Birds at Hyde Park |
Hyde Park: historic, beautiful, nature, birds. I’d never seen so many birds. Lake birds, mostly, to be more precise. Swans, geese, ducks, and of course pigeons (there’s always pigeons). Other birds too, that my mom could have named but I guess I never listened to her enough.
Right next to a particularly bird inhabited area sat a shop that sold, among other things, pellets to feed the fowl. A few people bought a box and then sat there for a very long time using their purchase as it was intended. Some brave souls offered the swans food out of their very hands. I watched as the swans too it, carefully and gulped it down. I wanted to try that, of course. There’s something special about having a wild animal trust you (or be hungry) enough to eat right out of your hand, so I got a few pellets to try it. It didn’t go as planned, of course. The bird went right to my hand itself and bit it until the pellets fell out of my hand and onto the ground. It didn’t hurt, but that wasn’t how I imagined it going. Olivia taught me something that day. I think she has grown up around chickens, and so, she exhibited her talents by picking up pigeons. I had no idea that was even possible. It had never, ever occurred to me that you could simply pick a pigeon up. But you can, and it’s surprisingly easy. They can’t get down either, unless you let them down. It’s strange how a creature went from, in my mind, inaccessible to completely helpless. |
The Tower of London |
The Tower of London is basically a museum inside a museum. The very stones of the place are steeped in history, along with the suits of armor, weapons, and precious jewels that reside therein. It was cold, but sunny, and the sun seemed too bright upon certain areas of the tower, like the spot where Anne Boleyn was killed that is now marked with a glass sculpture of a pillow.
Mythology is very prevalent in this history, which a word that people don’t attribute to the Europe as much. Like the ravens that guard the tower, and the lions, bears, and unicorns that are found there in so many forms. Even the griffins that can be found on the streets guarding London itself. The symbology here is plentiful and rich. I found myself captivated by Anne Boleyn’s last moments, in particular. She was to be beheaded, and before she died she joked to the executioner about how it might be difficult for him, given how small her neck was. There were other people who died there, lots of important people. The most important of which were executed inside the walls, others were killed outside for the public to see. The story of the two lost princes took place here. The two boys who were presumably executed by their uncle and buried around the tower. Everyone harps on about how no one really knows how they died, but they were 1: under their uncle’s care, 2: taken to The Tower and then not seen from again, and 3: two children’s skeletons were found hidden on the grounds. It seems very obvious to me but since it’s about royalty they’ve got to make sure everyone reads the disclaimer. |
Thoughts From Greenwich Park |
London has an interesting atmosphere. It’s a feeling right under the surface that just isn’t around much in America. It might be because it’s old, and the kind of old that is still around. I’ve seen pubs, like the Ten Bells pub, that have been around since 19th century that are still there and still functioning like always.
The people have history, they are history. This culture and ways of life have been around greatly unchanged for hundreds of years. And those energies of millions of people and billions of events that have existed on this same stretch of stone are a great part of what makes up the mood of the city. The feeling of London is so distinct. C. S. Lewis captured it so well in the Chronicles of Narnia which I read so many times when I was young. I can imagine Digory and Polly climbing around in their old townhouses that are still here for me to see, and looking out onto the street where the horse and buggy and now replaced with automobiles, but it is the same street, the same city, and the same energy that they knew as home. Here, in a little tree grove in Greenwich Park, it is easy to stop and think about these things. The rain is soft and misty, and little birds jump about, not minding much that we’ve invaded their home. Even here, away from the streets and buildings of London, are trees that have existed and a park people have visited for years and years and years. Here people have grown up and lived among old things, so they don’t feel so distant from those who came before. There’s security in that, knowing that you are just a piece of something that has lasted long before you and will continue to last. It’s comforting to know you are a part of that. |
Swan Lake |
Swan Lake was, in short, unnecessarily confusing for a thing where people just danced. In long, it took the story of Swan Lake, which i already didn’t know, and added extra gay layers which thickened the plot. The plot which was only shown through dance, no talking, and hardly any signs. Of course, I had watched Barbie Swan Lake when I was young but I don’t remember what happened in it. I’m sure, though, that remembering wouldn’t have helped my case.
The first half was fairly boring, especially at the end where the swans just kept dancing with nothing else going on for quite a while. A few people walked out, which I understand, but I didn’t and I’m glad. After the intermission it picked up. There was a lot of sex and murder, it was very exciting, but I wasn’t any less confused. I really wanted to prince to get to have his swan boyfriend but that didn’t happen, he just died from electroshock therapy. Some people say that isn’t how it ended, but I know what I saw and I think they’re wrong. I do have a lot of questions: are the swans real swans? Why did the swan boyfriend ignore the prince and go for the queen when he turned human? Was the queen the prince’s mother? I thought she was but they seemed to be together at the beginning? What was even the point of the blonde girl in the pink dress? Why was the swan like that? What happened? You know, the kind of things you wonder after seeing a ballet, I guess. I haven’t seen any other ballets. |
Jack the Ripper |
The Jack the Ripper tour was amazing. Anyone interested in that sort of thing should check it out and remember to dress very warm.
I love a good horror story, and I didn’t know anything about Jack the Ripper besides that he killed prostitutes. As it turns out, there was a bit more to it. You see, Jack the Ripper didn’t just kill these women, he slit their throats so deep you could see bone, twice. He cut up the abdomen and removed the intestines, draping them over the right shoulder. He also removed the uterus, and cut V’s under the eyes of some victims. We went to each place a murder had taken place or a body was found. It was amazing to see the same buildings that Jack the Ripper would have seen, and walk the paths that he walked. He wrote a note on a wall that read “The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing” which is the way the Freemasons spelled Jews. Not only that, but the way he killed his victims was reminiscent of ways people were killed in according to the Freemasons, or something like that, and the police chief who saw what Jack the Ripper had written on the wall was a Freemason and went crazy when he saw the note, ording for it to be washed away immediately. As you can see, it’s all very wild. Murder mystery meets Freemason conspiracies. I think my great grandfather was a Freemason, but I wouldn’t know anything about that as they don’t let women into their affairs. |