than the Mona Lisa.

Septimus Severus, renowned Emperor. Greatest armless battle lord EVER.

Hadrian and Hadrian's lover, Antinous. In a gesture of outstanding sensitivity, the curator's placed Hadrian's wife's bust directly across from these two, so that she could stare at their immortalized affair for ages to come.

Don't you hate waking up from eternal rest to find that someone's split you and your coffin in half?

Humans stab bulls and gain divine power.

Large vicious felines bite bulls in the posterior and gain sustenance.

Bulls got a bum classical rap.

What Vikings put on the end of their skiffs.

The British Museum's front door. No big deal.

On the way to the British Museum.

Various store front.

The Albany Pub at Great Portland Street. For Dad.

London: Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a huge tourist-y spot in London. It has a huge fountain and several statues, and then the National Gallery/National Portrait Gallery. It also has "living statues" that are quite cheeky for people acting like statues for a living. Um. I kind of want to do that for life. From the top of the steps at Trafalgar, you can see Big Ben! Which is convenient, as that's rather something you want to see.






Yep. That's Big Ben.





SILLY SIGN EXTRA. There is actually a fine for feeding pigeons in the square. Additionally, I bet this sort of signage would be much more useful if instead of four hundred other HUMAN languages, it was translated into pigeon, too. After all, who would beg for food around a sign telling people they'll have a fine for giving it?

Yeah, you're not supposed to take a picture of oil portraits. I forgot this at the National Portrait Gallery. Of all the portraits I could have made this mistake on, why did I take a picture of THIS one?!??!

This statue of General Charles Napier was erected mainly due to funds from privates who fought under him. How lovely is that?

Mareike in Trafalgar square!

Can you spot me?

How about now? There's actually a very good reason why I don't take closeups. See if you can spot it (Hint: It's my face.).

The National Gallery

What Greco-roman demi-gods did instead of water-skiing.

Kate always says how it's a tough job market for medievalists. Obviously, it's worse for medieval knights.

The view from the top of Trafalgar square.

King George IV with a pigeon on his head. He looks pretty trim here, but he was actually obese because of his addiction to alcohol and extravagant lifestyle. His wife, Catherine, was similarly obese and lead a similarly extravagant lifestyle that resulted in her being removed from the queenship. Note: when a female monarch, don't go out on the town too much. George had always disliked Catherine, because she wasn't really a looker by most standards. This was probably fair--he was so good-looking, after all, that the public heckled him for his obesity the few times he appeared in public.

By the end of his life, it was suspected that he might be suffering from the same variety of insanity--porphyria--as his father did (minus the incontinence, so he could hardly complain). For example, he claimed on his death bed that he had been at the Battle of Waterloo. Many historians, however, think he might just have been trying to annoy the Duke of Wellington (seriously). And if you think about it, if you're going to kick the bucket anyways, you might as well offend a Peer of the Realm whilst doing it.

This is a large lion.

Across from Trafalgar Square...

Silly Signs: The London Edition

I guess I should apologize for not posting my pictures of my London trip until now--but hey, I had midterm essays to fuss over. By way of apology, here are some ridiculous signs from London.


"Less able to stand." How about those of us who are less able to stand because we are LAZY? This reasoning has yet to win me a seat on the London Underground. Maybe next time?

Best Tube Station EVER, named after my two favorite things: Elephants and Castles! Well, it would have been better if it were Elephants, Castles, Nana's Cookies, and Pickles. But I suppose this shall suffice.

Why is it that stick figures getting injured in horrible ways is an endless source of amusement for me?