The Third Course: England

Sorry for the long delay in the English part of my holiday epic, but alas, here at last is the dramatic conclusion.

If you've ever faced the proposition of joining a large crowd for an event, you know that it can be a bit trying and tiring, but often well worth the fun. I have twice vied for a coveted railing space for New Years Eve in Epcot, survived the heat and thunderstorms before July 4th festivities at the US Capitol, and even struggled against drunk football (soccer) maniacs in the Vienna EuroCup fan zone, all for the holy grail of event attendance: the coveted perfect view. Regrettably, my traveling companions for New Years Eve in London did not share my adventurous enthusiasm for braving four hours of freezing cold, penned up like animals for a perfect 20 minute fireworks show.

So we watched it on the BBC.

No, I'm just kidding. While it's true that they were not enthusiastic about packing in and meeting new friends, we still ventured forth to seek out a reasonable plot of territory to plant our flag on for NYE celebrations. We were quite lucky, in fact. With our rental apartment just 10 minutes walking from all the action, we avoided the Tube and merely wandered onto Waterloo Bridge over the Thames. Before peaking the bridge, however, I looked off to the left and there it was: a gap between several buildings, with a clean view of the Eye and Big Ben behind! Even better, a temporary barricade had been erected; a perfect sitting place for my parents while we waited for 2012 to pass into history. Stocked with several tasty goods, we stood around with a couple of other people, thanking our good fortune that the crowds all passed up this spot. The breeze - albeit chilly - flew along with the time and all too soon... 10... 9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... GONG GONG GONG GONG as Big Ben pierced the chilled night time air... GONG GONG GONG GONG with the pending excitement of a new year... GONG GONG GONG GONG... silence. Then BOOOOOOM!! The night exploded in a cloud of lights as the Eye was enveloped in a ring of brilliant fireworks. Almost immediately, the Eye disappeared behind a shroud of clouds which moved swiftly in our direction. The smoke was so thick, we could barely see the fireworks behind. Then, even those disappeared. It didn't matter; we were having too good of a time to care. It was the new year and we were in London. Though... I might add that it was a touch unfortunate to be the awkward 5th wheel. Maybe that should be my new year's resolution ;-)

Not letting the grass grow under our feet (actually, that's because it's London's South Bank, where there is no grass), we hit the streets the next morning for our first day of sightseeing. Since my parents have done London before, we decided to mostly divide and conquer; T&R hit most of the standards while we worked on our second list. So first, it was the Imperial War Museum, including a moving exhibition on the holocaust. Just out of Normandy, it was fascinating to see the background of why the Allies invaded France. Surprising, too, was the fact that many of the gory details of the genocide were unknown by the allied governments and, naturally masked from the public eye.

For a bit of contrast, we also popped over to the Tate Modern for my parents' introduction to modern art. The museum is housed in a converted hydroelectric plant. It is an impressive structure, but a bit industrial. Its cooling tower dominates the south bank skyline, and provides an interesting contrast to the massive St. Pauls directly across the Thames. I found the museum's galleries fascinating too. One of the first works we saw was two stuffed crows pinned to the drywall with arrows, 'soaring' above an outline of the London skyline. It was a great use of 2D and 3D elements. I think our 'favourite' work, however, was called Equivalent VIII. It consists of an arrangement of yellow bricks, two blocks high by six blocks wide by ten blocks long. Basically, it looks like a segment of a walkway. Tyler and Rachael saw the exhibit later in the week, which led to a great deal of debate in our group. Tyler and dad opposing Rachael and me, the three debates about this singular - shall I say - piece of art constituted the most discussion about any landmark from the entire three-week trip. Rachael and I had the upper hand, of course!

That evening, my parents and I dined on the banks of the Thames. I had venison pie. Oh, pie and chips, how I missed thee! So good to return to British food!

One of the highlights of the London leg for my parents came the next morning. We decided to take a couple hours to meander around SoHo. Stopping in a cafe, we split tea and scones and just chatted. I think dad described it as a true British experience, so I'm glad we got the chance to relax over the delicious pastry. From there, we headed to St. Paul's. It was my third time in the church, and unlike the first two visits, which were during services, this time we picked up audio guides and explored the cathedral. Again, I was blown away by the beautiful mosaic work, which reaffirmed that St. Pauls is my favourite cathedral. We also climbed the dome, providing us a misty 360 degree view of London. That afternoon, we evaded the pouring rain by visiting the Maritime Museum, which I found ok, but not incredible. They did have a good exhibit on the East India Company however. Did you know that the East India Company owned over half of modern day India? The opium that was traded illegally into China had to come from somewhere! Finally, my parents and I capped the evening by taking in The Mousetrap, a play by Agatha Christie that is in its 60th year. I can see why it's the longest running stage production in history - the plot and characters were fantastic, and the acting was quite good. If you're ever in London and keen to see something other than a musical, this is the show for you. (Side note - I'm not going to explain the plot. You'll have to see it for yourself!)

Thursday's excitement was certainly our tour of Parliament. (We had grabbed breakfast in Covent Garden, but there wasn't much to write about... except the talented but way over-keen opera singer...) One can obtain free tours by contacting their MP, so I had procured five tickets for us. It began in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the complex. Dating back to Norman times, it has been the seat of Parliament, a banquet hall, a court of law (e.g. for Guy Fawkes and Oliver Cromwell)... and filled many other purposes through the years. The guide took us through the Queen's Robing Room (with five of seven heraldic virtues depicted in paintings on the wall), the Royal Gallery (a splendid room used for workspace and meetings with foreign heads of government), and the Prince's Room (a 'small' room serving as the Prince's office and the Queen's antechamber to the House of Lords). Finally, the guide took us into the House of Lords, magnificent for its bright red and gold furnishings. The benches looked decadent, but she torturedly forbid us from sitting down. The Queen's throne at the end of the room was gilded in brilliant gold, a worthy chair for the Head of State. In front of her, the oft-depicted rows of benches faced a central table with a row of books and a pair of chests (aka podiums). According to the guide, the Lords are often chosen because they are experts in their field. Therefore, the often only 'come to work' when the policy being debated pertains to their expertise. As such, work in the House of Lords is rarely about striking down legislation, but fine-tuning the details of legislation to ensure its practicability (English question... what's the difference between practicability and practicality? Sigh...). The best part: anyone can nominate themselves to be a Lord, and I think the age limit is 18. Maybe that's my true calling when I finish my DPhil! Who thinks I should submit an application? I digress.

From there we moved across the Peers' Lobby to the Central Lobby, the room for which the tradition of lobbying one's officials got its name. Members of the public can wait there in hopes of snagging their MP for a chat. Beyond the central lobby was the Commons Lobby and finally the House of Commons. In mirror image to the House of Lords, this green and brown room was also quite lavish, and featured an elaborate chair for the speaker of the Commons. Interestingly, the throne-like seat is fitted with a curtain. In the old days, the speaker was not allowed to leave without suspending the session, so the curtain allowed the speaker to pull out a container to use as a toilet. MPs were asked to speak loudly to each other in order to give the speaker a bit of additional privacy during such embarrassing proceedings.

The rest of the day was good, but not quite as interesting as Parliament. Pub lunch (I had a cheese board!), Museum of London... which we didn't finish before closing, and a trip to Brick Lane, London's famous strip of Indian restaurants. My parents found the haggling of the restaurant owners on the streets to be quite off-putting, but I found it amusing in London, given that I became accustomed to it in China and other locations. At last, we took the recommendation of a friend and ended up at Tayyab's Pakistani Restaurant. Delicious does not even begin to cover it. I do love a good curry, and Tayyab's served some fantastically flavourful dishes. Mom even fought through the spice to bask in the glory of chicken tikka; there was enough mango lassi to put out even the most ferocious mouth-fires.

On our last day in London, I took my parents to nearby Windsor Castle. Having been there already, I won't go into too much detail, but I realized that I like the castle significantly better than the Palace of Versailles. The Garter Room still blew me away, and this time I was fortunate enough to see the lavish Scarlet Room, which had been closed off during my previous visit. One benefit to this visit was that everything had been decorated for Christmas. Wreaths adorned the bannisters and a couple Christmas trees had been arranged throughout the castle. It was wonderfully festive!

In the evening, we met Tyler & Rachael at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It was open late.... kind of. Much to our chagrin, only the ground floor was kept open after 5 pm... except the architecture and glass exhibits. Well, I was quite keen to look at the architecture and mom the glass, so we still managed to fill a couple hours. Soon enough, however, we crossed the street to a Lebanese restaurant, which ticked off another cuisine on my parents' culinary checklists. I daresay they quite enjoyed the meal - which consisted of the typical Mediterranean fare - aside from the drunk or doped up homeless person who came up to our outdoor table just before we paid. He only raged a little though; he just leaned up against another table and started listening in. Typically, quite funny in hindsight.

Twenty-one days gone, I finally returned to dear Oxford. A year and a half gone, and I finally had the opportunity to show my family and friends around the city I call home. Saturday involved a lengthy tour around town, including a full English breakfast, exploring Keble's neo-gothic peculiarities, meandering past the Sheldonian Theatre and Bodleian Libraries, a trip up the High Street and through the covered market, a brief respite over cream tea (i.e. tea & scones) at Queens Lane Cafe, wandering Broad Street, taking in the bustle of Cornmarket Street, past the Oxford Castle, and back up to my apartment. Ok, so perhaps it was a busy day. Naturally, it could only be concluded with pies and a pint at my beloved Victoria Pub. We discussed Equivalent VIII and other joys of England, a fine penultimate evening in Europe.

On the last day, we arose at a reasonable hour and headed out for Port Meadow. I was hoping to take them up to The Trout Inn and Pub, but as we crossed the bridge I realised what lasting impact the months of rain had befell Oxford: Port Meadow was really Port Lake. It's hard to imagine, but what should normally be a two-mile by half mile field with a 50-yard wide river had been entirely covered in water. I was blown away. On either side, we could only make it half way to The Trout before our way was impeded. Thus, we had a fabulous walk... but (sadly for Tyler) no rabbit pasta. After some fish and chips in the Eagle and Child, we returned to their hotel so they could pack. A couple hours of lounging later, and we headed to Keble Hall for dinner. Mercifully, the food was quite decent, and the hall itself was just as spectacular as always. Twas a fine final meal to share with the gang.

As my parents headed back to the hotel, I did share one final experience with Tyler and Rachael: the MCR's first event of term was an evening pub-style quiz. I played on a team with the two of them, and we actually didn't do too poorly. Unfortunately, however, the "Music of the Olympic Opening Ceremony" round did us in. But oh well; we'll get 'em next time!


So three glorious weeks sadly came to an end. We had seen 2000 years of history, art, politics, economy, and disasters laid out before our eyes. The connections between the three cities were fantastic, and I would highly recommend that if anyone wants to get a good idea of European history, they hit Rome/Florence, Paris, and London in succession. They were cultural, economic, and political powers to reckon with, and it was unbelievable to experience the tangled spaghetti of these cities' history first hand. From the Forum to Parliament, the trip was the most incredible three consecutive weeks of travel I have ever taken, so naturally, it's time to go back to the drawing board and see if I can step it up next time!

Very many heartfelt thanks to those who made this experience possible: my parents, Tyler and Rachael, Tyler's parents (especially for picking up the pieces while Tyler's house fell apart!), and my extended family for their various contributions and recommendations. So, where are we going next?