A Crossroads in Time

Saturday, August 23, 2008

This city is the strangest amalgamation of old and new, historical and modern. That is what I noticed most today as we went on our walking tour of Roman London. Right outside the Tower Hill Tube station was a piece of the original London Wall that used to surround the city under Roman occupation. It was just there next to the station, and then later over by the London Museum, where it was slightly more protected. In the U.S., these sites would be guarded by four foot Plexiglas walls and have guards at every available entrance. I compare especially to Washington, D.C., where the monuments all have their own separate space, a good distance from anything else and surrounded by a lawn. The modern city has grown up around the historical sites, so buildings from every possible era in this city’s history are thrown together. The best example of this was definitely Leadenhall Market and Lloyd’s of London. Here, a well-preserved Victorian market arcade stands right next to Lloyd’s of London, a building vaguely reminiscent of La Musée de Pompidou in Paris for its inside-out architecture, but, unlike the Pompidou, which is very brightly colored, Lloyd’s is a steely grey and looks like something out of a sci-fi dystopia movie.
I generally get the impression that, in America (or at least in the D.C. area) we try to coordinate architecture, form some sort of homogeneity. Not here. A couple things were fenced off, in their way. The remains of the Temple of Mithras, for instance, had a very low railing around them, and the large portion of the London Wall had a walkway built around it, but the security was minimal. Many of the sites we saw, however, are churches, which aren’t necessarily preserved as historical sites in the sense that we think of them because the building is still in use. Far from suggesting that the British have no reverence for their history because they don’t protect it, I think it shows that they have enough respect for history NOT to damage it. All of the important sites we’ve visited so far have been free of graffiti and any visible acts of vandalism. I remember when I went to Paris that so many of the cathedrals and monuments had graffiti on them. I was shocked. But here, I guess people respect their history more. Or London just cleans them more often.

Speaking of history, we spent a good bit of time at the London Museum, which had a collection of artifacts arranged chronologically from Roman times to the Great Fire of 1666. It was interesting seeing all the archeological finds, but what I liked the most were the recreations of Roman dwellings or a Renaissance bedroom, etc. I love seeing the artifacts, but I often have trouble imagining how they fit into daily life at the time when they were used. The recreations helped to situate everything for me. It makes you realize how little things have really changed since Roman times.

I came back to the Arran House after the museum and took a nap. Then a group of us wandered down to Chinatown to get dinner. We found a place that was relatively cheap. The portions were significantly smaller than what you would get in an American Chinese restaurant, but far from annoying me, I found it refreshing. One reason we have an obesity problem in the States is because we eat so much more and so much faster than the rest of Europe. It was nice to be given just enough, and not risk overeating. It was good food, too.

We headed over to Trafalgar Square, where the Trafalgar Square Festival was going on. There was an enormous screen behind Nelson’s pillar, which was showing coverage of the Olympics, and a whole crowd of people watching. We stayed for a while, but then headed over to St. Martin’s-in-the-Field to hear Mozart’s Requiem. It was a beautiful church, and the music was amazing. I wish that I hadn’t been so tired so that I could keep my eyes open. I know that music is really meant to be heard anyway, but I had this very uptight British lady sitting next to me and I felt like she would be personally offended if I shut my eyes.
After the concert, we went back to Trafalgar Square, where the Olympics had been replaced with the most bizarre modern dance/performance art that I had ever seen. It was freezing outside, but there were these men and women dancing in the fountain wearing only vinyl bikinis, and then they put on dog collars and crawled around on the ground while some guy in overalls led them all by chains…it was truly odd. I don’t understand. Then again, I guess it does fit in with the rest of London. A tradition as old as the Olympics, followed by something bizarre and modern, like interpretive dance. I can only imagine what will be built on top of that.

I decided that I was too tired to go out tonight. I know that I need to get out, get to know the people I’m here with, and really use this time to experience the city. But I get tired so easily from so much walking around. My excuse is that I want to go to the markets tomorrow, and those start early. Should be fun.