The Tower of London. This famed tourist attraction held some of London’s most famed prisoners. Today it holds The Crown Jewels, plenty of weapons, and artifacts of its storied history. A personal favorite part of the tower was the White Tower exhibit, showcasing the collections of the Royal Armouries, the Chapel of St John the Evangelist, and plenty of wooden horses. I’ve always been obsessed with weapons, and was curious to see what they had in store for me at the white tower; however, most of the collection was dedicated more towards armour than the blade. Surprisingly enough, the best weapon was not found at the white tower but with the Crown Jewels. The crowns and scepters held at The Jewel House were a good highlight, gaining from me a resounding “that’s a big rock” at the sight of some of the several big rocks in the many bejeweled pieces held in the dark halls of the keep, but the most important piece to me was that of The Jewelled Sword of Offering.

As a self-proclaimed weapons enthusiast, and prop maker, this piece was absolutely stunning. The decorated faces of the blade alone are astoundingly detailed, not to mention the cruciform gold hilt or the gold encased scabbard. If there was anything on the trip that left me in awe, it was this.

Another interesting part of the tower is the all-encompassing gruesome nature of its history and exhibits. Part of that history is one of imprisonment and torture. One person of note to me was Guy Fawkes, known as the most famous member of those involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when a group of English Catholics attempted to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords during the opening of Parliament. Fawkes was in charge of the gunpowder to be placed underneath the House of Lords, but due to an anonymous letter giving away the plot to the authorities, Fawkes was found guarding the explosives. Kept in the Queen’s House at the Tower, Fawkes confessed under torture, and later died lucky enough to avoid his fate of being hanged, drawn, and quartered. He is most remembered in during the holiday of his namesake taking place every November 5, the night of the original plot.

May 26th, 2022

This morning we visited the Tower of London. While passing by it on the coach yesterday, the grounds did not seem as large in scale as they did today while walking around it. There were so many hidden staircases throughout each building – all of which were tightly spiraled with the stairs less than ideally spaced for people today. My favorite part of the grounds was going to see the crown jewels. This exhibit was extraordinary. The multimode exhibit captivated my attention, as I watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. As I made my way through this exhibit, I was continually getting more and more excited, as I knew the Queen’s crown was coming. The ending was definitely my favorite part, and as I wish I was exaggerating but sadly am not, I did indeed want to cry when I was looking at her crown. This piece was just so extravagant and magnificent that I wanted to look at it longer than what others would deem necessary. 

Another part of the property that I ventured around was the imprisonment section. This exhibit, along with the other parts of the prison exhibits including torture defeinitely made my stomach ache a little, as it was all pretty disturbing. There were several famous individuals who have been imprisoned at the Tower of London. One of which was Lady Jane Grey. Grey was just a teenager when she ascended the throne for nine days. However, she was eventually overthrown by Mary and was sent to prison to one of the apartments in the Tower of London. While being found guilty of treason and was pardoned by Queen Mary, Grey was ultimately beheaded for her father’s involvement in a Protestant rebellion. 

While there were gruesome actions that took place on this property, the Tower of London is by far one of the most interesting places I have toured. Its rich history and beauty are aspects of the property I will always remember. Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the property is the elevated walkways between the towers that face the river Thames. I spent several minutes here today just aweing over the views. The city is quite beautiful, and sometimes like today, I can’t help but stare. 

Some other noteworthy highlights of my day after the Tower of London include going to see Frozen the musical, eating some tasty fish & chips, and walking through Covent Garden!

-Maggie Martin

May 26

Today we ventured and explored the Tower of London, a royal fortress that doubly served as a palace for the monarchy. We first went to view the crown jewels, which were interesting in that there weren’t very many jewels present. When King Charles was executed in 1649, all the crown jewels were broken up and melted down. Because of this, the collection present today is very underwhelming despite England’s long standing and deep history of monarchs. However, it was neat to see the current reigning Queen Elizabeth’s Crown, coronation outfit, orb, and scepter that she used during her crowning.

The exhibit that stood out the most to me was the Royal Beasts. The Tower of London’s Royal Menagerie was home to over sixty animal species and was where the reigning monarchs would house their exotic animals. A few of the animals that lived in the Tower were lions, polar bears, monkeys, zebras, and snakes. These animals were exchanged as regal gifts, but kept and treated in unfit manners. One animal in particular that stands out is an elephant sent by the King of France in 1255. The elephant died after a couple of years due to cramped conditions, and now a sculpture installation of the elephant stands today in the fortress.

Many people of all differing ranks were imprisoned at some point in the Tower of London. One in particular is Princess Elizabeth, who was imprisoned by her half-sister Mary I. Arriving at the Tower in March of 1554, Elizabeth was sent there due to Mary’s fear her sister was plotting against her. Elizabeth only stayed for a number of weeks, and was released on the anniversary of her mothers, Anne Boleyn’s,  execution. While Elizabeth did not suffer much physical distress as she was held in her mothers former apartment, she was definitely under psychological stress and strain.

Blog Post 2

The Tower of London

By Isaac Overman

Today, we went to the Tower of London. This was one of our longest tube rides, but it went off without a hitch. I started by seeing the Crown Jewels. Honestly, it was similar to seeing the Mona Lisa—kind of underwhelming. They were beautiful, but I thought the collection in the armory was much more extensive and impressive. My favorite exhibit would have to be the Royal Armory within the White Tower. It was beyond amazing to see the different king’s sets of armor and the royal arsenal through the years. To me it was the most complete and well put together exhibit. After I saw the Jewels I went toward the “Imprisonment at the Tower” exhibit. During this exhibit, I learned more about one of my favorite historical figures—Anne Boleyn. I learned that she was actually buried at the Tower of London in the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula. Anne Bolyen was extremely important to the lineage of the crown, so it was really special to see the memorial of the pillow where she lost her head. It is a sad story but it was so interesting to learn more about this pivotal figure. After increasing my knowledge of those imprisoned within the towers one of which was John Smart which I thought had been immediately killed, I then sat on a bench to take in the beautiful views and just appreciate the cool weather. However, this was a grave mistake because as I sat, eyes glazed over from the sheer bliss of the moment, I felt a strange sharp pain in my left hand. I looked over and there sat a massive raven. It looked at me and I was still confused what had happened to my hand, but I looked back and it had ahold of my hand in its beak. Knowing I could do nothing but shake it off I did just that. A child near by found this dreadfully humorous. After that, I noticed a sign that read, “Caution The Ravens May Bite”. I then decided to once again sit and enjoy the views, just farther away from birds.

May 26^th

Day three is complete! I was able to explore one of the most historic fortresses in England. The various structures were connected by cobblestone pathways which were a bit tricky to walk on. I learned about the revival of the Crown Jewels and the massive armory they maintained which included a small chapel that was often used by the King and his advisors.

 One of the most amazing parts of London is there are various parts of history right beside each other. London has experienced many conflicts and has been burned down several times but each time the people have come back and built something new while preserving history. My favorite type of architecture in London is Victorian; I love the shape, colors, and abundance of windows. On the bus ride yesterday, I discovered how many buildings are dedicated or made in the honor of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

My favorite part of the Tower was the Imprisonment exhibit. I felt like I was visualizing history and remembering how the rulers handled their betrayals and nuisances. There were names all around the small tour which revealed the reason behind their imprisonment. Right before I entered the prison champers, I walked past a representation of Ann Boleyn’s execution. Despite the dire circumstances surrounding the memorial, the words wrapped around the execution pillow were impactful.

After thinking about Ann Boleyn’s wrongful execution, I ran across John Dudley’s name in the Imprisonment room. Dudley was the Earl of Warwick and he only served 1 year in prison in the 1550’s before he was released. He was held with his family for attempting to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England. I found this interesting because Dudley was the mastermind behind making Lady Jane the Queen, but she was executed, and he was discharged. The reason I am so familiar with this story is because my mom has a picture of The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. I remember asking questions about the painting and why she was killed. It was an exciting experience to connect where many of England’s unjust executions of women occurred.

It was amazing to see such a historic and grand structure. I am anxious to wander through more museums all throughout London and to see the original painting of Lady Jane Grey which is in the National Gallery.

Until next time

-Tabi is Booked

1. The London Underground

The group had a lack of time and energy yesterday so we learned how to use “the Tube” today. So exciting! Ok, but seriously, I learned that these tunnels are over 150 years old. I think that makes it the oldest subway system in the world, surpassing New York by decades. I don’t know if it’s just that we’re visiting a large city or it’s British disposition or both, but people here seem to be in a rush to get where they’re going. Silent car rides, headphones in, heads down. I got a separated from the rest of the group by almost a whole tram car, but I remembered where we stopped and rejoined the group. A missed exit from the tram could’ve spelled at least a 30 minute delay I imagine. Five of us took a second tram and arrived at King’s Cross to meet us.

2. Straight Line Crazy

I’m gonna begin this post by saying that I really liked this play, because I’m about to be pretty critical. I was astonished to find that British professional theater has a “designer” who is essentially the costume and set designer. These elements were excellent. I’m glad Grason got to see his “big map” idea realized. I don’t think you’d say it was symbolic, or a motif because it was so direct, but the map was an effective visual overall. The actors stood over it, them being the ones to decide what really happens to the island of Manhattan. When Connell draws on the map she literally makes a scar, showing the damage the new expressway would cause.

The acting was Fiennes as well 🙂 Of course, I wish I could’ve been closer to get a better view of the actors’ faces, but they seemed to be doing excellent, little complaint. However, the dialects were hit and miss. Guy Paul, who played American businessman Henry Vanderbilt had the most transparently English accent. Meanwhile Samuel Barnett who played Ariel Porter was perfect. He had a very international and technical method and the best American accent on that stage. Ralph Fiennes accent work was distracting at worst some of the time, but I learned a lot from his mistakes. He kept dropping ‘r’s in the middle of words, especially in the first act. However, some words were just stressed in a British way. For instance, he said fi-nance instead of fi-nance. It’s something really picky, but important for dialect! The syllable stress is part of it. I can’t critique the other dialects, but Helen Schlesinger had a fine American accent as well.

There were some directing choices I found difficult to understand. For much of the first act Ralph Fiennes strutted around the stage like a squirming bug even when he had the highest status in most scenes. Shawn explained that this blocking was partly due to the thrust stage and how they need to cheat out to the audience, but also that so many people are here to see Ralph Fiennes. I wish I paid more attention to the blocking overall. Apparently the straight versus squiggled blocking was intentional, but I didn’t quite pick up on it.

I really appreciated the narrative writing. They clearly painted Robert Moses as real man with founded values and showed how those values eventually f*** over Manhattan. So much of the play is spent on his characterization. He is clearly a determined man of action, just based off the opening monologue and how he treats his work. Although the relationship between Moses and Connell was probably the most interesting thing about the show, I was sort of disinterested in the way she calls him out at the end. She does a great job of challenging the values of a man who is absolutely resistant to change, but she uses some very contemporary language at the end that didn’t seem to me to fit the period. She paints a bit of a clear-cut, intersectional understanding of his work which is hard to understand coming from a white person in America in the 1940s. However, their dialogue does show that it may have been Moses’ disregard for equity that really led to his most destructive decisions. I always admire actors who can “flip.” Think True West. For more complex roles, you’ve gotta be able to change over time. Straight Line Crazy showed how the man who loved parks came to change his mind, and took every criticism as an assault on his ego. This part was Fiennes best work, and the most interesting to see.

Today was another busy, yet amazing day! I started my morning bright and early at 6 am. After getting ready I made my way to Starbucks. I’ve been looking forward to the new menu items they have available in the UK, and was pleasantly surprised at all of the unique and delicious flavors. I got an orange mango refresher, as well as a chicken pesto-aioli focaccia sandwich, and I’ll definitely be back there to taste even more of their menu!

After breakfast, our group went on a wonderful bus tour of London. Thankfully I sat on the side where most of the monuments/historic buildings could be seen best, and our tour guide was well equipped to give us any and all information on them. We learned about the Tower of London, the different guilds and unions that could be found in London, and even learned about the telephone booths and the man that created them (William Gray!).

We got off of the bus and walked past Buckingham Palace to get to Piccadilly Square. Here we were able to see many different theaters, and we even stopped for a lunch break. I went with two others from our group, Andrew and Hailey, to a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown called rasa sayang. I had nasi lemak, which is actually the national dish of Malaysia! The food was spectacular, and it made me excited to try new dishes in Chinatown, as well as for when we go to Borough Market as a group.

When we regrouped after lunch, we went on the terrifying tube. I mentioned in my previous blog post how I had a bad relationship with the tube, but today we made amends. Although very crowded, I found that the tube was so easy to navigate! It also gets you to where you need to be both quickly and efficiently. We did have a bit of trouble on the tube and lost five people, but I’ll blame that on the fact that we had such a large group at such a busy time of day. We got off of the tube at King’s Cross (think magic and Harry Potter!). I was so happy because I was able to go to a Harry Potter store and bought a scarf and keychain. I’m excited to use the tube and see what the other stations have to offer as well!

We walked back to our hotel, but I was NOT done exploring for the afternoon. I went to the Zoology museum with another group member, Brendan. This museum was fantastic, and the walls were lined with specimen. I will definitely be back to this museum since one of the workers, Graham, offered to give a personal tour of the place on a less busy day! The museum itself was quite graphic, so I’ll include the more tame photos if that helps to put your mind at ease.

Finally, our group went to the most awaited event of the day: Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre. Straight Line Crazy is about Robert Moses (Ralph Flennes), and his coworkers Finnuala Connell (Siobhán Cullen), and Ariel Porter (Samuel Barnett). It follows their construction of an expressway across Long Island much to the dismay of those living within the city. This was a play about how unwillingness to change results in loss, which is seen in the classist nature of Robert Moses. Throughout the play, Moses is very critical of those around him, even those he holds dear. Because of this, we see him lose hold of his wife Mary, his coworker Finnuala, and even his life’s work (which was his control over the expressway). I think this loss is very well personified through Moses’ shadowed monologue that is seen in both the beginning and ends of the play. At the end of each monologue, he talked about how he would swim too far. In the first act, he said he would be fine after swimming out too far; however, in the second act, he goes silent and gives no indication to his wellbeing. This silence was only after the audience has seen just a glimpse into what his persona truly was.

Straight LIne Crazy was definitely a hit for me, and I would highly recommend seeing it! Something about it I particularly enjoyed was the witty banter between characters. What I would like to see differently is in regard to the insight given into the lives of the different characters; however, after talking to my roommate Tabby, this may have instead given the audience insight as to how Moses viewed those around him– which was with little regard and little interest in their personal lives. Despite this view, I would have loved the opportunity to compare the characters to figures found in real life (aside from Robert Moses) with more specific attributes than what we as the audience were given.

Overall, today was another great day! I’m glad I got to see my first play here at a beautiful theatre, and that ultimately, I ended up back in my very comfy bed. I’m ready to sleep and for it to be tomorrow– we’ll be off to the Tower of London!

London, a City I did not take to be so complex but simple. Let me explain… First, I don’t think I ever thought I would find my self traveling overseas to a destination anything like this. After spending a full day or two worth of traveling, I find it hard to believe at times that I am on the other side of the world. Within the first hour of being here I began to see many things that are the same and many things that are different. There are things that stand out like the driving and walkways, but there are several things that are the same like some interactions with people.
After a day of wandering around and a lovely bus tour around the area I have started to notice a few things. The Buildings are stacked very close together and they ran out of space a long time ago. That is in the x and y plane or for you non math nerds the land that they can build on, but yet they continued to expand in the Z plane and not only in one direction but both up and down. I have been decently big cities where they had a few large buildings, however the scale of London makes those cities seem like tiny sand castles in comparison. Sky scrapers and tall building everywhere, and next to those building are places that have been around for so many years. Most of the older building are being kept in use as modern buildings. With the problem of space, many buildings and homes have grown taller to help support the continued growth of London. Having building going up they also used the earth below my making a very intricate set of subway tunnels. These tunnels, or Tubes as some people say, are placed around the city and out side of it as a way of quickly travel through the city without the need to navigate streets and traffic. My first thought was that it was going to be kind of annoying and complicated to navigate the tubes. After traveling through them today I have found I am enjoying the tubes as a very efficient and direct way of traveling to specific points in London.

On this very eventful first day of our trip we got a tour of the city and were able to catch a show called Straight Line Crazy With Harry Potter Star Ralph Fiennes. The show was performed at the Bridge Theatre, that is located very close to the Famous London Bridge. This play was very interesting, I was navigated through the story by the amazing performance by the actors. Being someone with a strong background in Lighting Design I found my self enjoying several specific parts in they play. For most of the play the lights where very simple, suggesting a realistic feeling. But there where many moments in the play that the lighting did more and enhanced the performance. Specify there was several moments near the end of a scene where the lights progressively got darker slowly indicated the scene coming to and end. Near the end of the Performance there was the most dramatic lighting of the entire show, isolating the main character to help feeling that he is now alone. I enjoyed it deviation from the rest of the show most likely because I have large background in musical theater and dance lighting design. There was also some very decorative lighting on the 3d models up stage where the actors never usually go for very long. I found my self looking upstage at them a few times even when the action of the play was located down stage. I enjoyed how it looked but it may have not served the play as well as it could by pulling attention once in a while. Otherwise I really enjoyed my first experience of London Theater.

After only one day of exploring the city I Can see that this trip is going to be filled with so many eventful things and I will not find my self bored or run out of things to do or see. I am looking forward to the rest of my experience on this amazing exploration of London.

For my journey to the London Tube Stations, I found it rather simple once I began to navigate it. At first, as most things, the challenge seemed vary daunting. To my surprise, navigating the tubes and stops was really as easy as simply reading a map. The tube was very similar to the New York City Subway Station but also very different. While there was a tremendous amount of people for both stations, the London Tube was much easier to use. On the Tube itself there are many clear maps that say the stops and all of the said maps are quite legible. Comparatively, the New York Subway maps are barely even there. Another huge plus of traveling in London is the fact that most people who use the Tube are very kind.

 The most frustrating part of my entire experience was when I accidently got stuck trying to exit. I learned that the Oyster cards used to enter and exit the Tubes does not swipe twice in a row. There is a stop that is right by our hotel which makes travel within the city quick and easy to use. The downloadable apps for smartphones are a huge help as well in navigating the big city.

The play Straight Line Crazy was pleasantly likeable given the heavy content material. The main character truly had no redeeming qualities and was heavily distasteful through the entirety. The only real ok this is an actual person moment was near the very end. Robert Moses tells the audience and his co workers that his wife Mary is in a psychiatric ward. While the audience understandable feels sorrow for the characters, Robert feels almost nothing, or it at least seems that way. I took this as Robert putting everything into his main assistant as she is the one that he spent most of his days and nights with. Mr. Moses to not have to deal with the essential loss of his wife until Finnuala quits and leaves.

The play goes through how Moses not only destroyed his life, his workers lives, but the lives of hundreds of thousands of others. Upon Finnuala’s exit, she tells Moses how she lost her baby and husband while working for him. While she does not directly blame Robert, it is heavily implied. The play also gives racist undertones throughout, and it is confirmed when Finnuala says Moses only designs for upper middle class to the wealthy white.

London Tube

The London Underground made a strong first impression on me, even in the wake of a taxing day of travel which left me feeling jet-lagged and more than a bit sick. Once on the Piccadilly line into the city from Heathrow, I was struck by three notable differences when compared to metro systems I’ve used before (particularly those in Rome and New York): the size of the cars, the comfort, and the quiet. London’s cars were two-thirds the height of other metro cars I’ve been on at most, and perhaps as a result are much quieter, even to the point of being entirely silent when stopped. In addition, the cushioning of the seats makes for a much more comfortable, if not slightly more cramped ride. In terms of navigation, I have not used a simpler system in my life. The layout is clear, the mapping is descriptive, and the stations are less maze-like than other cities. Undoubtedly much of this has to do with the history and geography of the city, but I am grateful for the ease of use, all the same.

[now playing: London – Third Eye Blind]

Straight Line Crazy

While I believe David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy has nominal issues with structure and exposition (particularly relying too heavily on dialogue, to reveal what is ultimately too little too late about some of its significant characters) I feel strongly that there is not a better play to have started this learning journey in London. The show was a seamless topical blend of my two areas of study, architecture and theatre, and provided a glimpse into an important historic shift in America’s socio-economic fabric through the eyes of urban planner Robert Moses. Ralph Fiennes expertly imbued him with vigor, resolve, and the right amounts of desperation, dedication and arrogance to prove to the audience that Moses was a well-intentioned man who saw the very fabric of the nation shift beneath him, turning him from a visionary for the people to out-of-touch dictator in just the quarter-century between 1926 and 1955 (and ultimately into a pariah, along with those the play’s younger characters hail as heroes, by the turn into the 21^st).

I think the play’s choice to center the two acts on these specific years of Moses’s life, and the sharp contrast in tone between the two halves, drives home the central nuance of the play’s message. Ultimately, Robert Moses was a flawed but genuinely dedicated man who exhibited all the common moral downfalls of his time (namely thinly veiled racism underpinning all his work). However the takeaway from Moses’s interactions with his employees and political opponents and/or allies (played with conviction by an impressive supporting cast) is that during a time when turmoil and newfound agency within the American middle class was a defining characteristic of the national landscape, the heroic architect quickly became an impossibility, as much because of their changing context as their own shortcomings and lack of foresight. Straight Line Crazy shows us this phenomenon through Robert Moses, but he is representative of a greater pattern at the macro-scale which was a huge part of America’s journey into the contemporary era of policy and design.

[now playing: The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan]

Photos: I actively chose to avoid taking many photos on our first real day in the city, in an effort to force myself to engage more closely with what I was seeing. That ended up being poor judgment for the purposes of this blog post, but luckily I snagged a few good ones of St. Pancras (!!!) and the Tower Bridge… enjoy

-Shiloh Bemis