Paige and I landed at 6:30am London time on Sunday, 7 July, and haven't stopped since. On Sunday we went to a bunch of tourist spots: the British Library, Platform 9 3/4, Piccadilly Circus, Fortnam & Mason, Trafalgar Square, walked by 10 Downing Street, saw Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey, and then passed out around 7pm at the flat.
Got started at the museum with a crash course on the human skeleton and much help from Professor Ullinger and Paige. I've learned so much just in these past 2 days working with the bones that I can't wait to take the full osteology class to really round out some of my knowledge. Paige is already deadset on coming back here to study abroad!
After work on Monday, 8 July, Paige and I worked our way over to Buckingham Palace, navigating the tube by ourselves for the first time. (Her Royal Majesty has got some pretty sweet digs.) We then proceeded to have a frustrating time trying to get back because 2 of the main tube lines were facing major delays. Our obvious solution was to grab some fish & chips and try again in an hour! Those trains weren't running yet, but now that we weren't listening to our grumbling stomachs it was easy to take a broader look at the tube map and figure out a different route.
Tonight, 9 July, Paige and I went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour around and let me tell you, we walked. For nearly 2 hours we followed a tour guide around the Ripper's route and learned about the facts and theories surrounding the crimes.
*Slight divergence from the trip's biological anthropology focus and into a more cultural
observation: we each paid 10 pounds to learn about a serial killer from the 1800s. Along the way
we passed a barber stop called "Jack the Clipper," clearly turning a gruesome string of crimes into
a catchy name to make people chuckle. So the question is, why are we so excited by a serial
killers? I was pleased because the tour guide ended the tour with a little speech about how his
version of the tour focuses more on the victims than the murderer himself in an effort to pay tribute
to the innocent women and to avoid over-glorifying the murderer. Sounds great, but there's also
little hard evidence about Jack the Ripper himself, and plenty of information about the prostitutes
he killed. So there you have it, 2 branches of anthropology meeting in one city in my very own
brain!
Tomorrow we head over to St. Bride's for the first time to check out the crypt! We've not yet figured out what adventure we'll go on after, but it's sure to be fun.
Holly
Glad to see you're having a good time, can't wait to hear more about the crypt!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Holly! Look forward to hearing more about your adventures :)
ReplyDelete