Walk to Herstmonceux, Part 2

Here are some more photos from my walk to the village yesterday :)

Herstmonceux All Saints' Church, where the Remembrance
Sunday ceremony took place

see the dome way in the distance? That's part of the
Observatory on the castle grounds (see below for a picture
of it taken next to the castle)

Walk to Herstmonceux, Part 1

Today I had a day off between exams, so I walked to the village and back to take some pictures. Normally it's about a 40 minute walk each way (it's just over 2 miles) but today I had fun taking longer, stopping very frequently to take photos! It was sunny today and about 8 C, so it was a great day for a walk.

I took a few shots around the castle before I set off:

All the ones that follow are along the road between the castle and the village.

the street running through the village is
really narrow, so the cars all park partway
onto the curb so that they aren't scraped by traffic.

Part 2 will be up tomorrow!

Exams, Day 3

My third exam was in the morning today, and I had the rest of the day free (with my next final not until Saturday afternoon), so I had grand plans to walk along the route to Herstmonceux village today and take some photos. I went for a run yesterday part of the way there, and was awestruck by how beautiful it was! I had almost forgotten, since I had only been that way once at the very beginning of the term. I wished I had my camera with me, so I decided to go for a long walk today along the same road, stopping to take lots of pictures. However, the weather was against me- it's been raining all day with extremely strong winds. Hopefully I can go tomorrow!

So, in the absence of those photos, here's some more from my window :) This was at sunset around 3:30pm yesterday. This whole term I've tried to remember to just stop and appreciate where I am, and that's feeling especially pertinent now that I'm leaving so soon. The area around the castle is beautiful, and I love taking pictures of it- hence the repetition, the view always seems different to me but still pretty.

Exams, Day 1

Not much time for picture taking the last few days, because I've been studying for my first two exams, which were both today. This morning though, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures out my window :) I know I've posted this scene before, but that has mostly been sunset shots, not early morning. It was dark when I got up, but by the time I left for my first exam it looked like this- so beautiful! Right before I took these, some movement caught my eye, and I noticed two rabbits in the field- I'd never seen any rabbits out my window before! No luck catching them on camera, unfortunately, but it was a cheery way to start the day.

London, December 3

I had a free day yesterday, so I spent it in London! Classes ended on Thursday, and my exams don't start until Tuesday, so the timing was perfect. I caught the castle minibus to the train station, then took the train from Polegate station to London, and then the tube from London Victoria station to the British library.

Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed in the British Library, so I have nothing to show you! But I had a great time looking at their two exhibits, the permanent 'Treasures of the British Library' exhibit and the temporary Illuminated Manuscripts exhibit.

Both were fascinating, well laid out, lots of interesting documents! The 'Treasures' exhibit holds the British Library's two copies of the Magna Carta. I've also seen the copy in Salisbury, so now I've had the chance to see 3 of the 4 existing copies!! The Illuminated Manuscripts exhibit was full of gorgeously decorated books, mostly devotional, and mostly belonging to various members of the English royal family through time.

Afterwards, I went to Sir John Soane's Museum. It's very popular- there was a 20-minute wait to get in! Again, no pictures allowed unfortunately. It was completely unique among all the museums I've ever been to, and I absolutely I loved it.

John Soane was a private collector in the late 1700s-early 1800s; this was not uncommon for members of the upper class, but what is unusual is that he turned his house into a museum during his own lifetime, and his collection has remained intact. Other private collections from the time were split up, sold off, inherited by multiple people, etc. This is a rare example of an intact 18th-century collection: nothing has been removed or added, and it's still displayed the way Soane arranged it, without labels or explanations.

I am definitely not good enough at description to adequately depict this museum; it was completely unusual. Soane was an architect, and his house is like a surreal architectural playground. Entire walls are movable and open up by pulling on their handles, revealing the 2-story room next door that you look down into; narrow corridors open up into 3-story chambers with stained glass domes in the ceiling; it's lit only by candle light, and you turn a corner and come across a 7-foot Classical statue silhouetted against the dark. There's an Egyptian sarcophagus in the basement, and a 10,000-book library. Every inch of available wall space is covered with fragments of stonework from Classical buildings, rooms are crowded with statues, vases, and paintings. I loved it!

Now, here's some photos finally:

London Eye

After the museum, I took the tube to near the London Eye, and walked along the Thames to the Tate Modern. There's an ice skating rink set up next to the Eye, and also lots of tables and chairs. I ate dinner at one of the tables, watching the people and the Eye among the trees lit up with Christmas lights.

London Eye

London Eye, Parliament, and Big Ben

As I was walking along the Thames, I came across the London Christmas Market set up along the river! It was 2 rows of wooden stalls selling Christmas ornaments, clothes, jewelry, carvings, and food. The food was a mix of German and French, plus sweets like The Gingerbread House and fudge stall.

Near the Christmas market, a book and print sale was also going on!

Books for sale

Prints (of paintings and engravings mostly) for sale

 Further along the river is the National Theatre:

lamp post by the theatre- I liked the way the leaves looked.

This picture isn't great, but I wanted to show you the trees. Along the river for a good part of my walk- between the London Eye and the Theatre- all the trees were brilliantly lit up with lights. I loved it!

When I reached the Tate Modern (art gallery), first I stopped to take this picture of St. Paul's Cathedral across the river. That's the Millennium Bridge on the right. 

Claude Monet's Water-lilies!!!!! (in the Tate Modern)

at the Tate Modern. Giant display showing the development
of art movements through time.

Tate Modern

Tate Modern

Tate Modern

The gallery was a mix of photographs, sculpture, painting, video, and big installations. I don't know anything about modern art but I still definitely enjoyed looking around!