Shaken, Rattled, and Rolled

This morning I took the opportunity of the small group explorations to return to Westminster Abbey, which was closed on Wednesday and Thursday due to a service. The church is magnificent inside and out and the Gothic building dates to near A.D. 1245. The inside was just as great, with wall sized stained glass windows depicting Christ and the apostles and the most ornate tombs I’ve ever seen. When I wasn’t awed by the building and it’s incredibly high vaulted ceiling, I was mesmerized by the golden ornate pieces used for worship and ceremony. Even with all of this magnificence a simple wooden door caught my eye, and upon closer inspection it turned out to be the oldest door in Britain, having been at the site since A.D. 1050.

After this I went on a search of a less famous church: St. George’s German Lutheran Church. In 1764 a group of would-be German settlers were on their way to Nova Scotia when the person providing them passage took their money and left them in London. The pastor at the time petitioned the king to provide passage for the group to South Carolina, which the king did. In the mean time the church helped the stranded Germans while they camped In a nearby field. In this group were my ancestors, a family led by Heinrich Adolf (for those keeping track I can now cross off Brown, Adolf, and Smith from the list of generic family names that i am related too). I was hoping the church would have some records of the incident that I might be able to see and show my family, but unfortunately the church appears to only be used for events now and did not seem to be an operating church.

I then left to meet some friends at Baker street, where the plans for changed, but I didn’t have international data to recieve the changes, so I wound up walking around for 45 minutes in search of Wi-Fi. What I found was the most picturesque scene I’ve ever beheld in my life. Regents park is a very beautiful place and I could have spent all day there, but alas, places to go and people to see.

We eventually ran into each other and grabbed some food to eat on the train to the Olympic park. A word of advice: don’t open sparkling water on an underground train changing cabin pressure. The guy next to you will laugh, and you’ll be glad he did, because he will know you didn’t pee your pants. The Acceleromittal Orbiter was pretty cool, but we were unable to ride because tickets are usually bought in advance, which wasn’t advertised. It still had a great veiw though.

On our way back we decided to try the carnival. Best. Decision. Ever. Those rides were way more intense than their American counterparts. In pretty sure we were pulling 4-6 G’ s on two of the rides. It was a lot of fun until the “cool down” ride. We decided to ride the swings that go up high through the air and spin in a circle and are generally pleasant to just sit and cool down. Not this one. The turn radius was really small, but what really messed me up was a kid on one of the other swings rocking back and forth which was causing the whole ride to slow down and speed up and lurch. I have never been so sick on a ride in my entire life. I literally almost lost it. After that lovely experience, it was time to go to the group dinner.

Castle and City

This morning started as any other morning for us American tourists in London: 5 hours too early. However we mustered our strength and boarded the train to Hampton Court. As we entered we were greeted by a magnificent coat of arms on the ceiling before we moved into the courtyard where there was a medieval band complete with sackbuts. As usual the first place we went was to the kitchens so Zach could get a cup of coffee.

With our newly re-caffeinated friend now satiated we wandered through the castle. The chapel was gorgeous and was marked in the hall by its very elaborately pretty door decorations. Inside was even more beautiful with painted ceilings and drapery and carpets, however there were no pictures allowed in the actual chapel out of respect.

The grounds were meticulously maintained and absolutely fit for a king. The “pond” in the garden stretched literally as far as the eye could see and had geese, ducks, and majestic (if maybe a little less than bright) swans. The flowers were mostly at the peak of their bloom at this time in spring and I know that my grandmother would have never left the flower area.

The last thing we visited was the bed chambers and rooms of the kings, queens, etc. that had lived there. Everything was wall to wall craftsmanship. I have never seen such magnificent displays of fortune and class.

After this we departed for Soho. There is a lot to do in Soho so we condensed the journey into a trip to Forbidden planet, a nerd-culture store, and Foyles bookshop, 6 floors of empty-your-bank-account books and music. After this we went over to Chintown for dinner and then decided to head back to the hotel.

Thomas Smith

Hi! My name is Thomas Smith, so I probably have the most generic name on the trip. I am a junior mechanical engineering major. I have always wanted to travel, and what better time to travel than in your twenties. England seems like a good first country to visit because it will be different, but we share a common language, so there won’t be much of a language barrier. My research is on the development and impact of the nautical chronometer (in Greenwich) and I will be leading Wednesday’s Soho/Chinatown group.