Spring Break 2010: Day Three

Day three began in the pouring rain. Luckily, we were headed indoors to attend worship at Westminster Abbey. We were fortunate enough to be at the service with their choir, whose incredible intonation and sound blends in perfectly with the Cathedral's acoustics. I especially enjoyed the walk to the main aisle- passed over the graves of Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton en route. Of course, having researched him all last semester, I had to take several pictures of Dietrich Bonhofefer, whose statue is in a decorative niche above the great west doors. Overall, church at the Abbey was one of the most memorable parts of Spring Break- so glad I went!

After worship, we learned from the previous day's mistakes and headed straight for the tube station (or the subway) to pick up a day pass. The first stop was the British Museum. Surprisingly, the world's largest history museum is free of charge to the public! Boasting such famous artifacts as the Rosetta Stone and the statuary from the Parthenon in Greece, the museum is in incredible site. I saw the first chess pieces ever discovered in Europe (though the game actually dates back to 500 AD in India), I saw an enormous collection of historical clocks dating from the earliest pocket pieces to the modern day alarm clock, I saw a miniature statue of swimming reindeer that is one of the earliest art works ever discovered (possibly from 6,000 years ago!). I could have easily spent days in the museum- so informative, so many brilliantly displayed exhibits. And very cool architecture too. Like all of London, it is a perfect balance of the very modern and the classical. But unlike the Louvre in Paris, this blend works.

Following the museum we boarded the tube again for the Tower of London, to snack on some Fish n' Chips before the Jack the Ripper tour. Our guide, the world's most famous Jack the Ripper scholar, showed us the sites where "Jack" brutally murdered his five prostitute victims. More than a horror tale, the story was also full of bits about the history of London and city conditions in the 1880s, when London had the worst slums in Europe. Interestingly, it was an ego feud between London's two police precincts (Scotland Yard and the London Police) that made catching the Ripper impossible. It's also interesting that nobody knows who the Ripper was- though there are theories, it will never be known for certain. My favorite accusation was Lewis Carrol, the author of Alice in Wonderland. With nerves on edge, we boarded the tube again, saving us the 8 mile walk back to our hostel, to finish our time in London.