Archiving We Will Go

At the end of January, I went to London and Southampton for a research trip. I did a little sightseeing, but it was mostly a research trip. I went to a Holocaust Library in London for an afternoon, and then I needed four days to use the Institute of Jewish Affairs archive at the University of Southampton. So I first took the train to London. I really didn't do any sightseeing at that point. The archive and my hotel were both in Russell Square. The hotel was super fancy and I could only afford it because it was an off peak time so they offered a deal. The doormen wore top hats and tails. When I went into my room the tv was already programmed and had a welcome message for me. It was definitely above my pay grade. So of course I took a dip in my huge soaker tub. When in London...

I had a small single room and so my bathroom was as big as my room. :)

Hard to capture the hotel on camera.

That's it across Russell Square. It's huge.

Entrance to the archives.

Early the next morning I had to get a train to Southampton. I did get the tube to Waterloo Station at the Tottenham Court Road Station. And according to the overhead speaker it's pronounced Tot-'nm Court. Just so you next time you are reading Harry Potter. I amused myself by blaming all the construction mess on the Death Eaters.

Once in Southampton, I walked to my hotel to see if I could check in early or leave my luggage. Option two was available. So, based on the map I knew the campus was a ways away, but I thought I understood where the bus stop was, so I set off and walked for about 2 miles before I finally found myself on a bus route that was going where I wanted. sigh. Now, when I got the bus, I wasn't totally sure where to get off, so when a mass of students got off, I did too and it turned out I was just across the street from the library. So that tricked worked well. 

I spent all day each day in the archives. Open to close. I did wander the campus a bit one day, and it was quite nice. But I kept seeing huge rats everywhere. It was such a cliche to have a port town full of rats! It did make me a bit squeamish.

Southampton University campus

Coming back to the hotel from the archives exhausted and it was always dark, I didn't sightsee. Unless you count wandering around to find dinner. So on the last morning, I got up early and went to see things. The city was once fortified by a medieval wall and parts are still standing so that was my objective -- go see the wall. 

I know when I see a medieval wall, I think carpark. :/ Amazing how much of this was abutted by parking. So the wall wasn't so very exciting. There were sections that were impressive, but it was mostly: huh. There's a section of broken wall...

I'm still amazed by the number of palm trees in Southampton. It was interesting to see the fronds covered in frost.

The wall disappointed, but Holyrood Church did not. It was built as it stood in the 13th Century and had long been the church of the sailors, but it was bombed in WWII. The city decided to leave it ruins and dedicate it as a memorial to sailors. It was so peaceful and mesmerizing.

I started out before sunrise and walked all over the old town before needing to catch the bus back to the archives for its opening hours.

Apparently Jane Austen stayed there.

Just liked it; cool name Juniper Berry. Jane Austen house is just to the back.

On Saturday, I returned to London so that I could spend time at the National Gallery. Having been an Art History major, this was must see. I loved the time there. Once I was done, I had time before my train, so I had a bit of a wander.

I couldn't see the point of taking pictures of paintings, but I did snap this one, the only only Monet I truly love.

I tried to take in a few things that I didn't see with the family.

Horse guard. They let you pose with them and pet the horses.

This is the gate to the street that leads to Buckingham Palace

Iconic.

Horse grounds with London Eye in the background.

On steps of the National Gallery overlooking Trafalgar Square, Nelson monument in the foreground with the spire of Big Ben in the back. The sun was an issue. :)

Dismounted horse guard. These guys can talk to you.

As close as you can get to 10 Downing Street now. It's through that gate.

Russel Square

Trafalgar Square and the Blue Chicken sculpture.

And then it was back to Euston to catch a train for Glasgow. 

Highlands

**I am going to update this with better pictures when I have time.**

 
When Matt and the boys were visiting we took a tour of the Highlands. This time I chose Discover Scotland tours and I was very impressed with the company. I would recommend them as well. 

We first stopped at the Rest and Be Thankful pass through the mountains know as the Arrochar Alps.

 The tour went through Inveraray, an 18th century planned town, which is home to Inveraray Castle (now famous for being Rose's family home in Scotland under the name Donegal in Downton Abbey). The castle was closed for the season, so we only saw it as we drove slowly by. My pictures didn't come out, but that's okay. The town itself was quiet and lovely in the early morning.

We stopped for views of Kilchurn Castle at the head of Loch Awe.

 

Then we found out that the optional whiskey distillery tour was no longer an option as they were closed but never told the tour. That was fine for us because we did not intend to do that anyway. So our driver offered a bonus stop at a church built by one of the dukes of Argyll who fancied himself an architect. That was fine until Gabe fell down the stairs. 

Our driver let people off at another castle to make up for the lack of distillery. However at that point both boys were feeling ill from the winding roads on a bus. We opted for the full two hours in Oban to have lunch and sightsee. Unfortunately, Malachi didn't quite make it all the way into town and threw up a little. He was so relieved that people were off the bus and didn't witness that. 

After lunch, we wandered Oban. Most of the shops were closed that day. We went up the hill to what is known as James' Folly, a small scale replica of the Colosseum that was never fully complete.

Only in Scotland. Hamish Hoey & Son Ltd., Joiners and Funeral Directors.

James' Folly is at the top.

Great views. Matt slipped down the hill, wound up turning around backwards and sort of skiing backwards down the slope. It was hilarious and I was too shocked to think of pulling out the camera. He managed to stay on his feet though. :) 

We ran up and back down so we wouldn't be late for the bus and the rest of the trip. We were laughing so hard at our efforts; I think we may have enjoyed this bit of the trip the most.

We passed Castle Stalker which is on its own little islet in Loch Laich. They used to be able to stop, but there have been some issues with land owners and so all he could do was drive slowly by. The castle can be seen in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

We went on to Glencoe, which I have posted about before. It never gets old or any less breathtaking with each visit.

Our driver had told us he had a surprise that the kids would really enjoy. After Glencoe he pulled off the road to a resort lodge. There were all these wild deer coming up to the car park and people were there watching them. The driver then produced a bag of carrots and said that we could feed them if we wanted since they were quite tame. As long as we moved slowly and didn't box them in, they would eat the carrots out of our hands. Both boys got to feed deer.

 

 

We then continued over the Rannoch Moor to the Drovers Inn. As the website says, "For over 300 years the Drovers has welcomed the great and the good including Rob Roy MacGregor one of Scotland's most infamous outlaws." It was a quaint, old pub where a taxidermist had gone crazy. Rumor has it the Inn is haunted; secretly I think it's just all the stuffed animals. We had time for cozy drinks and then headed back to Glasgow.