May

“Among the changing months, May stands confest The sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed.”

                                                                                       

                                                                                                                         --James Thomson

It’s certainly been a May to remember.  I’ve spent it in Brighton, studying for exams and doing some last-minute research at the archives.  As of today, though, I’m official finished with all my schoolwork!  It feels good to be done.  Then again, I’m going to miss my classes, professors, and all the incredible people I’ve met here.

Just a few hours ago, I went to the study abroad office on campus to pick up a going away present – a T-shirt and a drawstring bag.  It was bittersweet.  My time as a student here is at an end, and I find myself slipping back into traveler mode. 

The final few weeks of study abroad are the hardest.  I look at things differently now. I wonder if I’ll ever see that church on the corner again – the one I pass on my way to class each day.  And I have to say goodbye to my friends every time we meet up, just in case I don’t see them again.  But I’m hopeful that I will see them again sometime – maybe in a few days, or a few years.  Maybe in 20 years, maybe in 50.  But what will the world look like then?  Where will we all be? 

I was thinking recently about the day I first arrived to Brighton – I felt so lost.  Save for two other students that I had met, I didn’t know anyone.  Now I’m comfortable here.  I’ve made many new friends.. and an abundance of great memories.  Nevertheless, it’s almost time for me to start making my way back to the States – ALMOST – but not quite.  My family is coming to visit in a few days, and my girlfriend, Savannah, is coming to visit after that! 

But that’s enough sentiment for one blog post!  I wanted to briefly share some pictures and anecdotes from the past few weeks – which include my experience at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle! 

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Being present for the Royal Wedding in Windsor was EPIC!  The atmosphere was electric!

My roommate, Justin, and I arrived to the tiny Windsor train station at around 9 am, and it was already packed!  As we walked through the town, street vendors plied their wares for the special day – scarves with Meghan and Harry on them, T-shirts, and masks of the Queen’s face!  I actually saw a LOT of people wearing Meghan, Harry, or Queen Elizabeth masks.  It must have been strange for the married couple to look out at the crowd after the ceremony and see their own faces staring back at them. 

As we waited in line to get through a security checkpoint, we spotted our friend Corey – another student from Arkansas who is studying at Sussex.  The fact that we found him was a really crazy coincidence.  We just happened to get to the same security checkpoint (of which there were several) at the same time.  Corey also had two other friends with him who were visiting from Arkansas, so we joined forces – just five Arkansans ready to celebrate the Royal Wedding!  We staked out a good spot on “The Long Walk” – the green space leading up to Windsor Castle – and settled in.  A number of large screens had been set up on the lawn, so we were able to watch all of the wedding guests arrive!  The crowd went particularly wild when George Clooney and David Beckham showed up. 

The Streets of Windsor a few hours before the wedding.  The castle is just visible off in the distance.

Setting up shop on the Long Walk.  I couldn't find an American flag, but someone handed me a British one!

The newspapers later reported that over 100,000 people showed up!

Meghan Markle was driven past us at about 11:45 – all smiles and ready to go.  We then watched the ceremony on the big screen and started inching forward to get a good view of the couple after they left the church.  We ended up in about the third row – pretty good considering that about 100,000 spectators were present!  At about 1:10, Harry and Meghan embarked on an open carriage ride through town.  They reached our position at around 1:30, smiling big and waving!  As the crowd pressed in tight around us, I managed to snap a few pictures with my right hand while I waved with my left.  After the carriage went by, I asked my friend Corey, “did you feel that – Meghan looked right at us!”  She definitely made direct eye contact – yeah, we’re basically best buddies now!  🤣

Meghan and Harry

Perfecting the Royal Wave!

After the wedding, the newlyweds and the wedding party retired to the interior of Windsor Castle for a reception hosted by the Queen.  Back outside on the Royal Walk, the event organizers started playing The Princess Diaries on the big screens that had broadcast the wedding.  We plopped down in the grass for a few hours and took a nap, knowing that the train station would still be busy for a while.  The weather was perfect for lounging around on the lawns – about 65 and sunny.

Later on, Justin and I walked around town, seeing the castle and Eton College, which is just across the river.  We also saw the 19-year old cellist who played at the wedding – Sheku Kanneh-Mason – out on the street afterwards just talking to passersby!  It was a day that I will remember for a long time. 

 

Entrance to Windsor Castle

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Just a few days before the Royal wedding, Corey and I went to London to see the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform.  They performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Stravinsky’s “Firebird.”  It was one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.   

Getting ready for the second set -- at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

The dynamic contrast that the orchestra showcased was incredible.  The soft moments were the best – when dozens of violins sounded like one player.  I also really enjoyed the moments where the woodwinds – flute and clarinet – shined through in “Firebird.” 

The concert inspired me to start playing my clarinet again – I’m going to have to pick it back up when I get back to Arkansas.  I’d also really like to learn guitar, but it might be tough to do it all.

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I also had the opportunity to spend a museum day in London a few weeks back.  I visited the British Museum and the British Library!

The British Museum is most famous for its ancient collections – specifically its artifacts from Egypt, Assyria, and Ancient Greece.  Despite the hype around the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Marbles – which were both SUPER cool – I think my favorite exhibits were actually those on Assyria.  The Assyrian Empire, centered on Nineveh in the Mesopotamian Region, was at the height of its powers some 3,000 years ago.  Looking up at all of the stone statues, thousands of miles away from and thousands of years past their original context, I was reminded of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem, “Ozymandias”:

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”  (1817)

I wonder where the collections of the British Museum will be in another 3,000 years.  Maybe they’ll be back in the lands from whence they came, or maybe they won’t exist at all.  Perhaps they’ll be on another planet, preserved in a grand exhibition on the civilizations of the planet Earth.  Or maybe they’ll be exactly where they are now.  Only the “lone and level” sands of time will tell.

One of the Egyptian Pharaohs -- possibly Ramses II

I often hear friends talking about how they can “feel the history” when they walk around older areas of London.  I’ve never been sure how to interpret this – is it really possible to feel history?   I don’t have an answer to that question, but I know I felt something as I walked around the British Museum.  I felt the weight of all the world’s great civilizations – the weight of their rise and fall and their WILL to pass on their story to future generations.  The modern study of history owes a LOT to the scribes of Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Persian Empires.  Their work has not been forgotten.    

The Rosetta Stone, which shows the same text written in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotic text, and Ancient Greek.

The Parthenon Frieze marbles or "Elgin Marbles."  They were taken by the British Lord Elgin from the Parthenon in the early nineteenth century, a time period when Greece was under Ottoman control.

After spending several hours at the British Museum, I walked over to the British Library.  Here, I was able to see some VERY old documents and manuscripts.  I saw the Magna Carta (800 years old – no big deal!), a letter written by Queen Elizabeth I in which she apologizes for her bad hand writing, an original copy of Shakespeare’s first folio, and the lyrics to “Hard Day’s Night” scribbled out by John Lennon on the back of a birthday card!  I wasn’t able to take any pictures, but still, the British Library exhibit was one of the coolest things I’ve seen here in England so far. 

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It’s time for me to head to bed, but I thank you very much for reading this post.  I hope to put up pictures over the course of the next week as my family visits, and I will plan on posting again in mid-June.

Cheers for now,

BD