Some busy days!

On our last day before leaving for Stratford-Upon-Avon, we went to the Banqueting House and the Houses of Parliament. The execution of Charles I in the English Civil War of the mid 17th C comes up in many of our conversations with tour guides, and Charles I was tried in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament and executed on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House.

Old Pictures

If you have a spare hour or two, head over to the National Portrait Gallery on Trafalgar Square -- much less grand than the National Gallery, which sits next door. Pick up a map, or ask to be directed to the escalator that leads directly to the oldest portraits in the museum to see the paintings of Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare (among others). The portrait of John Donne will surprise you.

British Museum

On a cold and rainy day, we visited Europe's largest museum, with its 8 million objects and 2.5 miles of galleries. Joanne took us around the highlights -- the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marble sculptures, the Korsad sculptures and the wall reliefs from the palace of Nineveh, the Sutton Hoo burial and the Lewis chessmen were among the treasures we saw.

This lion from Assyria reminds us of our TCNJ roots.

A four-alarm day

In fire fighting parlance, a four-alarmer is a fire that calls out trucks from 4 different towns or fire stations, and Wednesday 4 January was a four alarmer. We walked about 10 miles!

First was a walking tour of spots in London that Shakespeare would have known, from the London Bridge, to the Southwalk Cathedral to sites of many southbank entertainment venues such as the Rose and the Bear Gardens and the Globe, to St. Paul's and the Blackfriars theatre and the Inns of Court.

Second, we had a lovely lunch at the Middle Temple, the medieval banquet hall in the Inns of Court in which Twelfth Night was performed for the first time in February 1602.

Third, we were off to tour the British Library and its Treasures Gallery, including the Magna Carta and the Lindisfarne Gospels and the manuscript of Beowulf.

Fourth in this amazing day was a trip to the Sam Wanamaker theatre to see "The Little Match Girl and Other Happier Tales," which needs a separate post! 

Love's Labours Lost and other stories

We saw our first play Friday night--Love's Labour’s Lost--performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the beautiful Theatre Royal Haymarket. Saturday we went to see Much Ado about Nothing. Tonight the students debated which of these incredible productions was better in their eyes. I could not be happier with the discussions we are having!

We have been busy. Today we began the New Year with a trip to the Imperial War Museum.

And we're off!

After a long flight and a bus ride into central London, our students have arrived. Thanks to our amazing CEPA coordinator, Greer, we even have a picture with all of us in it.

On our way!

I ruined our first pre-departure selfie, but Professor Steinberg indulged me long enough to produce a second. We are just waiting for our plane. We will have one day's lead time on our students so that we can remember our names by the time they arrive.