Veronica M

The National Library of Scotland Before our tour of the Edinburgh Central Library we hung out at the National Library of Scotland.  Here we toured the interactive state-of-the-art John Murray Exhibition. Some of us also got our Reader Card (thanks Cherie!). The Edinburgh Central Library Then we crossed the street to the Edinburgh Central Library . Our hostess and guide was Fiona Myles, Library Development Officer.  The Central Library opened in 1890 as the first public library in the city. Funded by a Carnegie grant, Carnegie actually laid the founding stone of the French Renaissance style building.  We began our tour in the B3 Level. This used to be the newspaper room. It is now the Edinburgh and Scottish History Collection. The B1 level holds the Music Library and meeting rooms. It has an exhibition space that, at the time of our visit, contained an exhibition on WW1. The University of Edinburgh New College Library In the a...

Bill Bryson Library We began the morning at the Bill Bryson library talking Librarianship. Our host was the ever-engaging John Purcell and his colleague Richard Parish, Academic Librarian Liason. The Bill Bryson Library is part of the Durham University Library System. Durham University has its roots in the monastic scholars that were centered at the Cathedral. Three Oxford Colleges were founded from this monastic tradition: University, Balliol, and Durham which later became Trinity. Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell both tried to get an official charter for Durham University, but the Oxford/Cambridge monopoly prevailed. It was not until 1832 that Durham was granted the ability to form an official University by the king. It consistently ranks in the top five Universities of the UK. It follows the collegiate university model like its predecessors Oxford and Cambridge. The Bill Bryson Library is the main University library of Durham. Individual colleges have libraries, but they are not...

Durham Cathedral Today we traveled to Durham. After we arrived and got settled into our dorms at Grey College, we went to Durham Cathedral  and participated in Evensong. Durham Cathedral is the shrine to St. Cuthbert and a pilgrimage site. It is also classified as a World Heritage Site. Our Host was John Purcell and we had an incredible dinner at Durham Court Inn. This is an amazing project that really made me smile. https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/visit/what-to-visit/durham-cathedral-lego-build

Christ Church Library Today we visited the Christ Church Library Special Collections . Our hostess was Dr. Cristina Neagu, Keeper of Special Collections. Visually this Library is a Jewel-box. This building was built to house the library that was moved in in 1763. The wall bookcases are an early example. This was Lewis Carroll's Office. He was an Assistant Librarian at Christ Church Library.  This is the view from the office window. From here, he is said to have watched Alice Liddell the inspiration of the Alice of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland .   This is the stairwell used in the first two Harry Potter films.

Bletchley Park Today we toured Bletchley Park . During WWII Bletchley Park was the epicenter of the codebreaking effort of the British and later Allied Forces. Housing the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), the job of Bletchley was to crack the Nazi codes and ciphers.  Replica of the Enigma Machine Movie: The Imitation Game Television: The Bletchley Circle Books: The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: The Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park Turing: Pioneer of the Information Age by B. Jack Copeland The Secret History of MI6 by  Keith Jeffery

The Globe Theatre A funny thing happened on the way to the Globe. Veronica could not find the bus stop that Google maps said was right in our neighborhood and that would take us almost directly there (after a short walk from St. Paul's across the Millennium bridge). So we took the tube to London Bridge. It was cold and because of my faux pas we had already gotten our morning walk in so... wiser heads prevailed (Kim) and we took a cab from the station. Taken a London cab: CHECK! The theater known as Shakespeare's Globe is actually a reproduction of the historic Globe. We visited the exhibition featuring Shakespeare's life as a playwright and performer. We took a guided tour and our guide gave us a historic and performer's perspective of the space. He also pointed out that the development of Shakespeare's writing was a function of the spaces were used for his performances.  The Millennium Bridge After the Globe, in a comedic reversal of the inten...

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace Kim and I went to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace . As we were approaching the Victoria Memorial a wonderful older gentleman stopped us. First he asked if we spoke English (fun!) and then he proceeded to tell us where the best vantage point was, and that we should go watch the band practice and go through inspection. So we did! On our way to the Tower we had lunch at the Liberty Bounds The Tower of London After lunch we met up with Ariel and toured the Tower of London . Our Beef-eater Tour was amazing and our Yeoman Warder Mark was very entertaining. Behind him is the Chapel, which we were unable to tour because there was a wedding that afternoon. This is where they house the Royal Jewels. The exhibition was beautiful. Two of the six tower ravens. Later on we saw another on the lawn.