November 2006
Monthly Archive
Roman Holiday
Posted on Nov 29 2006 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Thanksgiving: a time for family, friends, feasting and football. For our family, this has always meant hopping on a plane to Wisconsin or Washington, Boston or New York; the shifting epicenters of our respective families. This year, our temporary relocation to London created an opportunity for a new, albeit temporary, tradition: our own Roman Holiday.
Londoners are justifiably proud of this city’s long history of drama and resilience. But it’s a history that is often veiled by a thoroughly modern culture and infrastructure. Much of this is the result of catastrophes that have necessitated periodic rebuilding and rejuvenation. A history of fire and blood that, as a post-WWII Yank, I’m still getting my head around.
Rome is a city that lives hand-in-hand with its past. Pre-Christian Roman ruins stand side-by-side with fully functioning medieval churches and contemporary office buildings. In some cases they share common walls. 14th century pallazos house museums, apartments, government offices or the omnipresent Starbucks. Modern medicine is dispensed from 800 year old hospitals. St. Peters and the galleries of the Vatican are sheathed in marble and gold stripped from the abandoned monuments of ancient Rome’s glory days.
Contemporary Italian culture suffers from stereotyping that brands southern Europeans as inefficient, mercurial, unmotivated and hedonistic. It’s true that, excluding Vatican City, Rome is a messier, less orderly and less affluent city than its northern European counterparts. However, this neglects the time, energy and expense that has gone into preserving over 2000 years of physical history and culture. It may be true that most Italians favor home and family over mobility and money, but this exemplifies a particularly Roman pride in past and place that rivals what one finds in London or Paris.
We spent four days strolling the streets of Rome from our small hotel adjacent to the Roman Forum. November turned out to be an ideal time for a visit to the eternal city. The weather was perfect, the locals were friendly and the tourist crowds were focused on the Coliseum and the Sistine Chapel. We wandered by many of the standard sites—the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Piazza Navonna—refreshing ourselves at the occasional cafe or gelateria. Four Euros was enough to take us a few metro stops and a 30 minute train ride out to the well preserved ruins of Ostia Antica, the harbor city of ancient Rome. We managed surgical strikes at both the Coliseum and the Vatican, overwhelmed by the grandeur of both as much as the crowds, but escaping with energy to explore less traveled routes around the city.
Aside from a number of excellent meals, the highlight of our week was probably the Catacombs of S. Priscilla, 8 miles of tunnels carved out of the volcanic rock for the dead of ancient Rome. A fifteen minute cab ride away from the bulk of tourist traffic, we were treated to a private tour by one of the Benedictine sisters who administer the catacombs and monastery above. We bundled up against the cold and damp, and quickly became lost in the labyrinth of passageways. Narrow horizontal tombs–some large enough for couples, others sized for children or babies–lined the tunnels from floor to ceiling. Around one corner, the remains of a marble grave stone. Next turn, a private vault with fourth century frescoes, tomb of some wealthy merchant. Most impressive, a fresco with the oldest known representation of Madonna and Child, dating back to the early third century A.D. This image–one of the most recognizable icons of Christianity–had fascinated Erin throughout our previous tours of the Vatican museums and assorted small churches. She took a moment to reconcile this image of life and youth juxtaposed against the tiny tombs manifesting infant mortality so clearly displayed in these catacombs. Worth the price of admission…
Londinium, The Square Mile, London Town
Posted on Nov 16 2006 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
London is a modern city steeped in history like few others.
Founded by the Roman in the first century AD, Londinium was an ideal trading crossroads for southern Britain. The Thames at this spot was (and is) a tidal river, providing easy access for sea-going ships, while also remaining narrow enough to bridge. The mouth of the river was also located relatively close to the European continent. These advantages would make it the center of Roman trade and culture in Britain into the fifth century. Celts, Druids, Romans, Saxons, William the Conqueror, Sir Francis Drake, Shakespeare, Isaac Newton and the Age of Enlightenment, empire, the industrial revolution, two world wars…what a highlight reel.
This past weekend we found ourselves at one of those intersections of history that is so typical of London. We stopped to admire the Guildhall, ancient city hall and current ceremonial center for the City of London. The building, usually available for visits, was off-limits for the afternoon in preparation for the Lord Mayor’s Banquet. We wandered into the adjacent plaza to see the large ring–easily 50 meters across–made of black paving stones, that marks the location of a former Roman amphitheater. As we left, we were followed by bobbies and dogs beginning their sweep of the plaza in advance of the Prime Minister’s arrival.
A stone’s throw from the Guildhall we found the ruins of St. Mary Aldermanbury. A small garden sits surrounded by modern buildings that shield it from the noise and clutter of an ever-changing London. Within, a rectangular perimeter of foundation stones marks the site of the old church. It is accompanied by a terrace with a bust of William Shakespeare.
Originally a medieval church, St. Marys was a victim of the Great Fire of 1666 which burned most of London to the ground. It was one of several dozen churches designed by Christopher Wren and rebuilt in stone following the fire. After more than 250 years of relative peace and quiet, St Marys was once again victim of fire during the bombing raids of the Blitz. In the 1960s it was salvaged, moved, and reconstructed as a memorial to Winston Churchill on the campus of Wetminster College in Fulton, Missouri, site of his 1946 Iron Curtain speech.
The Shakespeare bust is a memorial not to the Bard, but to two of his fellow performers, “to the memory of John Heminge and Henry Condell, fellow actors and personal friends of Shakespeare. They lived many years in this parish and are buried here. To their disinterested affection the world owes all that it calls Shakespeare. They alone collected his dramatic writings, regardless of pecuniary cost, and without hope of any profit gave them to the world. They thus merited the gratitude of mankind.” Heminge and Condell collected and edited the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays and are largely responsible for our ability to enjoy them today.
From the Romans to Tony Blair, by way of medieval London, Shakespeare, the Great Fire, World War II, and Winston Churchill in all of 5 minutes and about 100 meters. Not bad for a couple acres of real estate.
The pendulum swings
Posted on Nov 08 2006 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Broadside, broadsheet or both?
Here’s a Colbert Report election night recap that should make the punditocracy wince…
“…And don’t think you’re off the hook voters. You’re the ones who made this bed. Now you’re the ones who are gonna have to move over so a gay couple can sleep in it. Tomorrow you’re all gonna wake up in a brave new world. A world where the constitution gets trampled by an army of terrorist clones created in a stem-cell research lab run by homosexual doctors who sterilize their instruments over burning American flags. Where tax and spend Democrats take all your hard earned money and use it to buy electric cars for National Public Radio and teach evolution to illegal immigrants. Oh, and everybody’s high! Woooo! You know what? I’ve had it. You people don’t deserve a Republican majority!…”
Boy, do I miss Jon, Stephen and…Liberty…
Bonfire Night
Posted on Nov 05 2006 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…
Over 400 years later and no one in London plans to forget the treasonous plot of Guy Fawkes any time soon. Though whether Fawkes is being demonized or canonized depends on the political climate and your particular persuasion.
For those of you who don’t know or don’t google, Guy Fawkes was the infamous fall guy for the Gunpowder Plot, a Catholic conspiracy to overthrow the government and assassinate King James I by blowing up Parliament. It was November 5th, 1605, the day set for the King’s traditional opening of Parliament. Had he succeeded, Fawkes would have been playing to a full house, aside from the few Catholic Lords who were warned in advance. Starting on November 5th, 1606 and continuing up to this day, Londoners have lit fires in celebration and thanks for the safety of their monarch. In fact, until 1959, it was illegal NOT to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day.
Even as I write, the fireworks continue into the night throughout London, though last night was the official celebration. New London friends invited us to a celebratory dinner, bonfire and fireworks display to be put on by their communal garden. I’ve only recently learned what “garden” means in this context. Several of the mansion blocks in our neighborhood back onto large, beautiful, communal parks, complete with playgrounds, expansive lawns, gardens and towering trees. Apparently, this was part of 19th century urban development policy to preserve open spaces for the many apartment blocks sprouting up as London grew out from the old city. Absolutely brilliant planning if you can find one of these flats for sale or rent. The rest of us are just jealous. We spent the evening in a lovely multi-story flat with a patio opening directly onto the garden. The company was friendly, the wine was plentiful, and the food was delicious(including bangers, hot off the grill). Night fell early and the bonfire was lit as the garden filled with hundreds of celebrants out to watch several dozen Guy Fawkes effigies burn. I have never seen such an enormous fire. This could never happen in the States, certainly not California which requires a fire marshal to set up a hibachi grill on the beach. Add to this a most excellent fireworks display set off from within the garden and you have a pyromaniac’s delight, all perfectly legal and generally encouraged by the powers that be. I guess Londoners feel that, after the Great Fire and The Blitz, what’s a few harmless rockets and piles of burning rags?
CCTV
Posted on Nov 05 2006 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
One of the most ubiquitous symbols of modern London is the CCTV warning sign. enter any bus, train, apartment block, office building, store or public plaza and you’re likely to see the silhouette of a video camera accompanied by a familiar refrain warning that the premises, coach, shop, parking lot, etc. is monitored by 24 hour surveillance. Seems like it’s just now that the national media has become aware of Big Brother in its midst( see here and here). I’m accustomed to security cameras at American banks and convenience stores, but in London it’s unnerving to think that someone may be watching over my shoulder almost anywhere I go beyond my flat. Realistically, there is no affordable technology available to make these security cameras preventative, accept as a deterrent. But what happens when they can follow all of us from one camera to the next, tracking our every move across the city? Time to give up my life of crime…
Trick or Treat?
Posted on Nov 02 2006 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Halloween is a source of considerable angst and ambivalence for both Brits and ex-pat Americans over here. To many locals it is seen as another symbol of American uber-consumerism run amok. It also competes on the calendar with Bonfire Night, the annual torching–in effigy–of Guy Fawkes, whose plot to blow up Parliament was discovered on November 5th, 1605. To most Americans, it’s a tradition for children–a relatively harmless excuse for dressing up, eating lots of candy and keeping legions of dentists employed. However, recent experience has left a sour taste in the mouths of both British and American adults.
As the Brits have adopted Halloween in recent years, in many cases they’ve taken to the trick much more than the treat. Another excuse for hooliganism to rear its ugly head. Having not experienced the simple pleasures of Halloween as young children, older British teens are ignorant of the boundaries between fun and antagonism that make the night work in the US(at least most of the time). Tales of eggings, muggings, and worse seemed to permeate the ex-pat community here leading up to Halloween. The kids’ school sent out a number of e-mails and letters warning families about the risks of hitting the streets. Thus, many of our children’s friends were staying home on the 31st.
In the end, our younger daughter, Erin, went from resignation to panic as she realized she really wanted to go out trick-or-treating(Sarah missed the excitement on a week-long, school field trip to Wales). As the sun set we made a flurry of phone calls trying to drum up companions and found a few other guilty parents who were prepared to brave the wild streets of London with their children. Turned out to be fun, but much more low-key than in the States. Fortunately, the density of American households nearby–and a heightened police presence–made for a peaceful evening. For Erin, it was ultimately about the social experience, not the candy. She got to dress up, walk the streets at night with her friends and see all the other cute, crazy and/or scary costumes roaming the neighborhood. Most of the candy she received was chocolate, which she won’t eat anyway, though it’s always fun to sort it out at the end of the night.
On Saturday night we’ll be joining a neighborhood bonfire to see how the locals do it. Should I dress up as Guy Fawkes?
