The Rest of London

At the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, home to the Prime Meridian, overlooking the city of London
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Once again, I must apologize for taking my sweet time in writing this blog, I finally got everything settled with the university I'm attending in Norwich, so all I really have to do is go to class every day, but I'll tell you all about that later on.

The rest of my London trip was comprised of a day trip to Oxford on Friday the 31st of August, a visit to Kew Gardens on Sunday the 2nd of September, the Royal Society and Greenwich on Monday the 3rd, Bethlam Hospital and Downe House on Wednesday the 5th.

Emily and me at Kew Gardens down by the roses
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My trip to Oxford was very extensive but interesting because my group and I toured approximately the whole campus (that's a lot of Oxford). Our tour guide was an alum from Oxford and she did a great job of talking your ears off, but nonetheless she was very informative. I learned that Oxford has 39 different colleges, and the university was never a fan of science until the 17th century with the Enlightenment. I spent the rest of the day in Oxford and walked around the historic town before taking a train back to London, and relaxing for the weekend.

Me between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres on the Prime Meridian
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On Sunday, both of Dickinson's programs (Science and Humanities) had an optional joint trip to Kew Gardens in the morning. We took the tube over to Kew Gardens and walked to the 300 acre botanical garden with an abundant amount of grasses, trees, plants, and birds. During my visit, I watched some swans and ducks battle for pieces of bread like it was WWII. Overall, it was a beautiful and fascinating attraction to visit during my stay in London.

To begin my second week in London, I visited the Royal Society, which is a historic organization that deals with science issues and experiments dating back to 16th and 17th centuries. The Royal (as it's referred to) is still running today. Later that day, I took a boat trip along the River Thames to the city of Greenwich, home to the Royal Observatory and the establishment of the Prime Meridian. The Observatory is perched on top of a hill with a great view of London. I got a chance to stand in the western and eastern hemispheres at once, which was very exciting.

Other areas in London where I visited included the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Eden Park, the Hunterian Museum, and the Old Operating Theatre. I learned a lot of interesting scientific facts when I visited the Natural History and the Science Museums. Since I'm a biology major, the things I learned will probably blow your mind. I'm just kidding. In Eden Park, I visited the Bethlam (pronounced Bed-lam) Royal Hospital, which is one of England's oldest and most well-known mental hospitals, and I don't know if that's a good thing. Also, I visited Downe House, the home of Charles Darwin (the man behind the theory of evolution), which is just outside of Eden Park. The coolest sites that I visited by far, in terms of science history, were the Hunterian museum and the Old Operating Theatre. The Hunterian Museum is located inside the Royal College of Surgeons, and it's similar to walking into a circus because there are so many specimens scattered throughout. And by specimens, I mean human and animal organs, skeletons, fetuses, or anything you can possibly imagine. The Old Operating Theatre is one of the oldest buildings where operations in the 17th century were performed. In fact, I was part of a demonstration where the tour guide "amputated" my leg while I was "awake." It was kind of scary, I don't think I could ever take part in surgery back then.   Whoever invented anaesthesia came through in the clutch. But other than that, following my tour of London, I took a train up to Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-boro), Scotland with my group to take in the sites and learn about the Scottish Enlightenment. Get Ready for the American Invasion, Scotland.

Next time: Edinburgh, Scotland; Birmingham, England; and finally Norwich and the University of East Anglia (aka UEA).