My Boots are Made for Walking
Thursday 3 December 2009
Bruges, Belgium and Slius, Holland
Paris
Edinburgh
Wednesday 11 November 2009
November 11
Sunday 25 October 2009
Similarities Betwixt England and New England
- Remembrance of a certain Tea Party
- The colorful doors on houses
- Our unique way of saying names
- Peabody, Leicester, Worcester, et cetera
- Beautiful overgrown cemeteries with gravestones dating to the 1700s
- A great history of emigration and immigration
- Liverpool as a religious port of significance, the Mayflower as a vessel for my ancestors
- A period of darker history in connection with witch trials
- Lancaster, England and Salem, Massachusetts
- The industry and exploitation of mill workers and their importance in economy
- Leaves changing colors so brilliantly in Autumn and the general feeling of Fall
- And so on…
Saturday 24 October 2009
The Churches of Spain
This is the craziest church I have seen. Started in 1882 it has been in progress for 127 years and is not even projected to be completed until 2026. Every angle of the Church seems to be in a different style. There is the more modern currently being built style that seems completely out of place with even different color building materials, the classic Cathedral gothic style, a more grotto look, and more. It was interesting to walk around and see the salamanders and frogs in the place of gargoyles on one side.
Example of the crazy facade
Constant Construction
Esglesia Sant Pere de les Puel.les
This small church had a much warmer feel than grand Cathedrals which I really appreciated. The smell of incense while present was a duller candle smell which was also a nice change. One thing that I thought was interesting was that there were timelines along the walls which hit the highlights of world events - political, social, et cetera - by Pope. It is a Catholic Church but very sedate and minimalistic. There was a large metal statue of Peter in the center of the church with smaller frescos of Christ on either side which I thought was interesting.
The Church of the San Francis of Sales
This was a gothic style Catholic church that we wandered into. Although the gothic style architecture was similar to the gothic style of England, the church was quite different. Because there was no great political movement to destroy original decoration the original ornamentation was there and very grand. There was a lot of ornate tiling on the floor and the whole church was decorated with geometric patterns (the Muslim moor influence?). There was a fresco'd angel which was portrayed very fairy-like and palm trees were present behind Jesus. The music in the church was very Spanish and the whole church felt very Mediterranean.
Friday 16 October 2009
The War Cabinet Rooms and the Churchill Museum
My favourite area was the loo that always said “occupied” and people just believed that it was a special loo for the Prime Minister but rather it was a secret telephone room. Then we went to the Churchill Museum and I learned all sorts of interesting things about Winston Churchill that I had never known. It was a very multimedia exhibit and I enjoyed learning more about the man behind all those powerful and great words. Definitely gave me a desire to read a biography on him.