Day Two and Three!
Yesterday was my first day of class! The class I am taking is Introduction to International Public Relations, and there are about 15 people in it. Our instructor, Dr. Kruckeburg, received his masters from Northern Illinois University (about forty minutes from my house), and his doctorate from Iowa, so he can relate well to me and the other students from Iowa. The rest of the class is from UNC Charlotte, except for one girl from UNC Chapel Hill, and another guy from St. Louis. During our first two days of class, we’ve only reviewed some of the basic principles of PR and discussed the necessity of having a global worldview for our work in the public relations industry. Tomorrow is our first field trip for the class and we are going to The Times of London. I. AM. SO. EXCITED. My journalism nerdiness is coming out now, and I cannot wait to see the newsroom and hear all about the newspaper. It should be great!
Yesterday, we wandered around on Oxford St. again, and every one purchased a few last-minute things we forgot at home. A group of us went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant, and my spaghetti was fabulous. It had delicious, rich marinara sauce and had black olives and artichoke hearts in it. YUM :)
My original plan was to go to Dublin this weekend. I am really interested in seeing Dublin, and my high school friend Matt will also be there this weekend, so it would be fun to meet up with him as well. Unfortunately, after my roommate Amy and I did some researched, we realized we were booking the trip way too late. Flights were crazy expensive and the only available times were at 6:30 in the morning. We are going to book our other trips this week so we don’t run into the same issue!
DAY THREE: Tower of London
Today after class, we visited the Tour of London. It is such an amazing historical site, and I learned so much while I was there. I also felt pretty smart when I remember a lot of the history from British Lit junior year! We started off the trip with a tour of the White Tour, which was built by William the Conqueror. Inside, there were displays of different types of horses and armor from each era. Our tour took us to a little chapel inside the tower, St. John’s Chapel, which is the oldest chapel in London. The chapel was magnificent, with a beautiful gold cross on the altar. The pillars in the chapel are made of stone, and there is an upper level where visitors who were non-royals had to go during Mass. We also got to see the big room where royal records were kept. The tour guide also showed us a fireplace that was only about five feet away from the papers! Miraculously though, there was never a fire. There was also a toilet, which was basically a hole in the woodwork, that just dropped off outside into a little moat. So gross.
The Bloody Tour was where prisoners were kept, and had many different chambers. The tour guide called it the “unofficial torture chamber.” Bloody Tour is located right across from a gate called Traitor’s Gate. It was called Traitor’s Gate, because it provides a water entrance to the castle, and traitors could be discreetly moved into the castle. It was originally called Water Gate, and our tour guide joked, “All you Americans have heard that before right? We had it first!”
Next, we visited The Chapel Royal of St. Peter and Vincula, which is the burial place of Anne and Jane Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, St. Thomas More, and many others. While repairing the floor, workers discovered 1,500 body parts under the flooring and were able to identify 300 of those parts. As they continued to renovate, they then found the bodies of executed people like Anne Boleyn. It was such a chilling and amazing experience to know that I was sitting in a place where so much history had taken place. Even though I’ve studied about all those historical events, seeing it in person makes everything feel so much more real.
Another part of the Tower of London is the crown jewels exhibit. The jewels were astonishing, and it was some of the most elaborate diamonds and gold I’ve ever seen. There are crowns from all the royal family and for different occasions. Seeing the different styles for each person was really interesting. Some had only crystals, while others had beautiful ornate reds, greens, and blues. There were also chalices made completely of gold, and from the banquet after the coronation. There was one bowl that could hold 140 bottles of wine, and had the tiniest, most elaborate decorations (all completely gold) that I had ever seen.
We also saw Tower Bridge, which is very long and interesting. We walked about halfway across it, and took lots of pictures. The edging is royal blue, and a lighter and brighter blue as well. It was such an amazing day, and so great to see so much history all in one day!
