Edinburgh

For the last of our excursions as a group, we went to Edinburgh, Scotland. We took the train up on Saturday morning for an overnight trip. One of the first things to be seen on the Royal Mile (the main street of town) is this statue commemorating Adam Smith, the father of economics.


We went to Edinburgh Castle, high on the hill. It is thought to have been settled since the 9th century BC and throughout its history has been important part of the city.


The Scots seem to have a healthy appreciation of money. Here's the Bank of Scotland, the first in Europe to print banknotes and the second oldest bank in the UK (the Bank of England is two years older).


This is St. Giles Kirk, the "mother church" of Presbyterianism. John Knox shepherded this congregation during


Here I am on the hills of Holyrood Park.

Haarlem Pictures

Here Dad and I are in front of the De Vries & De Vries Antique Art dealership.


St. Bavo Kerk has the world's most photographed organ.

The last vestige of the Haarlem walls, this gate was on the road that led to Amsterdam.


De Adriaan Molen is a reconstructed windmill in Haarlem. There are more than 1150 functional units still in the Netherlands. The oldest one we saw was built in the 1600s.


One of the many flower beds from the Keukenhof, the world's largest flower garden.

Amsterdam Pictures

We have reached Amsterdam and here I am alongside one of them any canals.


The Zuiderkerk, one of the five major churches in the city.


The Magere Brug, a famous wooden drawbridge over the Amstel.


The Rijksmuseum


The Anne Frank House was a moving place to reflect upon World War II and the number of people who died in Nazi concentration camps.

Helsinki Pictures

Now we have some pictures from Helsinki. Here I am standing in front of the Lutheran Cathedral on Senate Square, one of the most recognizable parts of Helsinki.


A sailing ship docked in the harbor.


This statue is a famous gathering place for the people of Helsinki.


The Parliament House of Finland.


Last some Finnish forestry alongside the airport. Because of the high latitude, the forests are primarily pine and birch.

Tallinn Pictures

Tallinn was such an interesting place. I found it to be quite the juxtaposition of modern and new.

Here I am standing on the Toompea, the hill where the elites of the city used to live. Next is St. Olav's Church, for over a century it was the world's tallest building (the original spire was about 120 feet taller but burned down after repeated lightning strikes).



I found that there to be such contrast between the old Soviet remnants and the West. Here were two buildings that were just one building apart and yet represent a major divide.


Last here's a picture of the town square

London Pictures

I would be remiss if I didn't upload photos from my Easter holiday travels. Here are pictures from St. James’s Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. (I know I normally write large descriptions but there's a lot of pictures for me to sort through and this is just easier. I'd be glad to show more and talk about it in greater depth.)

Next are is the Rosetta Stone and an Easter Island statue from the British Museum. There's also Westminster Abbey and a statue commemorating William Wilberforce inside it. Last is St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the orginator of the Colonial style of architecture.

London

Hi all! Presently, I am unable to upload photos of my journey (and have had limited e-mail contact) but to quickly refresh you on what I have been up to as of late. I have been in London visiting such notable churches as Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Martins-in-the-Field. I've also gone to such notable museums as the British Museum, the British Library and War Cabinet Rooms. Art sites that I went to include the National Gallery and castles include H.M. The Tower of London. I've walked around Regent's Park, St. James's Park, Soho, the West End, Westminster and through the City.

City Walls and Towers

As spring is upon us here in York, I thought it would be nice to include some various pictures of all the daffodils and the city walls. Here's a map to give you a bit of an idea of what the city is like. The college campus is at the top of the map where the walls meet at a ninety-degree angle.


There are four major gates for the city: Bootham Bar, Monk Bar, Goodramgate Bar and Walmgate Bar (shown respectively). Though they are gates, they are called bars because that was the term from the Vikings, which is why in York a street is a gate, a gate is a bar and a bar is a pub.



As well as the bars, there are also a number of towers. Seen here are the Red Brick Tower, Robin Hood's Tower, Victoria's Turret and Lendal Tower.



To finish it off, here's a picture some of the wall segments with daffodis on the embankments. (As always but especially with the panoramic, click on the image for a larger view.)

Castle Howard

To we visited Castle Howard, a stately home 15 miles north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh. It is familiar to television and movie audiences as the fictional "Brideshead", from adaptations of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England heritage group.

For starters some exterior shot of the estate:



The turquoise drawing room and dining room:


The octagon room and a gallery:


Two of the staircases:


Two bedrooms:


Some parlors: