Christ Church Hogwarts Bodlein and Alice in Wonderland

This day was a double whammy of Harry Potter awesomeness. We went to both the Bodleian Library and Christ Church University.

Bodleian Library was where the scenes for the Hogwarts Infirmary as well as the Hogwarts Library were filmed.

Christ Church University is where the Great Hall cafeteria is located as well as the staircase and the halls where the Quidditch trophy case was.

The Bodleian Library is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It first opened in 1602. The most intriguing thing was that no one could check books out the books were chained to the bookshelves and even the king was unable to check out a book.

Christ Church University is known for an amazing writer by the name of Lewis Caroll author of Alice in Wonderland. We were given a tour into the small archival library that held beautiful books even some mini books. The ceiling of the main library here was gorgeous. And then we walked into a room to have a sitdown tour not knowing we were in Caroll's old office. After talking to us for over an hour we are told this and shown the original hand-drawn cover of the book as well as the first pictures.

Final Thoughts: I would absolutely enjoy taking my mom to see these books. Although the sitdown tour was quite long it was interesting.


More Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/79keFL195YqCCc9r6

https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/

British Library

At the British Library, we had multiple tours but my favorite was with Kevin Mehmet who seemed to absolutely love his job. He has worked there for 39 years.

The library holds about 85,000 books and the earliest are from 1423 a donation given by the king. Instead of using latex gloves the archival books are handled with just clean bare hands. I also learned that most of the calligraphy was done by nuns. The books for the library are held underground in four levels and they are sent up using a machine and a computer. The books here are organized by size instead of using something like Dewey.

While at the British Library we got to watch people repairing books and talk to them about how they got their jobs.

The library had multiple restaurants on location and even two bookstores. In the front lobby was a bench that looked like a book.

Before heading over to the library we go to stop at Kings Cross Station and visit the famed Platform 9 3/4. I loved the chance to take my picture there with the buggy and look around in the store.


Ending Thoughts: All in all I loved the British Library and would love the chance to work underground as a librarian.



More Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YXjfZ3UyvBjWP3RA9

https://www.bl.uk/

Bletchley Park Computers

At first, I was unsure that I would like this trip but it was amazing. Bletchley Park was beautiful with a gorgeous lake and lots of greenery. One of the places that I ate there still had the feel of an army mess hall.

Bletchley Park is known for its amazing computers and British codebreaking during WW2. The computers were manned mostly by women because the men were away fighting.

Our tour was held in the National Museum of Computing. During the tour, we saw all types of computers which some would not consider computers. There was also a computer doing multiplication up to 12. We were shown computer discs the size of manholes and bigger that could have so much energy while on the disc drives that they could lift up.


The best part was after the tour when we got to look around ourselves. In the museum, I watched a video about the involvement during WW2 which was beautiful. They also had in cases ration books, shelter tickets, and gas ointment. Another thing on display was a motorcycle that was used for dispatch. There were also computers that you could try to intercept and break codes. That was enjoyable.



Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zJtjBFqSbiVxfznr7

https://bletchleypark.org.uk/

National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and the Royal Geographic Society

"Adventure is out there" - Up - Pixar Movie

Both places discussed interesting times during exploration.

The Royal Geographic Society was a school for explorers where they could go and read up on people who had come before them and learn about how to be an explorer. I knew about the place from reading the "Lost City of Z" for class. The person in the book had come to the Society to learn information about the missing explorer.

On the way to the National Maritime Museum, the class went with another class on a boat ride to get to Greenwich. We had to walk through the University to get to the museum and the university was breathtaking. There was even a woman doing a wine commercial there.

The sitdown at the museum was great I loved that the tour giver used a powerpoint to keep us engaged. Behind the tour giver in a case were beautiful replicas of ships. Inside the library where our tour was given, there was a whole section of books on the Slave Trade. The storage for the library is on 2 floors which allows for better access. The library has curators of ship plans. They have a large rare book collection starting during the 14th century. The library has chart tables to look at charts. The library also has multiple subscriptions to use for genealogy research. It has about 750 different collections and 80,000 charts.

5,000 visitors are at the site every year. They do not use Dewey in this library. There are about 1000 painted atlases.

I love that part of the wall is a map.

 Inside the museum was displayed dinnerware used on cruise ships.

I wound up getting a couple of books on the Slave Trade from the bookstore there.


More Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q65qHjKmahXcCoQL7

https://www.rmg.co.uk/national-maritime-museum

Barbican Library

The Barbican Library consists of the main library, the Music Library, and the Children's Library. The library as a whole is located in the Barbican Center.

The design of all three libraries was amazing. And the main library has a section for baby strollers to be parked.

The children's library has books hanging from the ceiling which makes it very inviting along with all of the toys and bright colors. The books are arranged into age order all the way up to tweens. The teens are just outside the door in the main library.

The main library had many different sections of books such as both World Wars, American History, Finance, and then the different types of fiction books. Thriller, Romance, Action, etc.

I am doing my paper for this class on the Barbican Music Library.

The Barbican Music Library is one of the 4 music libraries in London. Its collection consists of almost 16,000 music scores as well as books on both music and musicians. The library also has over 16,000 CDs and DVDs that cover all genres. It also has over 100 e-books that can be downloaded. They also use online resources that consist of: Oxford Music Online, Proquest: Music Periodicals Database, Naxos Music and Video Library and the Barbican Song Index. The library has Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts.

The music library has 2 pianos which can be booked to use up to an hour a day with the use of headphones. The library has had over 16 exhibitions. The one displayed while we were there was "It's (not) only Rock 'n' Roll - the Music Photography of Mark Allen.


Ending Thoughts: I absolutely loved the Barbican Library mainly the children's and music library and hope to one day return.


For more Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nYKGWDsryUQ8ReRF8

https://www.barbican.org.uk/your-visit/during-your-visit/library

Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral. AMAZING!

The famed writer of Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen is buried in this church.

With its beautiful architecture and caskets, this church is breathtaking. The Cathedral is over 1400 years old. There are multiple chapels inside the church. One of the chapels holds 12th and 13th-century wall paintings of the Passion of Christ. There are also mortuary chests in the church that hold bishops, a queen, and some early kings. The West Window of the church was destroyed during the English Civil War and rebuilt using shattered glass found in the church.

Tours can either be self-guided or guided for free.

The Morley Library has the Winchester Bible in it but photography was not allowed.

The Morley Library is a collection of rare books given by Bishop Morley of Winchester. He also gave money for 2 globes. The Winchester Bible has beautiful artwork.

The most amazing thing about this place was that you were walking over a person every step. The people were buried in the church. If they were fancier they got tombs above and in little rooms.


For more information about Winchester Cathedral: https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/

Shakespeare and Stratford-Upon-Avon

WOW, Where to begin...

The ride on the way to Stratford-Upon-Avon was amazing and gorgeous. LOVED IT!!! Rolling hills and green everywhere.

Once we got there myself, Dr. Welsh and Ashley went a got us some hot chocolate. DELICIOUS!! Then we headed to the library. The library was beautifully designed except for one thing.

NO TOILET

After looking around for the bathroom a staff member informed me that they did not have public restrooms. SHOCKING!

I left the library and decided to head to a restaurant where I met up with some classmates, ate and used the bathroom there.

A WOW moment, I was informed that in the town people have to pay to use restrooms unless they go to a place and order food.

After leaving the restaurant I went to a Harry Potter store beautifully named "Alohamora". That is a spell used to unlock doors. The store was amazing I bought 2 notebooks and a blanket. Next, I went to the eternal Christmas store which played Christmas music and sold ornaments.

Although I did not go into Shakespeare's house from the outside it was quite beautiful and you could see the reenactors from the window. The garden was also beautiful and led to the gift shop.

After roaming around for a while it was time to go meet up with the class and go watch the Royal Shakespearean Troupe perform "As you like it". I was not really interested but it was intriguing and beautiful to watch when I understood what was going on.

Ending Thoughts: If I ever decided to live in England that would be a place that I would pick. It is very beautiful and small and just right for me.


Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sc4D3MCFD7WEUe4e7

https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/visit/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAt_PuBRDcARIsAMNlBdp-ws283esqDu3JnynIxqM5bJvy1ORMT37qpf6IZrv6rT7ZSMw050oaAvFlEALw_wcB