Saturday, January 26, 2013

'Murica

Well whatd'ya know? It's been 3 weeks already. Quite a lot has happened since the last time I posted. I got some mail, ate some peanuts, did some laundry, went to some of my classes. And most importantly, I went to Lincoln yesterday. Not Lincoln Nebraska in case anyone was wondering.

Click the title for the whole story.




It all started the night before..... *fades out*

On Thursday night the Bistro (school pub) was having what was called "Burns Night". I thought to myself "that sounds interesting! maybe I'll go!" To add to my pleasure, they would be serving free whiskey. However, when I arrived, I realized that the 'Burns' that they were referring to was Robert Burns, the Scottish poet. Unfortunately  by the time I realized what had happened, there were 75 tipsy English majors between me and the nearest exit. Luckily however, the corner where I was trapped was also the corner with the bar. Using powers of deduction, I decided if I drank enough, the room would start to spin, and centrifugal force would push all the English majors to the outside of the room, clearing a path for me to escape. However, my plan was stymied by the whiskey actually being whiskey punch. Despite this setback, I managed to somehow return to my room around 1 am. I had every intention of taking numerous photographs of the action. Including but not limited to: people drinking, people reading poems aloud, people reading poems aloud while drinking, people singing, the scowls of boyfriends who ran out of alcohol money and upset looking teachers. However, when I woke up the next morning, I discovered I had only taken one picture the entire night.



Its this picture of my feet while I watched the Simpsons. I can only assume I was messing with my camera and accidentally took it. I only Include this photo because its the only picture I've taken of my room so far.



The next morning, I staggered awake remembering I had to be on the coach to go to Lincoln. Somehow I managed to make it to the coach before they left me behind. I spent the next hour staring out the window of the bus wonder how there could possibly be so many roundabouts on a major highway. Soon we reached the city of Lincoln. We were then dropped of unceremoniously in the middle of nowhere and told to find our groups. My group, as it turns out, was a fellow gathering of Harlaxton students I'd never met before. I wasn't even sure they went to the same school as me until some of them recognized me. The first stop for our group was Lincoln castle. This castle was built by William the Conqueror in order to... well.. conquer people. The castle was undergoing repairs however, and much of it was covered in scaffolding. None of the pictures I took turned into much. I did climb onto the highest tower though, and take these photos of Lincoln Cathedral, which is very cool.







 There is a currently ongoing fundraiser to put steeples on top of the three towers of the Cathedral. They were there originally, but fell during an attack or an earthquake or something.


This photo is from the active court system inside the castle. The man in the high visibility jacket was our guide through the castle.


because the castle was used as a prison for many years, they had to build a special chapel to house the prisoners. I took the photo while standing in the pulpit looking down on my congregation of dummies. There are also some stuffed dolls to simulate prisoners.

After breaking out of the prison, I then ventured to my all time favorite building so far this semester. Lincoln Cathedral. It looked stunning from the outside, but inside it looked even bigger. I quickly managed to separate myself from the group and take some photographs.


 They were setting up for some kind of performance or wedding in the main room. They dont ever hold service in this room except on Christmas or Easter. Unbelievably, the weekly attendance is only around 100 here. This, I think, comes from the relatively low attendance around the country. Only 10% of the British attend church on Sunday, compared to nearly 50% in the US.


The organ was very impressive. although it was not very large, It was magnificently sculpted.
 
When they built this building, they started from each side and met in the middle. You can tell my looking at the center arch, it doesnt quite meet up evenly with the center arch on the far side of the organ..



I tried very hard to take as many pictures of the stained glass as possible, but with the sun shining in it was very difficult.


This is the 'Bishops Eye' which faces the south and lets in the light of God.

This is the 'Deans Eye' which faces the North and lets in the light of the Devil.


I was fortunate enough to go into the Cathedral when they were playing the organ, and it filled the whole building with music.


There were several shrines dotted around the place, including this one for the Royal Navy.

Feel free to click on any of these images to see them full size. I took them with a real camera, so they shouldnt be nearly as blurry.

I started to fall into the trap of most cameramen. I was getting artsy. It was only a matter of time before I started tilting the camera at funny angles.

This room was were Parliament was once held.


I was starting to get better at taking photos of windows.



I then took a walk around to the back of the Cathedral. What I didn't realize though, was that the winter wind had picked up, and it was below 0 degrees outside. Centigrade that is.

To get the full effect of this, jump into a bathtub full of ice, then stand in front of every fan you own. Thats about how cold and miserable it was outside.


They were awfully proud of their windows back then, and decided to make this window larger than most houses.

This door apparently tells a story. For the life of me I dont remember what it was. I was too busy trying to pick up my frozen toes off the street before a local dog ran off with them.


This is the outside of that circular room where Parliament was held. It reminds me a lot of a Rocket about to take off with the supporting arms holding it up.


This is a statue of a poet. I dont know anything about him other than he had a dog. apparently.



 I dont think that the Romans would be please that that French Renault is driving past their wall so easily.

 Here is a gateway built by the Romans around 50 AD. the ground is 10 or so feet higher than it was then, so imagine those arches being much taller.

Can you guess what this is?

Nope. It's the water tower built in 1820 something. It seems.... Bigger than the one in Lindsborg.

No matter where you went in town, the Cathedral was always present. It's like being by the mountains. really hard to get lost.

Despite this, I soon found myself lost at the top of steep hill. Wondering why it was called that, I started down.


 If it doesn't look very steep, compare it to the doorway on the left. In some places, it was nearly 35 degrees.


After walking 3 miles down the hill, I decided to get a snack in the local mall. There were only two restaurants on the top floor however, and it was a tough decision on which one to eat at. Should I eat somewhere new and healthy? Or should I stick with an old standby?

 


It was a moment of weakness.




After my refreshing bacon filled meal, I started on the long trek back up the road.


 Now, at first glance, this may appear an 'artsy shot' of a girl walking up a very steep hill with fancy old houses and rails in the background. However, what it actually is, is me trying to take a picture while having a heart attack, while trying not to look like I was taking a picture, in case that woman turned around and came back down the hill to beat me up.
Look at the bricks on the left to see how steep it actually is.


After my walk, I went back to the Cathedral, and spent some time in the little Chapel. I lit a candle, and put it in the sand with the others.




It started to go dark, which made both the inside and outside of the Cathedral look much cooler.

 It made the windows appear much clearer.






I soon realized I had not taken any picture of the people I was with. I then realized I wasnt with anybody all day. So I went and found some people, and took pictures of them.

On the way out, I took one last picture of the Castle wall on the way to the coach.

2 comments:

  1. i like the picture of your feet

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  2. Ross: A huge thank you for this trip down memory lane!! As for the hill, I challenge any who reads this to walk up that hill without being somewhat short of breath!!

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