No Place Like London

Monday, 20 August

The final day of the Summer Program was spent in the grand city of London. We began our visit with a tour of Westminster Abbey. My absolute favorite part of the Abbey was Poets' Corner, where many of the greats of the English literary tradition are buried or memorialized. Here I found a visual representation of the subject of my area of study, the literature that I have come to deeply appreciate.

Westminster Abbey 

Big Ben!

London Eye

Next, we took a ferry to the Tower of London, where we had a specially arranged viewing of the cell in which St. Thomas More was held before his execution. The cell is in the Queen's House in the Tower, so it is technically one of the Crown properties. After viewing the cell, we went to the crypt of the Tower Church where Thomas More, John Fisher, and more Catholic martyrs are buried. From the church crypt, we explored the other areas in the Tower, including the Crown Jewels Exhibit and the Armoury Exhibit. 

Olympic Rings on the bridge

The Millennium Bridge

The Tower of London

The cell where St. Thomas More was held before his execution.

Display of the horses of the English kings :)

the dragon, constructed out of a wide array of gizmoa 

Tyler, Victoria, Laurie, and Jonathan at the Tower

Outside the Tower of London

At this site, St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, and others were martyred for the faith.

London Bridge in the background

Our final stop in London was the Globe Theatre, where we saw "The Taming of the Shrew" performed. We stood in the groundlings section of the theatre, which was spectacularly rewarding - the cast really interacted with the standing audience. All in all, it was a successful and highly enjoyable performance.

At the Globe! 

Inside the theatre

The Globe lit up at night ~