London and the British Museum

My bus pulled into Victoria Station just as the sun was rising above the Thames. 

Tourists were already swarming Big Ben as it shone in the light of the rising sun, but the small crowd of people was nothing compared to what the afternoon would bring. I had braved the crowds once to get my stock tourist photographs, and I certainly wasn't going to do it again. This London trip was going to be full of new and different experiences and sights I had decided, not repeating the same old ones again.

The British Library was my first tourist stop in London, it was free and well worth it. Unfortunately only having my phone on me meant crappy photos. On the left you can see the original note-music written by Bach, and on the right a book of church music from the 1400s. There were many other such treasures, including sheet music by Beethoven, the first hand writings of the Beatles including 'Help!' and 'Yesterday' and a hand-written letter by Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

These two items were my favourite in the entire museum, on the left is Beowulf, the epic poem written in Old English and dating from sometime in the 10th or 11th C. It is the only known surviving medieval manuscript and as such was extremely cool to see. On the right is one of the letters written from Winston Churchill during Wold War II to the 'Monuments Men' who attempted to preserve and rescue art that was being stolen and destroyed by the Germans.

Lastly, some rather cool architecture from my London wandering.

 

Goodbye Scotland and on to Cambridge

My last day in Edinburgh was memorable for a number of reasons. I had decided to spontaneously get a haircut as my last one had been by Shyla somewhere in a forest in France. She had done a good job too, but now it was looking rather sad. I found the cheapest place which was mysteriously named 'Sip and Snip' and after ringing I had an appointment booked for the afternoon. There was a reason behind the odd name as it turns out; the lady ran a one-woman hairdresser shop and was Polish. The deal was you took a shot of vodka and then she cut your hair, it was an interesting experience and the aptly named Magda was the best hairdresser I've ever had. New haircut!

Then, because my bus wasn't until 10pm, I hung around at the hostel with my giant backpack and looked longingly at the events of Hogmanay which I had not realized were happening until it was too late to book another night as all hostels were full. That's what I get for travelling on the 30th/31st/1st of December/January I suppose. I did manage to see some of the awesome fireworks from the hostel window at least.

I then took my hellish overnight bus which had no toilets and very few stops. I didn't sleep and it made the 12 hour journey very long indeed. However at last I arrived in Cambridge, on the 31st of December, and promptly took a nap. Once awake and feeling more refreshed that afternoon, I began my exploration of Cambridge.

It was an unpleasant, cold and rainy day which made the adventure not as fun as it could have been. The other major problem was that it hadn't occurred to me that on the last and first days of the year (the only two days I had in Cambridge) absolutely nothing was open.

I did enjoy wandering around the universities and their beautiful architecture, even if I couldn't see inside.

It was a cute town, and on a nicer day I think it would have been really nice. As it was I stared longingly into many shops and places that were sadly closed.

On the walls of some of the buildings were some really cool signs and carvings, a few of which I took photos of, but there were many more that were too high up to photograph, including the home of Alan Turing at one point.

This extremely impressive building was only a high school but it was so austere I decided it was worthy of a photograph. 

I also passed the oldest still surviving bookshop in Britain, next to the Cambridge University. It had soon super cool and quirky cut out art made from the pages of books. There was even a Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe one of Mr. Tumnus with his umbrella leading Lucy through the woods away from the lamp-post, unfortunately it was too far at the back to photograph successfully. 

I finally made it to the famous river which Cambridge is so known for, and saw its willow-trees over its banks as well. Unfortunately punting was out of the question due to the rain.

I enjoyed the narrow cobbled streets, the beautiful architecture, the giant and mysterious medieval doors, but I hardly touched the surface of Cambridge. There were so many museums, so many buildings I couldn't go. It is definitely be a place I will be returning to.

National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait gallery that I decided to go to on a whim and with no expectations ended up being the most enjoyable thing I saw in Edinburgh.

Upon walking into this building, this Christmas tree and beautiful old scenes greeted me.

There was a small modern art section which,  usually, I enjoyed, it was mainly made up of clothing for the different Queens through history, handmade entirely out of french lace. This one was my favourite. Also took a shameless selfie to show the prettiness of the architecture behind me.

Upstairs led to the art, and a view of the foyer below.

These two pictures I especially enjoyed, on the left, Queen Victoria as a very young woman, and on the right, a Rembrandt -I even recognized it!

Amazingly detailed statue.

One of Paul Gauguin's works, and while not a fan of his style, I know it is a well known painting.

Cezanne I enjoyed much more, this view shows the mountain Sainte-Victoire from the 1890s.

Degas of course, and his dancers.

Monet (Whom I always confuse with Manet) I really liked this painting, even though it was painted with such dark colors giving it a depressing air, it looks mysterious. Where is the boat going in the moonlight?

More of Degas.

My personal favourite from the whole collection, Olive Trees (1889) by Vincent van Gogh. He painted this while in an asylum, and applied much of the paint to the canvas directly from the tube. I don't know why but I've always loved van Gogh and his unique style.

On the left is another of van Gogh's painting, though this is of course in his early, dark style. I like it because her face is interesting, but I much prefer his later wild and bright paintings. On the right is a painting by Fabre that I recognized (which was the main reason I took a photo of it!) I also didn't realize that Fabre was from Montpellier, one of my favourite cities in the world - and here his paintings are all the way in Scotland! Cool stuff.