UCM Paris and London Art History Tour: Wandering among the dead and the ancient.

May 23, 2012.

Today we started off with a tour of Westminster Abbey, the world’s most famous church, where kings and queens have been crowned and buried since 1066. Edward the confessor, Queen Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scots are just some of the members of the monarchy. The poet’s corner contains the graves of Geoffrey Chaucer, Lord Byron, Dylan Thomas, and Charles Dickens. In the scientist’s corner tombs of Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Charles Lyell (“father of Geology”) and Charles Darwin can be found. Sally was awed to be in the presence of these pioneers of science and some of the students found it odd that Darwin would be buried in a church.

After eating lunch in Leicester Square we strolled through Covent Garden on the way to the British Museum. Eliza Doolittle would not recognize Covent Garden now – it’s a market with trendy shops, street performers and eateries.

The British Museum holds one of the finest collections of antiquities in the world, including the controversial Elgin Marbles, which consist of marble sculptures that once were part of the Parthenon in Greece. The Greeks want their marbles back, but the Brits hold on to them because they saved them from certain ruin. The Rosetta Stone, discovered at the end of the 1700’s, is the most popular piece at this museum. With writing in 3 languages, it was the key to unraveling the meaning of hieroglyphs, and is therefore, one of the most important artifacts in the world. Egyptian mummies, including those of animals, and a large Easter Island head can also be found here.

Several of us bought half-priced tickets to see London Theater. We highly recommend both “Wicked” and “Jersey Boys”.