Winchester

Since I spend most of my week commuting to the center of London for school, I'm determined to spend my weekends outside of city. I am fortunate enough to live incredibly close (right across the street) to a train station, so I can easily purchase a ticket and just hop on a train.  Well, that's what I did yesterday. I closed my eyes, put my finger on a map, and decided to go wherever my finger landed.

Just kidding. I've actually had a list of places in the UK that I want to visit stashed away on my computer. The list is incredibly long, and there is no way that I will complete it by the time I leave. The town of Winchester just so happens to be not too far from London, and the train fare was pretty cheap.

It turns out that Winchester was a great choice! And once again, I was lucky to have such beautiful weather while enjoying this little excursion.

Fair warning, this post is a photo dump.

So, I started off the morning with a quick tour around the Great Hall. This 13th century structure was originally part of the Winchester Castle (the ruins you see above) and was built during the rule of William the Conqueror.

It is also home to the "Round Table" from the legend of King Arthur. The Table, which is mounted on the wall (see above), is about 800 years old and was originally made of 121 separate pieces of English oak. **Shout out to the Hampshire County Council for their incredibly informative and detailed brochure - it saves me from switching my computer screen back and forth to Wikipedia.**

 Just outside the Great Hall is Queen Eleanor's Garden, which is named after both Queen Eleanor of Provence and Queen Eleanor of Castile. 

And then I made my way through the main street, which had plenty of shops and a little market. 

Finally, I made my way to what I really came to Winchester for: Winchester Cathedral!

Why, yes! This is the English Perpendicular Style that was common during the 13th century. Well spotted!

I spent four hours at the cathedral listening to three separate tours of the space. The first was a tour of the crypt below the cathedral, which dates back to the 11th century. Then I took an extensive tour of the cathedral, and I got to hear more about the history of the building phases and the countless political and religious forces that played a central part to the development of the cathedral. And then finally, I took a tour of the bell tower, which gave me a glimpse of the rafters above the roof and the intricate pulley system that is used to operate the bells. 

This cathedral is also the final resting place for Jane Austen!

The rafters above the ceiling.

Halfway through our journey to the very top of the tower.

No Quasimodo, unfortunately. Apparently, pulling one of the bell ropes is not part of the tour (or any tour). Trust me, I asked.

Low lighting = grainy photos. We were in here when the bells rang at 3:00pm. Incredibly LOUD!

The best part was being able to see these AMAZING views of Winchester and the surrounding countryside from the top of the bell tower. 

If you haven't figured it out by now, I study medieval architecture. I can assure you that this blog will frequently post stuff about medieval cathedrals throughout the next year.

 

Pictures from this past week

Again, I'm going to post some photos (in no particular order) of the things that I've done this past week. Lots of museums. Lots of sunshine. Lots of grad school orientation events.

The British Library puts Strozier Library (aka my second home) to shame. Pure utter shame. By the way, it is completely awkward taking photos of people studying. It's like they are completely vulnerable. 

On Tuesday, I went to the National Portrait Gallery to see the temporary exhibition of Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon. There were many never-before-seen photos on display, including personal photos from family and friends, which I thought was great. However, if I'm going to be critical (and, I always am when it comes to museum exhibitions), I think the exhibition should have included more photos and information about Hepburn's role as a UNICEF ambassador. Truly, I think that was one of her most amazing accomplishments in life. Anyway, I snuck a few photos when the guards weren't watching. 

Trafalgar Square. Amazing, as always. 

Last but not least, is the central courtyard of the Somerset House. Blue skies and sunshine during orientation should be a good omen, right?

Borough Market

One more market for now....

I went to Borough Market early last Saturday morning. Like Camden Market, I found that going early is the best way to experience the market without the crowds. Borough Market, which is located by London Bridge, is one of London's oldest markets (dating back to the 11th century) that is home to all kinds of produce, fresh food, and flower stalls.


I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Thankfully this market is only one bus ride away (easier commute than Camden Market). There are plenty of coffee shops, pubs, and restaurants surrounding the market, so there is no chance that you will leave hungry. 

Plus, the sun was shining! I feel like that is a win-win in my book. 

Camden Market

One thing that I really wished I had done when I first lived in London was to go to more markets. There are so many markets throughout the Greater London, and no two are alike. Since I still have some time before the start of term, I've decided to stop by a few of the markets this week.

On Friday, I visited Camden Town in the morning to go the markets before it got too crowded, and I'm glad I did! There was so much to see, and by the time that I left, it was almost too hard to navigate through all of the stalls. The market, which is comprised of smaller markets, is placed in an eccentric district north of the city center. Plenty of vintage clothing, second-hand books, homemade goods, and yummy food.

By late morning, the food stalls had opened up and the air was filled with wonderful aromas from all the different types of food. Truly, you could fill up by eating all of the free samples. Something to note if you are cheap. As easy as it is to get food that I'm accustomed to, I've decided to try something new: Indian food - another thing that I've always been hesitant to try, even when I first lived in London. In case you were wondering, I LOVED it. But don't ask me to name what I ate. Baby steps. 

I'm so upset that this is the first time visiting Camden Market, especially since it wasn't too far  away from where I lived before. The markets here go on and on forever, and it is full of tourists (wait, am I still considered a tourist?) and locals alike. It was definitely worth the three trains that it took for me to get there. 

New life update!

Hello everyone. Time to break my internet silence and give an update on my current situation! Last weekend I moved back to London for grad school. So I've decided to start up my blog again to keep family, friends, and other readers up to date on everything.

And here we go!

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This past week has been a whirlwind of packing, unpacking, purchasing things for my new flat (sorry, dad), exploring places near me, and getting ready for grad school. At this point, I only have a random selection of pictures of places that I've been to these past few days.

On Tuesday, I went to Covent Garden for some shopping. It was the only day last week that actually rained, so I was was glad to seek shelter in the covered area of the Market Building. You can see Charles Pétillon's installation of balloons, which I believe are up until today. Bummer, they are such an interesting way to fill the open space of the building. 

And finally, since the weather here in London has been very beautiful, I've been going down to Clapham Common everyday to run. Unfortunately, the pictures don't really show how large and beautiful this place is. Plus, I swear there were a million little kids running around the park when I was taking these pictures.