Saturday, September 20, 2008

Theory of tourism, Elizabethan papers, and sheep...!














Sure, car accidents happen...bike accidents happen--this is why I've yet to get a bike. For all those who think I'm exaggerating, my roommate Terese went flying over the handles of her bicycle while tackling our lovely Headington Hill two days ago. (She ended up VERY bruised and scratched, and it was a good thing she had just gotten a helmet 30 minutes prior...) None of these sorts of accidents, however, are what I am about to allude to--I, on my own two feet and carrying my very full and extremely heavy bag through Port Meadow last night, managed to collide with a four year old little British boy. His scooter handle caught on my bag and the force of my 15, 4-inch Elizabethan portrait books,and sent the poor lad flying into a parked car. 
...
I'm serious.
So after I managed to explain to both his mother (who frankly, should have been monitoring him on a narrow sidewalk) and the car owner that it was all an unfortunate accident, I'd spent an extra 45 minutes en route in addition to my already lengthy commute. I felt horribly about the little boy, but he's okay--and I was on a mission, not intending to be cold or heartless. :]
So I'm sure that your best guess can tell you why I haven't written a  lengthy blog post recently,
 but in case you're wondering...the work has begun. I am in the very heat of a paper topic I decided to change last minute, but finally settled on answering the question, "Why are there no portraits of Queen Elizabeth I's likeness?" So far it has been much more exciting than my previous topic on how much we can be sure of in the life of St. Patrick (not to say that Royalty has any edge over Sainthood), and that was my goal after wandering through MULTIPLE libraries like a chicken with my head cut off! I have finally made it to several, gourgeous libraries :D and I'm finding that it is true: I feel much more intelligent surrounded by all those incredible books. And Oxford scholars. Andddd the fact that I breeze right by tourists 
clamoring to come inside the Bodleian with my student ID doesn't hurt either :D. 
 
Yesterday I sat in on a lecture regarding Shakespearean, or more 
specifically Stratford, tourism by the head lecturer in the English 
Literature school during which she remarked on that familiar feeling 
we (as tourists, or distinctly American tourists) often
get when visiting a long-awaited landmark or renowned spot. She 
actually was working on a book regarding this usually fascinating
topic, and had just returned from New England where she was at a 
conference marking Hawthorne and his particular spot in American
tourism. I won't bore you with all the amazing details of her theory on
tourism (suffice it to say that much of what we get enthused, or 
un-enthused about in regards to these places are a fabricated set 
of experiments in emotion to let us more properly "get it"), but I will 
ask you to share if you've ever felt what she describes as coming upon 
these locations and finding "it [the place] goes 'dead' on you, really,
cause it was more alive than it ever could be"--





"really, you've 'remembered' it before, even though you haven't been 
there", and your sense of personal ownership over the distinct 
experience feels as though its robbed you of something "more".  


This is the perfect tie into my experiences in the past week (before the 
work piled on)--since I've gotten to take two amazing day trips that I've 
yet to share or post photos about. Last week, we went to Stonehenge, 
Salisbury Cathedral, and Old Sarum. I was pretty excited to see 
Stonehenge in particular--these largest standing stones in 
Great Britain, mysteriously finding themselves thousands of miles
away from where they came from and reminding us of a time even
further back than the Neolithic age...and I found myself unusually 
unamused by the lack of an "authentic" feeling surrounding
roped off areas of rocks. 

Instead, those of you that know me will find these pictures of me having 
more fun in the sheep fields adjacent to the stones very typical of me :D.













At any rate, I did find that I was 
absolutely enthralled 
by Old Sarum--the site of ruins of a fortress-kingdom, 
used by Henry IVand others until the stones were 
brought down to create the city of Salisbury, formally 
demonstrating the separation of the state
and the Church. You can see the Cathedral from on top 
of the Old Sarum hills, and the tallest spire in 
Great Britain (at 401.3 feet for that alone) 
is absolutely breathtaking. 

At the Cathedral itself, we were able to climb the very 
daunting multiple sets of stairs to view the countryside, hear 
the bells chime, and see one of 4 surviving copies of the 
Magna Carta's manuscript. On top of a burial ground that 
is now only a few feet above water-level, the sanctuary 
is majestic! It was quite an experience to visit on 9/11 
as well--those there did pause for a moment of prayer.

 
And then just a few days ago, we visited Cardinal Woolsey/Henry VIII (and many after him)'s Hampton Court Palace--probably the most beautiful place I've
 seen so far. 
Like a miniature town, the kitchen, gardens, and tapestries alone  are impressive. Apparently, the halls are haunted by one of the Queens--I report no official signs of that. 
We also did the famous maze, priced now it 3.50 pounds...borderline ripoff, but it was quite fun. I encourage to look it up yourself to see the aerial view of the palace--humbling! 

I was able to capture so many awesome pictures because the weather was also just as beautiful as the palace, and unfortunately I will have to be posting them on Facebook in an album, because as you can tell...posting a ton of pictures of this blog can make it difficult to format and read smoothly. 

Although we visited Hampton Court a day before the lecture, I can personally attest to just how telling this woman's theory really is! Just prior to packing up to go I turned towards Sarah and remarked, "I would just adore having this whole place to explore alone...I want a personal experience." 
If man can create masterpieces so beautiful, I cannot wait to see Heaven :]. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amazing! No comments. You, dear lady, are a real writer. Love the descriptions of the places you are visiting. Seems like we missed most of them, too busy with OM whilst in UK. But not all of them. Wonderful to have read all those books about England then go actually see it. But the books are a couple hundred years old. Keep writing and we will keep reading. Poppa Robert

Chelleboogie said...

Girl!!!! I love your blog! I finally bookmarked your blog so I can keep tabs on you. Love reading about your adventures and fascination with sheep and fear of bikes. You crack me up! Soak up all that you are experiencing... this time is truly a gift from God!