Not Quite Hogwarts, But Awesome Nonetheless

Although I didn't make it through Platform 9 3/4 today (my face smacked up against the wall and the cart left without me.  Apparently, I don't have enough wizard in me) - I did go somewhere that felt almost magical.

The British Library.  Home to millions of individual items, this institution is absolutely amazing.  I could go on for hours repeating interesting facts, figures, and tidbits that our enthusiastic tour guide Mark shared with us, but I'd probably lose half of my readership (of what little I do have).  Instead, I'd like to reflect on my time spent in the gallery.

Before I go on, it is important to mention that items from the British Library cannot be checked out - it is not a lending library.  People can only gain access to resources by requesting them and after a staff member retrieves it for them, they can only use it in designated reading rooms.  This seems like a lengthy process, however; Mark informed us that on average about 5,000 to 6,000 books get delivered to the reading rooms daily.  He explained that there are generally two types of people who come to the library - those who come to use the resources, and the "tourists" who come to view the gallery (displays of very precious works).  He made sure to remind us that although the gallery may seem like a museum - the library, as a whole, is a working library for the public to use.

I saw so many (for lack of better words) awesome things in the gallery.  Laid out in front of me were handwritten Beatles music lyrics, sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, original handwritten Mozart music scores, ancient Buddhist readings, and letters written by Charles Darwin.  I remember reading about these historic figures in books, learning their histories, and getting tested on them - but they felt distant.  Today, I felt a closeness with these people.  I felt like I was peering into their thoughts, as if I were a part of their daily lives.  I wonder if they knew back then that one day lyrics scrawled on the back of their son's birthday card would become a priceless artifact which people were trying to preserve forever?

Of all the wondrous items on display in the gallery, there was one thing that left me awestruck - and nearly took my breath away. The Gutenberg Bible.   A year ago, it would have been just some old book in a case.  However, now that I have some understanding of its significance, it has become representative of something near and dear to me - that is bringing reading to the public.  In a nutshell, the Gutenberg Bible was one of the first books printed using the first portable printing press.  Thus, making written word available for those who wanted it (of course it was a bit more complicated than that, but you get the gist).  

Today was definitely a memorable, wondrous, and almost magical experience.  Although it's not Hogwarts, it sure is close.

Perfect End - Digital Video

Everyday I post a blog and a Facebook picture summing up and commenting on our daily activities.  While I imagine that this is a great way to share my experiences with the folks at home, there is a part of the day they don't see - what happens when the day ends.  As mentioned before, the days can be long (though thoroughly well worth it).  When I get back to the flat, I throw my things on my bed, turn on my computer, upload pictures ... and at some point I normally fall asleep.  The 20 minute power nap does wonders.

This digital film shows how my perfect London day would end.  Enjoy!

Through Tired Eyes

I noticed the crowds today -- I mean, really noticed them.  Because I noticed them, I began thinking about them in a context I hadn't before.  London is a busy city and I can imagine that from above it looks sort of like an ant hill.  Streams of people are always scurrying around in lines, some on a long journey, others burrowing deep into the earth (aka the Tube) - all trying to get somewhere or do something.  Here's some of the crowd shots I captured today:

Mobs of people at the Tower of London.

Waiting in line to get in - let's whip out the camera.

Ants on the way to the ant hill that is St. Paul's Cathedral.  Crossing the Millennium Bridge.

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I believe that there are a couple things responsible for why the crowds seemed so prominent today ... the first being that today marks the two week point in our journey.  Our little area of Bloomsbury is becoming familiar and though I haven't seen everything, many things are no longer new in my eyes.  I've become accustomed to side-stepping around camera wielding tourists and weaving and bobbing around large tour groups.  Now that my eyes are no longer looking up and around at all of the buildings, they are pointed straight ahead -- at the crowds.  This scene was multiplied today, as The Tower of London is a huge tourist attraction with many tight spaces.  I'm glad that we got there early enough to see the Crown Jewels without having to stand in a massive line.

The second reason is more of a personal opinion.  I sensed a general feeling of "over-it-ness" from the group today - this may not necessarily be true, perhaps just a vision from my tired eyes.  Two weeks of straight travel/touring and busier than busy eight hour days (not to mention hours of homework to be done) tend to tire one out - no matter how enthused the person.  Sore feet, tired legs, drooping eyes, packed brains, and aching backs made the crowds seem louder, more obnoxious, and stuffier than ever.  

The crowds also made me a little sad today.  The Tower of London is an ancient place - originally built in 1066.  It has housed royalty, served as a refuge, and even held prisoners captive.  What I saw today was a playground for little kids (who were running up and down the wooden staircases), surrounded by a gift shop whose merchandise reflect only the stereotypes of such a historic place. (*Side note: I sort of understand why - I come from a tourist driven economy). I can't even begin to imagine what the untold stories of this potentially wondrous place are.  I began to wonder how much of the building was original, and how much they have to replace on a regular basis.  I had the same thought yesterday as we climbed the 500 stairs at St. Paul's Cathedral.  There were indentations in the wooden stairs, marking the millions of tourists who have come through.  How will these places hold up for years to come -- and how can they maintain their cultural importance and integrity?

It seemed as if our normally chipper group dragged like zombies from our mile plus walk from The Tower of London to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  I'm not going to censor myself from saying that I was a little disappointed that we weren't scheduled to tour or experience the theatre at all - we merely gazed at it from the outside.  However, Elizabeth and I are going to try to get tickets for sometime next week.  I hate to blather on like some ungrateful soul - I mean, c'mon ... I'm in London.

Thankfully, I knew that this "get over the hump day" was eventually going to make its way into my schedule so I've mentally prepared myself for it.  I know myself well enough to know that at some point in time I would get tired and perhaps not feel as excited to be here - basically taking this incredible opportunity for granted.  Rather than extending this feeling through the rest of my days here, then realizing at the end that I regret feeling this way - it stops here and now.  Thank you blog for being a great form of release and a place for public ranting.

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I am very much looking forward to visiting the British Library tomorrow, as well as the iconic Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross.  A night of rest and relaxation will put me at ease for tomorrow's adventure - no longer with tired eyes.  They will be as bright and excited as they were on day one.  I'm going to leave you with a short clip just for the pure joy of it :).  With promise of bright eyes and bushy tails tomorrow - Tara, out.

 

Tako's Adventure - A Five Photo Story

See if you can figure out what happened to Tako and me in this five photo story:

Feel free to leave captions in the comment box below :).

Three Thousand Fifty-Six Stairs (more or less) and Counting

Upon arriving in London, Katy and I were faced with these stairs.  Each day, my flatmates and I have been battling them -- all 71 of them, to get to and from our flat.  On average I suspect that I take around three round trips daily.  That equals to 2556 stairs since we've been here (and that's only up, double that for the up and down).  Needless to say that after 13 days I have come to terms with these stairs ... heck, I have even begun to appreciate them.  Though I may be a bit biased, I do believe that we have the best flat.  Sometimes putting in a little bit of hard work pays off in the end.

You may be wondering why the extra 500 stairs in my title ... and I shall now share.  Today we toured St. Paul's Cathedral.  Our wonderful tour guide, John, gave us the scoops on the history of the Cathedral, pointed out interesting crypts, and even took us to this special place.  All you Potter heads should be able to recognize stairs from scenes in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire".  It's real name is the Geometric Staircase.  I feel so much more informed about this wonderful building - it makes the experience so much richer.  To top off the day, classmates Kaitlin, Eric, Elana, and I climbed the 500 stairs to the top of the cathedral:

Spiral Staircase

Not for those who dislike tight spaces.

The view from a tiny little window.

The view from above - see the River Thames and the London Eye?

How would I have seen this without putting a little extra in?

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Something worth mentioning - I am, after all, a library student - was our trip to the Barbican Library.  Nestled between two art galleries in a business district in London, the Barbican Library is one of three lending libraries in the area.  I was most impressed by their music collection (of which they are known for). 

I was surprised to learn that children and adults get different library cards, thus restricting children from checking out certain videos or CDs.  When asked whether or not they do the same for books, the librarian mentioned that they do all that they can to encourage kids to read "appropriate" books.  The reason why this took me aback is because most librarians in the US would have a cow if this happened outright in their libraries.  Generally, librarians in the US back the ALA's (American Libraries Association) beliefs in Intellectual Freedom.  Basically, everyone has the right to have access to many different viewpoints through resources in the library.  It's quite the interesting topic, which can get very heated.

My favorite thing this about the library happened to be a children's program which is funded by England's Department of Education.  It is called Bookstart.  The premise is that every child should have access to and own books.  Thus children are given packs of books (for free!) at three stages in their development - the first coming at 18-30 months.  How cool is that?

It kind of goes to show how important reading is to this country.  Perhaps we should learn to take a few extra steps and begin something like this in the US - imagine the view our children will gain from it.

SUPERTOURed and SUPERTIRED, Tara.

Challenging Information

One of the best things about being abroad with a bunch of librarians is that everyone is so full of information - we are in fact, information scientists.  (Ha, I'm going to use that the next time someone asks me what career I'm getting into ... "I'm studying to be an information scientist".  Sounds impressive.)  It seems that wherever we go, someone knows about the place or people who lived, their histories, and how the we can learn from their mistakes.  At the same time, it can often be a bit intimidating for me.  On numerous occasions throughout this adventure, I have wondered where and how my classmates have picked up their vast stores of information.  I also wonder if I was perhaps daydreaming through that particular history lesson.  Judging by all that I don't know, that's a lot of daydreaming ... even for me.

Today we visited Hampton Court Palace - a place where royalty has lived since the 18th century.  Apparently, King Henry VIII had originally built it for a Cardinal Wolsey as a gift.  In time, Henry VIII lost favor for Wolsey and the palace was back in his hands.  The architecture of the building is quite impressive, as part of it is built in both Tudor and Baroque styles.  No, I did not know this information before today's trip - and sadly to say, I did not learn this information on today's trip ... I just looked it up on Wikipedia.  I would have loved to learn more on the tour, however, our audio guides were taken from us as we entered the gardens - bad thinking on the part of whoever designed the tours.  I'm going to admit that my knowledge of British history is quite shallow - I know that Henry VIII is a figure I should know, if not well, then at least a little.  My knowledge of him ends at the Herman's Hermit's song "I'm Henry VIII, I am" - I didn't want to admit it, but hey ... I'm being reflective.

Despite my lack of knowledge, I could appreciate the sights that I saw:

Knowledgeable or not about British history, one can tell that this was a wondrous palace where many important events took place.  As I was meandering through the beautiful gardens, I could just imagine a scene where courtiers walked the same paths on their way to dine in the presence of the king and queen. 

I, of course, felt a little more knowledgeable in the gardens - at least I could identify some of the plants.

Though I feel a bit ashamed with my limited knowledge in the area of history, finding this quote by Oscar Wilde made me feel a bit better - "You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know." 


The most challenging thing about information is that it is constantly building off of itself.  It would be difficult to learn how to do calculus without understanding the concept of numbers.  I admire all of my classmates for their knowledge and their willingness to share it with others - why else would you want to be a librarian?

With that, I have made a pact to myself to study up on the places before we get there.  Tomorrow we are off to St. Paul's Cathedral and Barbican Library - time to start getting a grip on this challenging information.

Podcast - London Travel

Hi All,

Please enjoy my Podcast on three different ways of getting around London - bus, Tube, and walking.

Powered by Podbean.com

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Information about London Transportation was taken the Transport for London website.

Transport For London. (2007). Transport for london homepage. Retrieved from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

The music was used under Fair Use guidelines. 

Artists: Opihi Pickers
CD Title: OP VI
Label: Go Aloha Entertainment
Copyright: 2007
Song Title: "Don't Just Stand Around"

Capturing the Ephemeral

How do you capture the ephemeral?  You can't.  I tried today.  The best I could do was photograph a fleeting moment, trying to freeze it in time.  I came to the realization that a photograph can only do so much.  It can capture a visual of the moment, perhaps hold some visual cues which set off an emotional reaction later, but there is no way to totally recapture an experience once it is gone. 

After sleeping in for a bit, my flatmate Elizabeth and I rode the tube to Kew Gardens.  I was overjoyed to learn that there was a butterfly exhibition - something I have always wanted to see, but never got around to.  I was also excited to learn about a water lily pond, which also excited me since they are such gorgeous flowers.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots from today:

Sunflowers.

Dangerous, but lovely.

Drinking in the sun.

A magnificent purple water lily.

At day's end, I know that these flowers will not look as they do here.  Perhaps they will lose a few petals, tatter at the edges a bit, or close up as if saying good night forever.  These pictures are a great reminder of their beauty, but they will not bring back as strong of an emotion that I felt when I first laid eyes on them.  The same goes with these lovely butterflies:

 

I have just recently started feeling a closeness to butterflies because I learned that they are pictured on my family's mon, or Japanese family crest. Each mon is given a description - according to my Great Aunty Aiko, ours is "ageha no chou". According to the Internet, this translates into "swallowtail butterfly" (which it is), but according to Aunty Aiko it describes the position in which the butterfly is posed. Here's my older sister Lauren and I after first realizing that the picture that has been hanging on Aunty's wall forever was actually our mon:

 

Asking about the mon

   

There it is - a little difficult to see.

If you search for the image "ageha chou", a similar picture will pop up. Although, I learned that each family mon was easily altered, so it's difficult to know yours unless a family member kept track of it. Thank you Aunty Aiko! 

Although I did not spot any swallowtails today, this little guy - a leaf butterfly, snuck up on me and landed on my shoulder.  I wasn't able to capture the shot (obviously because he was behind me), but I remember every detail about how it felt as he took refuge on me.  Closed up, he's trying to hide from the world, but believe me, his open wings are beautiful.  I equated that moment with the song below, which is wonderful because I also have fond memories of this song and my boyfriend (who I am missing dearly).  Please pardon the cheezy CGI butterfly and horrible music video - the song is really good, though:

I cannot capture every moment of this trip in its fullest - it is completely impossible because the trip itself is ephemeral.  I must savor each as it comes and "take it all in" as I have been advised by numerous people.  I know I am very fortunate.

Peace, Love, & Flowers

Today.

Was.

Absolutely.

Positively.

Extraordinarily.

Wonderful.

Beautiful.

Peaceful.

Blissful.

Needed.

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After a week of tours, museums, and non-stop information, today was exactly what the sanity doctor called for.  Not that I don't appreciate the educational value of everything we've been doing ... it's just that sometimes the sponge gets so full that it can't absorb much more.  Regent's Park was the most perfect place to breathe in deeply and just enjoy the wonders of the natural world without having to think (too much). 

So my thought for the day, as I lost myself in the splendor of my surroundings, posed the question "how can there be hatred in the world when such beautiful things exist?."  I don't mean to get all idealistic, but I can't help it.  I often get these feelings when I am outside viewing gorgeous scenery - particularly plants.  I love library science, but I also think that botany would have been a great area of study for me.  Perhaps a study should be done evaluating how the number of well kept gardens in an area correlates to the area's peacefulness.

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As if wandering about the flower wonderland wasn't enough to get the happy-juices flowing, we also flew kites on Primrose Hill.  Nothing has filled me with such a great sense of being carefree as this experience.  Imagine 15 grown adults - librarians for that matter - giggling it up atop this gorgeous hill, attempting to fly kites with no wind.  Kicking my slippers off and feeling the grass rub on the bottom of my feet, while my kite crazily flew circles behind me made me (I hate to be cliche) feel like a kid again - though I never flew kites as a child.

Us after our kite adventure.  Noticed the pooped faces.

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Feelings of peace, love, and living life emanated from my heart and trailed me like the tails of my kite as we descended upon Abbey Road to see the Beatles' recording studio.  I specifically wore my "all you need is love" shirt for this part of the trip.  I always find it extremely amazing how artists can touch people with their music.  Check out the great fan art left behind (too bad they paint over it when it gets too full):

Today, my cup overflows with positivity.  In gratitude of all things beautiful in life, I leave you tonight.

With Joy, Tara.