Since getting home

I've been really busy since getting home from Europe. I've been organizing all my photos, books, and maps, and will have some new blogs soon! I stayed an extra two weeks in Europe and brought three of my children out to be with me. A week after getting home we went to AZ for my grandson's birthday! A couple of days after we got back my dog had three puppies, and a couple of days after that my daughter had her tonsils out, so I've been playing nurse. Now school has started and everyone is busy!

Thur. we were supposed to go to Windsor Palace but almost everyone went to a play the night before and got back late; so only six people showed up in the morning. So we opted to go out on our own to see some design shops and stores with great designs. After that I went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw the amateur portrait show. It was really good.

On Wed. we went to Syon house. It’s not as big as the other houses and palaces but it was very impressive. Again no photos except the grounds. But I have been faithful in getting guides to all of these houses to show all of you when I get home!

Tues.

On Tues. we went to Chatsworth, I was so impressed. It is definitely my favorite place we’ve been. I didn’t know that we would be able to take photos there so I didn’t plan ahead and ran out of battery before I even got through the house. The grounds were just as nice as the house! I could have used my movie camera, darn!

Monday

This is Monday, June 18th. We went to Blenheim Palace, it was a big place. But again we couldn’t take photos, so all my photos are of the outside and the surrounding grounds.

Thur. June 14th

On Thurs. we took a train to Cambridge and had a great tour of the city. I have never seen so many bikes in my life! It’s very interesting how the town was named, mainly the town is surrounded by the river Cam and the King built a bridge to connect the city. As simple as that. It was one of the neatest towns, it seemed to be all made of old buildings and in some areas you can’t drive a car. There are some 31 or so colleges there. We had a tour guide that took us to the All Saints church that is still being renovated. It was built and decorated by William Morris. We went into King’s Chapel at King’s College, it has the largest “fan vaulting” in the world. We practically ran through the Fitzwilliam Museum and saw some more famous paintings. To top it all off we went “Punting on the Cam”. A cool boat ride kind of like a gondola ride. We got our first drenching on the walk back to the station.

Wed. June 13th

On Wed. we took another train to Chesterfield and took a bus to Hardwick Hall. There’s an older house in ruins and right next door the newer house. It was great fun taking photos of the ruins and climbing the stairs. We weren’t able to take photos inside the newer house though. There is a lot of history in those houses. Afterwards the bus took us to Haddon Hall, definitely one of my favorite places. Parts of Pride and Predigest, Princes Bride and Jane Eyre were filmed there. The gardens were the best gardens I’ve seen yet!

Tues. June 12th

On Tues. we took a train to Salisbury and a bus to the Wilton House, this is one of my favorite places. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside. The largest collection of Van Dyck’s paintings! I took some awesome pictures of the outside though, and walked through some secret gardens. After that we went to Salisbury Cathedral. We went on a special tour up the tower. That was scary and fun! We ate at a great Italian restaurant before heading back to London. We actually got on the wrong train and ended up in Bath before we got back to the hotel.

Monday, June 11th

On Monday we went to the design Museum and saw an exhibit by Luigi Colani, very aerodynamic. On our way to the Tate Modern we went into a church that beautiful organ music was coming out of, apparently we weren’t supposed to be in there and got into a little trouble. A couple of girls and I decided to go to the Dali exhibit at the Tate. The man had talent but was crazy, he had a video of himself explaining the benefits of a hallucinatory mushroom. That explains a lot of his work. I don’t like modern art much. We walked by St. Peter’s but didn’t have time to go in. I’m hoping to do that on the weekend.

weekend

On Saturday I went shopping with the group. On Sunday I went to church and revisited the V & A Museum. I found an exhibit on James Steuart, he was an architect, painter and designer from the 1760s.

3rd day in London

Another busy day! Starting with Hampton Court, the Palace of Henry VIII. From there we went to Sir John Soane's home/museum and then the British Museum. The British Museum started closing soon after we got there so I plan to go back soon!

2nd day in London

We started off the day at Westminster Abbey and the walked down to the National Portrait Gallery. I was able to see works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael Van Dyck, Turner and Leonardo Da Vinci as well as many others. I hope to be able to go back there before I leave. After lunch in the cafeteria we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum (the V & A). There are amazing copies of some of the most famous sculptures there, as well as some originals, see if you can tell the difference.

1st day in London

I can't believe I was able to keep going after no sleep for over 24 hours. We did a tour of down-town London past Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Trafalga Square. We practically ran into the Queen, actually they stoped me to let her car come out of the palace. Sorry, no photo, I was out of memory. The Hostel we are staying in is really nice, but they don't have wireless as they promised. So we have to go to an Internet cafe, the hours aren't very good though. The time here is seven hours ahead of Utah. It's incredible how big London is, it's like a giant New York.

Apsley House

The Apsley House was built by Robert Adam between 1771 and 1778 for Lord Apsley. In 1817 he sold it to his brother Sir Arthur Wellesley, who became the Duke of Wellington. The current Duke of Wellington still has apartments there, even though the 7th Duke of Wellington gave the house to the nation in 1947. It is known as "Number One, London" because of it's address. It houses many pieces of art, including the 1st Duke's collection of paintings by Goya, Velasquez, Rubens and Brueghel.

Donatello's David

Donatello's David is known as the first large scale nude sculpture in the Renaissance period. It was very controversial because of it's nudity and it's feminine features. I think Donatello liked causing a big commotion, what we would call publicity. His hat seems a little girly but that was what the shepherds wore, and most assume the same for his open toes boots. Michelangelo was reportedly highly influenced by Donatello's work.