2018-05 - The Peasants are Revolting! (London, UK)

At our hotel in London (Rathbone) there was a city guide of activities. It had a nice summary of all the different museums around town, events happening in May and a list of activities that included guided walks by Bee Midtown. Expecting something a bit touristy and high-end, I was pleasantly surprised to find their May brochure listed several interesting looking walks, all free. While the Sweeney Todd walk and the Samuel Pepys walk looked especially interesting, the only one that fit our limited time in London was "The Peasants are Revolting!".

THE PEASANTS ARE REVOLTING NEW

Thursday 3 May

5.30pm. Farringdon Station

For this tour we go back to 1381 and visit places in Farringdon and Clerkenwell from Wat Tyler’s Peasants’ Revolt.

Duration: 75 minutes.

Farringdon Station -- the beginning of our tour

This was a great tour of English history that I'd never even heard of. First, though, I had to make it all the way to Farringdon Station, outside of touristy London. The metro got me safely there, and on time. Outside the station, we gathered around a gentleman in an orange Bee Midtown t-shirt. Interestingly, tourists were the minority in the group. Most of the people were locals. As the tour progressed, it became clear that the locals had been on most of the tours in the brochure.

Following the locals

The tour guide set the scene for us. In the 14th century, the Black Death had killed roughly a third of the population. The King at the time had set a maximum wage, meaning no one could earn more than that wage. Plus, England was at war with France; and, the King had instituted a poll tax, which was a tax that had to be paid just for being alive. Needless to say, the common people were fed up with their government.

Memorial to the Peasants' Revolt, carved by Emily Hoffnung

Wat Tyler and Jack Straw are credited what became known as the Peasants' Revolt, although it wasn't just peasants revolting. John Ball, a priest of the Lollard denomination also took part. King Richard II came out to meet the leaders at Smithfield. Actually, that was where we were standing on the tour, in Smithfield. Everything seemed to have been settled, with the King listening and agreeing to demands. However, after that, everything went haywire, Wat Tyler was killed; and, the Peasants' Revolt ended only a few days after beginning. In 2015, a memorial went up commemorating what had happened so long ago (1381).

Smithfield Market. Jousting site, meat market and execution site of our hero.
Still in use today as a food market.

We were moving down little streets now at a clip, me trying to keep up and get photos of the buildings of interest. Unfortunately, my notes are few and far between at this point. We did stop for a quick photo of the St. Bartholomew church, which was built in 1123. Although, now looking at google maps, I realize that we saw both the churches St Bartholomew the Less and St Bartholomew the Great. Plus, to add even more confusion, there is a very visually appealing gatehouse into St Bartholomew the Great that was built centuries later (it's near the memorial to the Peasants' Revolt).

St. Bartholomew the Great

The final big stop on our tour was the Museum of the Order of St. John, which, you guessed it, was a church. However, this church (the Clerkenwell Priory) was set up by Crusaders from Jerusalem back in 1144. It looks like a very interesting building from the outside. I wished that I had time to come back during the day for a visit of the interior. (The TripAdvisor reviews look pretty good, too!)

Museum of the Order of St. John

2018-05 - Science Museum (London, UK)

Portable blood transfusion kit from WWI

Perhaps the best kept secret of the world-class free museums of London, the Science Museum was empty in comparison to the Natural History Museum and British Museum. Without any plan in mind, I simply wandered into the first exhibit that caught my eye, which happened to be on World War I (WWI) and the medical advances that came out of it. For example, did you know that during WWI, sphagnum moss was used for bandages? Or that tetanus was often fatal during WWI until the military started giving everyone anti-tetenus shots after leaving battles? Or that Marie Curie coordinated portable x-rays and technicians to operate them directly to the fronts? Or that one of the noise makers that we use today for sports games was originally a rattle letting everyone know that there was going to be a gas attack? There was also a section dedicated to the soldiers returning home with injuries and amputated limbs. Many advances were made in plastic surgery and in prosthetic limbs because of WWI. A sad reminder of the tragedy of war and how it forwards the field of medecine.

Some of the plans hanging from the ceiling, including a replica of Otto Lilienthal in one of his gliders

The next exhibit that I wandered toward was an entire floor of the museum dedicated to the history of flight. It covers everything from hot air balloons to a cross section of a Boeing 747. From the ceiling hangs plane after plane, including a replica of the Wright brothers' plane (1903). Plus, along one wall, there are a collection of plane engines to compare and contrast. Some of the planes that I admired included a sky writer originally built for WWI (S.E. 5a), a plane that made the first non-stop flight across the northern Atlantic in 1919 (Vickers Vimy) and the Schempp-Hirth Cirrus glider (1973).

Radio tuning inductor from Rubgy, England

Descending a floor below, an exhibit traces the communication technologies over the last 200 years. Basically, it begins with the telegraph, as information being transmitted via electrical pulses. There is a Hughes printing telegraph on display, which has piano keys on it for use in typing in the messages. Did you know that the stock market crash in 1929 was partly due to the fact that the telegraphs couldn't keep up with all the trades? The next section is on television and radios with signals broadcasted as waves. There is a model of a radio tower built in Russia (1922) and a radio tuning inductor built in England (1943). Plus, there are old television broadcasts playing, such as that of Queen Elizabeth's coronation. The next section is dedicated to to telephones with speech converted to electrical pulses and back to speech. There are phones to pick up and listen to. Plus, a film of the last switchboard operated exchange going automatic in London (in 1970!). Next follows satellites, which communicate via super high-frequency waves. Although, this section really highlights how we're using maps today, even displaying one of the Google bikes used for mapping Google Earth. The fifth stage is the web of computer networks, which are utilizing electrical pulses, radio waves and optics. Mostly, though, it is dedicated to computers in general. There is a part of , a section of ENIAC (1943-45) as well as the first business oriented computer, a LEO I (1951). Finally, it ends with mobile phones using base stations in a "cell" pattern.

Astrolabe by Jalam al-Din ibn Muqim (1666)

Then, I crossed the threshold into a completely new exhibit on mathematics. It pulled me in with parts of Babbage's analytical engine (1834-71) and a PDP-8 computer (1965). Yet, there were more than just computers here. Surveying has longed used mathematics; and, there is a theodolite for surveying on display from 1828. Astronomy also uses applied mathematics, and astrolabes have been in use to read the sky for at least two thousand years! A beautiful astrolabe from 1666 hangs in a solitary case. In 1859, Harriet Martineau and Florence Nightingale published a book that pioneered a a way to look at war mortalities via a pie chart with the slices as stacked data. Some other mathematical items on display include a slide rule (1850s), an x-ray machine from a shoe seller (1950), a survivability predictor (1972) and, of course, an Enigma machine (1934).

Prosthetic arm for a pianist. padded fingers so that they won't click on the keys

It was about tea time for me. Yet, to get to the cafe, I had to pass by a portion of Henry Wellcome's medical collection, which was fascinating! The Wellcome Museum was on my list of museums to visit. Unfortunately, it was closed while we were in London. This little section in the Science Museum was all I was able to see of the curiosities.  They included such objects as a birthing chair (1900-30),  a bellows to blow tobacco spoke into a person to revive them, a prosthetic arm for a pianist with thumb and pinky finger exactly an octave apart (1904) and a fancy porcelain jar to hold leeches for blood-letting (1831-59).

15th century iron wall clock

After tea, I admired a special display of clocks and watches. The oldest clock is a crude, iron pre-cursor to a cuckoo clock, from the 15th century. The other pieces include a self-winding clock through the use of sulfuric acid and zinc pellets as well as many, many watches crafted with exquisite detail.

Visiting Information
The Science Museum is free and open to the public from 10 am - 6 pm daily, except December 24-26. Map of the museum

2018-05 - Natural History Museum (London, UK)

Mantellisaurus in Hintze Hall

There was already a line by the time I arrived at the Natural History Museum, pre-opening hour. Within ten minutes, the doors had opened; and, we quickly filed in. It's important to remember not to be distracted by the shiny new displays when entering the museum. The key collections are the dinosaurs and the collections of dead, stuffed animals.

Ichthyosaur fossil discovered by Mary Anning in 1832

However, I got distracted by the collection of fossilized skeletons of ichthyosaurs and pliosaurs along one of the hallways. Many of them had been discovered in Great Britain by Mary Anning in the first half of the 1800s. Her ichthyosaur is on display on the wall. The other giant sea fossils are this wall include a mosasaur.

Blue whale skeleton in Great Hall

To get to the dinosaurs, first you'll need to go through Hintze Hall, which is a grand open space. From the ceiling hangs the skeleton of a blue whale. Along the sides of the hall, there are fossils and stuffed animals that give you an idea of how many different specimens are in the museum.  It is a great introduction to the museum; and, there is an entrance directly into this hall. Which explains how I didn't realize how quickly the museum was filling up.

Giant deer from ~20,000 years ago

Another detour led me to the rooms of fossils and stuffed mammals. There are so many different species gathered in these rooms! Definitely a good place to take kids to see these animals up close. Giant deer, pygmy hippopatamus, camels, echidnas, embrithopods, and bears plus a host of many more animals.

Fossilized skin of an Edmontosaurus

With a sense of urgency, I bee-lined for the dinosaurs. But, it was too late. The galleries were packed with families and school groups. Even so, the fossils are very nicely displayed. The larger skeletons sit on the floor and stretch to the ceiling. The smaller fossil skeletons hang at or above adult head level. Therefore, it was possible (at least as a grown-up) to see and read about most of the dinosaurs. There were even some dinosaurs that I'd never heard of, such as the Albertosaurus, a slightly smaller dinosaur similar to the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Plus, there was a cast of part of the skin of Edmontosaurus!


Visiting the Museum:
The Natural History Museum is free and open to the public daily from 10 am - 5:50 pm except December 24-26. Map of the museum

2018-05 - British Museum (London, UK)

Overwhelming, awe-inspiring, amazing and just a bit entitled, the British Museum houses artifacts from around the world. The museum was my top priority to visit in London. It's open from 10 am - 5:30 pm daily; and, with so many things to see, we tried to start out with a plan of action. But, seven and a half hours really isn't enough!

Rosetta Stone! 

First stop: the Rosetta Stone. Before this stone was discovered, the Europeans who visited Egyptian pyramids and brought back many artifacts, including papyrus writings, could not translate any of the hieroglyphics. The Rosetta Stone was carved in three languages, including Greek and hieroglyphics. It has been the basis for our understanding of hieroglyphics since the early 1800s.

Amenhotep III: head and arm

Next, we walked through the amazing assortment of Egyptian statues located on the first floor (Room 4). These take up three immense galleries along one side of the museum. The sculptures are large, in good shape and cover Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. Plus, there are several bas-relief wall sculptures, some even with vivid colors still painted on them. The head and arm in the photo belonged to what was originally a complete statue of Amenhotep III (New Kingdom).

Letters for Roman soldiers occupying Britain in he 1st century AD

We took advantage of the Roman Britain eye opener tour at 11:15 am (Room 49). Throughout this visit to Britain, I've been educated about Roman invasion and occupation (43-410 AD). During this tour, we saw Roman artifacts both Christian (a 4th century floor mosaic of Christ) and pre-Christian (various god and goddess statutes). Although, the most interesting part of the tour is something that wouldn't have even caught my eye walking through the gallery: letters from Roman soldiers written during the 1st century AD! The letters are faded and worn, written on tree bark. However, in the case, the letters are translated into English, bringing those soldiers occupying Britain 2000 years ago into our present.

Pictish bull carving

  After the tour, we wandered into the adjoining room and looked at artifacts from the Anglo-Saxon occupation of Britain (400-750 AD), the Picts ruling Scotland (400-850 AD) as well as the Viking invasions (750-1100 AD). One of the exhibits that I should have spent more time exploring were the artifacts of the Anglo Saxon ship unearthed at Sutton Hoo. The ship was used as a burial in the 600s AD and was unearthed in 1939. The treasures inside are exquisite. I was distracted by information on my own ancestors, the Vikings. The British Museum has many more of the Lewis chessmen on exhibit, as well as gold rings.

Bas relief of Assyrian lion hunt

After a quick bite to eat, we walked back to the first floor and started the Rick Steves audio tour on the Assyrian section of the museum (Rooms 6-10). The winged, human headed lions guarding the entrance are impressive! They are originally from the palace of Nimrud (800s BC). In the next room, there panel after panel of bas reliefs taken from the Nimrud palace. The detail is exquisite. The scenes are not all that palatable, as they show war and conquest. In the room of bas reliefs taken from the palace of Ninevah (600s BC), there are panel after panel showing the king lion hunting. It was the king's duty to protect his people from such problems; and, he had the lions captured and brought to his arena for "hunting".

Nereid Monument

We continued along the Rick Steves audio tour until we came to the Nereid Monument, an entire tomb from Turkey, and then a Parthenon sized room (Room 18) holding all of the friezes from the Parthenon itself (400s BC), including the pediments. The Greeks were masters of showing movement in the way that they carved their figures. The figures are also very lifelike, with human musculature and form. It is worth it to spend the time here to walk around all of the friezes and see the activities depicted.

Ginger, naturally mummified man from 3400 BC

By now, it was time to head up for our 2:30 pm tour of Ancient Egypt (Room 64). By now, the museum was packed! We were all wedged as close as we could be around the docent providing us the highlights of the room while simultaneously tourists flowed around and through our group to see what we were all staring at. The oldest Egyptian mummy at the British museum is called Ginger (3400 BC). He was accidentally mummified and still has some ginger colored hair, hence his name. Another tomb was excavated during this same time frame. This was of a woman (not mummified); and, there was a simple yet striking necklace found in it. The form struck me as so modern for being 5500 years old.

Book of the Dead

After recharging with some tea and scones, we braved the crowds to meander among the Egyptian mummies. It was very interesting to see all the different types, especially as the Greek began influencing; and, people's portraits began to be in the Greek style instead of the stylized Egyptian. The museum also had pages from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. In a less crowded room were the painted murals from a tomb in Nebamun.

Easter Island statue

Running out of time, we breezed through the remaining rooms on our way back to the main hall. Just as we were exiting, an Easter Island statue rose above us like a vanguard. A very fitting way to end our day in this museum of the world's artifacts.

Visiting notes:
The British Museum is free and open to the public daily from 10-17:30 every day of the year except January 1, Good Friday and December 24-26. Plus open late on Fridays. Docents provide free eye-opener tours, spotlight tours and gallery talks.  Minimum highlights to visit are included in the British Museum's 1 hour highlights.

2018-04 - Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh (Scotland)

On our last day in Edinburgh, we decided to visit the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). Walking around the gardens is completely free. There is an extra surcharge to visit the greenhouses. Just by chance, it happened to be a Monday, and, the gardens were almost completely empty. It was wonderful to walk around all the beautifully groomed plants, flowers, bushes and trees. There were even a couple of ponds and mini-waterfalls.

Rhododendron

We started to realize that every other plant was a rhododendron. According to their website, the four RBGE gardens have 500 different rhododendron species! The came in all different shapes, sizes and colors.

Flower all the way from Yulong Xue Shan mountain, China

Another section of the garden is home to endangered plants all the way from the Yulong Xue Chan mountain in China. Due to the development of these mountainous regions, much of the habitat is being lost. RBGE works with research institutes within China to preserve these habitats there as well as showcasing several of the flowers in a section of the garden titled Chinese Hillside.

Gorse watercolor by Sharon Tingey

By now, I needed a tea stop. We stopped at the Gateway cafe for tea and a scone. There are options to sit in a warm, sunny interior or outside on the beautiful terrace overlooking the gardens. On the bottom floor, there is a gift shop as well as a permanent exhibit about the gardens. Plus, there was a temporary exhibit of exquisitely painted plants by local artists.

Inside pavilion on the edge of the Queen Mother's Memorial Garden

Feeling recharged, we continued our stroll around the gardens. There were even sections of vegetable gardens that we saw volunteers watering. However, the next feature that was really eye-catching wasn't even a garden. Instead, it was a small building at the edge of  the Queen Mother's Memorial Garden. Only after entering could one appreciate the detailed artistry. It is completely covered with natural elements inside, including shells and pine cones.

Mini landscape

We spent a lot of time exploring the mini landscapes area of the garden. Each small section had more precious, tiny plants to admire. There are old stone troughs as well as several screened in areas to explore. Most of the plants are from alpine areas. Their small size is due to surviving in the crevices of mountains. 

Monkey Puzzle trees

Up close Monkey Puzzle tree

Running out of time before the park closed, we started walking back toward the entrance, following the map in order to walk by a must-see tree in the park: the monkey puzzle tree. It really does look quite puzzling. The tree has the framework of a pine tree. However, there are few branches; and, each branch looks more like some spiny time of succulent. A perfect highlight to end our visit.