Monks, Sun and Sand

       This morning I woke up to sun streaming in my window! It was a lovely surprise after yesterday's downpour. I excitedly put on clothes and joined everyone in the dining hall for a good breakfast (no complaints on food so far!) We walked over to the "primrose yellow house" for our briefing on Cuthbert, Northumbria and Holy Island. I can tell Professor Lomas really likes this topic because he sort of chatted about it in so much detail that we only had two minutes at the end of the hour to mention Cuthbert (who was pretty much the main topic of the day).
       We had a fairly long time on the bus today with two long breaks at Holy Island and then Bamburgh. The beautiful weather really made the day! There are no surviving ruins at either location so we were looking at more modern buildings (or sometimes, nothing) trying to visualize what the monastery at Lindisfarne and castle at Bamburgh might have been like in the 7th and 8th centuries.
       Lindisfarne is only connected to the mainland twice a day, so we have a tight schedule where we had to be off the island by 1:30. We walked up onto the Heugh (YUFF), which was a hill on the farside of the island that overlooked the monastery on one side and the sea on the other, including Cuthbert's tiny island where he had his first hermit's hut. In an unfortunate turn of events, while we were on the Heugh we were swarmed by millions of tiny black beetles that got onto everyone's clothes and hair. General panic ensued as we all flailed away down the hill while Professor Lomas looked bewildered and gave up on giving us his Cuthert spiel temporarily. The "flea plague" as it was known the rest of the day was soon resolved but i'm sure will never be forgotten. Poor monks who had to live that way on the island all the time!

        On the opposite side was a beautiful castle that looked as if it have been carved on the top of a large rock jutting out of the ocean. Professor Lomas told us this was Lindisfarne castle, which we would not be going to because it was out of our time period (built in the 16th century). That was a little disappointing because it was really amazing and I would have liked to see the inside--but no matter, we had more important things to investigate!

        We walked through the ruins of the 11th century monastery that had replaced the even older Lindisfarne monastery (the 8th century one where the manuscript was made). There was also a little museum with a nice gift shop where I couldn't control myself and bought a super soft stuffed sheep who I have named, most appropriately, Cuthbert.

        After eating another lovingly packed lunch, we drove the short distance to Bamburgh, which acted at the capital of Northumbria for several centuries after its conquest by Ida, the first Bernician king (Northumbria is comprised to the two smaller kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira). Here was another awesome and enormous castle which we again, did not get a closer look at because it was from later than the period we were studying.

       Instead, we walked out to look at the sea, where we could see, in the distance, both Lindisfarne and Inner Farne, a smaller island and home of St Cuthbert with is now a bird sanctuary for puffins!

        I have some videos of all this but unfortunately I think I left my video camera on the bus so I'll have to hopefully upload them when I am reunited with it tomorrow! At any rate, tomorrow we are studying Bede and going to his monastery at Jarrow as well as to several churches! Hurray! I am looking forward to seeing things that are not ruined, though the last two days has certainly been an exercise for the imagination!

Sheep, Rain and Ruins

   
      Today was our first day of class and touring the countryside around Durham! We woke and had breakfast, ready for our "briefing" at 8:30 before boarding the bus to make our way to Vindolanda, Hadrian's wall, a Mithras Temple, and Chesters (another Roman fort.)
      The weather was pure misery today and the rain was continuous on a day almost solely devoted to outdoor activities with the occasional blessed museum.  It was, however, a perfect opportunity to premier my brand-new raincoat! It was a 100% success and I stayed warm and dry (not to mention trench-tastic) the whole day! Might I add that I had all my own clothes on today? Never going to take that for granted again!

Everyone was feeling bogged down by the deluge

      I will admit that I have some trouble with Roman ruins (sorry Amy <3). The piles of rocks all blend together after a while, and I have trouble visualizing what they were without reconstructions and models. However, I put a good face on it and tried to take as much away from it as I could, given the cold and the wet. The Museums were the best part, with real artifacts and even the famous Vindolanda tablets which are personal and official letters written on papyrus by the Roman soldiers. Professor Lomas is a really great, enthusiastic teacher and that helped a lot, though morale was fairly low today. On the positive, we had another delicious packed lunch, saw lots of sheep and learned a thing or two about living on the Roman frontier! Very excited for Holy Island (Lindisfarne) tomorrow!

                                          

          

To Durham!

         The morning we left Edinburgh, we boarded the bus and began the 3 and a half hour drive to St John's College in Durham, a town located in Northern Europe. It was a peaceful drive, and we were right beside the sea most of the time. At lunch we stopped at a village (whose name escapes me, something "aln" and "mouth") to have a picnic on the beach. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining, and there lots of families with dogs playing by the ocean. We had a packed lunch--its always chicken salad on this trip, for some reason--and had a wonderful time looking at the sea and taking a break from being in the bus.
          It wasn't long before we were on the road again--everyone was trying to nap but it's not easy on a crowded bus, is it? We said goodbye to stevens and the Eastern track for the week, just Professor Street, Professor Lomas, Sally and the Westerners headed on to Durham, while the others went to York. When we finally arrived, it was absolutely beautiful. We had a little walk up to the college, and on the way a crossed a bridge that gave me my first glimpse of the cathedral:

        Our rooms are wonderful here--I have my very own! I will post a picture later, but I have a double bed, a sink, two windows that look out on the woods, and all the creature comforts. They even had tea, hot chocolate and cookies waiting for us! We went on a walking tour of the college and town (I got lost and was a little late...) and when we got back the best thing had happened: MY BAG HAD ARRIVED! Finally, clothes of my own! I promptly and lovingly unpacked it all before going to dinner with everyone in the dining hall which was very nice!
        After dinner Alex and I went to the common room where we had wifi and a british man wandered in and bullied us into an hour and a half conversation which we could not escape even though I was working on my blog--I hope he doesn't find us again!

Scotland National Gallery

Here are some of the art pieces I saw at the Scottish National Gallery! I was pretty overwhelmed by the collection because it was so large--I would have really liked a full day there, but I think I'm just going to have to get used to being smart about galleries and seeing what I want without panicking/getting exhausted. These are some highlights:

This triptych by Hugo Van Der Goes, one of the more famous artists of the Northern Renaissance, was commissioned for Scotland by King Charles I. This is not the complete altarpiece but it's the part I saw at the gallery. I was amazed by the size which is really hard to convey in this image but it is HUGE. 

           

                            Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus, Manet                          Olive Trees, Van Gogh

These two works, the one on the left by Botticelli and the one on the right by Picasso, were displayed together to show two differing representations of the mother and child motif. I found the pairing very interesting. 

Old Woman Cooking Eggs, Velazquez

I especially enjoyed this work by Hans Holbein, mostly because he is an artist largely associated with portraits and I wouldn't have expected this piece. However, it is a nice surprise and a very interesting explanation of Christianity with gold labels on the parts of the painting explaining the greater symbolism.

These two works, the Da Vinci on the left and the Raphael on the right, were not paired in the gallery but were hung near one another. One thing I especially liked about the Raphael that is hard to see in this print is the richness of the blues in her gown. Look how big Da Vinci's Christ child is!

Dawn: Luther at Erfurt, Sir Joseph Noel Paton (Yay Scotland!)

Portrait of a Jew, Raeburn

This was my favorite Raeburn portrait, that was displayed on a wall with about 7 others. 

Venus Anadyomene, Titian 

Scotland, Scotland the Brave

            Yesterday, our first and only full day in Edinburgh, was wonderful and shockingly busy! After not sleeping well the night before, I went with some other members of the group on a walking tour of the city at 10:30, accompanied by Professor Lomas (our Durham professor) and Sally. It was a long walk into the main part of the city from Chancellor's Court where we stayed--about 45 minutes, but we were entertained all the way with Professor Lomas' stories, like how Spittal Street was the site of a medieval hospital, and the battle of Floddard that led to the creation of a massive wall around the medieval city. We walked up the royal mile, stopping in to see the Church of St Giles and its beautiful chapel of the Order of the Garter and the monument to Sir Robert Louis Stevenson.

    

          Edinburgh is crowded right now because of the annual Edinburgh Festival going on, so the Royal Mile was positively packed with street performers and tourists, making it hard to move around the closer we got to the castle. Eventually we veered off to a street where we got an excellent view of the city and Professor Lomas showed us where the National Gallery was, as well as a few other things.

          After the tour, a few of us went to a pub on the royal mile for some fish and chips, which were very good! Then back to the National Gallery, though I've decided to give it a whole post to itself haha. 

         At 7:30 we all got to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo which was a real experience! There were performances by a motorcycle performance group, aztecs, mongols, mexicans and koreans! My favorite part was the New Zealand military band which seemed to be having a lot of fun--they gangham styled and the Lord of the Rings theme along with some other famous movie songs. There were high winds but they still got to shoot off the fireworks! It was really wonderful. At the end we all held hands and sung "Auld Lang syne" which was adorable and very patriotic. 

                                                  

        After the Tattoo, Melissa, Noor, Whitney, Alex, Meg and I went to Ramyan's, a really great middle eastern restaurant on the Royal Mile. Meg and I both got the Chicken Kebseh and huge bowls of Naan. We all had a great time eating and visiting :) Then caught a cab back to pack and get ready for the next day's journey to Durham!

A Far, Green Country

       Our first day in Scotland was an overload of the senses, but exciting! After touching down at the airport, we met Sally, our Dean and one of the most maternal sweet ladies ever. We took a bus over to Chancellor's Court, a sort of hotel/dorm where we are staying during our two days in Edinburgh. It is an attractive campus and the dorm is very modern.

       About 1 in the afternoon, Alex and I went down to "The Shop" aka a sort of convenience store on campus for a sub-par sandwich, a coke, and a battle with a complicated Scotish credit card machine that made me feel more urgent about finding an ATM. At 2:30 it was time to go for our hike up Arthur's Seat, a huge hill right behind the campus which gave us a lovely view of the city. Stevens is like 80% legs so he set a fast pace, so Noor, Melissa, Alex and I just sort of took it at our own speed and had a lot of fun admiring the natural and cultural beauty of Edinburgh! 

        At 6:30 we boarded the buses to drive into the city center, which is about a half hour (or more!) walk from the dorm. There, we ate at The Dome, a really classy and attractive restaurant in a Neoclassical building, complete with dome. 

Outside of The Dome

                                     Inside of The Dome

They had caduceus stained glass windows--huh?

          On the menu was a sort of meat spread, salmon, and lemon tart followed by coffee.

        Though we enjoyed the food and atmosphere, I think everyone was feeling a little tired, having flown all night, and the twenty-five minute breaks between the four courses made the dinner last about 2 hours and 45 minutes! Still it was a great inauguration dinner and everyone looked great! Special thanks to Alex for lending me her dress as I had no clothes and still don't--though I got to add my jewelry :)

          After dinner a lot of people chose to go out and have a nice on the town, but at that point after flying overnight and then having a full day, I was much more interested in my bed than in the nightlife--besides, another busy day ahead!

AND HERE WE GOOOOOO

       Yesterday was a crazy travel day which ended this morning with my safe arrival in Edinburgh, Scotland! I woke up and headed to the Bill and Hillary National Airport (really, Little Rock? Why not the President William Jefferson Clinton National Airport?) about 9 o'clock, in plenty of time for my 11:30 flight to Atlanta! Mama took me and we were both brave and didn't get upset but both a little nervous about the busy day ahead! Here is a pic of my FINAL packing arrangements. 

       A fairly modest amount of luggage, I'd say. The lady at the desk assured me that she could check it through to Edinburgh, but I'm currently having some trouble because my suitcase is MISSING. I'm praying praying praying that it arrives tomorrow. Anyways, back to narrative about travel day. 

      Originally I had only one hour in Atlanta before my flight to Newark to meet up with the group and fly to Scotland. However, due to weather problems in New Jersey, my plane was delayed a full two and a half hours, getting me to Newark barely in time to print my international, United boarding pass (I'd flown there on Delta) and go back through security. While in Atlanta I read my fascinating book Death at Seaworld: Shamu and the Darkside of Whale Captivity which is nonfiction but so good and really an interesting issue (AKA don't go to Seaworld.) Uncle Larry also called several times to keep me company while I waited!

     I made a friend on the flight to Newark named John, who helped me find my way once I got to the rather confusing airport. After only a little rushing, I made it to where the whole group was sitting peacably in the gate C108 waiting for our flight at 9:55. I only had about 20 minutes to spare before boarding! 

    Mama had last minute upgraded me to the "economy plus" part of the plane which gave me some extra legroom--it was SO worth it, and since she booked it close to departure we didn't pay nearly as much as others in the section. Drs Streete (my professor and her husband) were right behind me! Then a miracle occurred: I was in the window seat, with another man (Dan) on the aisle, but the middle seat was empty!! Hallelujah! Dan was a very amicable dad-like figure who gave me all the pillows and let me stretch out into the middle seat to sleep. It was bliss. I slept almost the whole plane ride and woke up feeling very refreshed in time to watch us approach the coast. The clouds cleared some revealing blue ocean and an expanse of green land ahead--we had made it at last! 

    Customs was very quick and before long I was hovering worriedly around baggage claim only to find out that my bag had not come along for the ride. The lady at the baggage office gave me a number and said my bag would likely come the next day (tomorrow). Lets hope so! I don't think I can make it much longer with literally just the clothes on my back! Dr. Sally Dormer, the absolutely charming, maternal and wonderful dean who we met today at the airport was very kind and encouraging about it, as were all the other students on the trip, many of whom offered to lend me things. So it could really be much worse! Apparently it happens every year to someone. 

    Beyond the bag fiasco, the point is: EUROPEAN STUDIES HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN! I'm am, at this very moment, studying abroad!