Last Day in London...
My trip was marvelous; I made fabulous friends, saw incredible things, learned more than I could have ever imagined, had the time of my life and to top it all off, I earned class credit! What more could a girl ask for? I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my travels as much as I’ve enjoyed writing about them. I can’t believe it’s already over.
Cheers until next time,
Brittany
Wicked
Saturday August 8th – Today a few of us went to see the musical Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theater. I had seen it before, but the others hadn’t. It was just as wonderful the second time around! Wicked is the story of the witches of OZ and presents a very different story than the one told in the Wizard of Oz. I suppose it’s true what they say…there are two sides to every story. Both Wicked and the Wizard of Oz were books before they were performances; while parts of each book may not be suitable for all ages, I think there is a lot than can be used in a library program for children. Not only are both stories fun and exciting with colorful characters (literally!), but they have great themes: acceptance, kindness and understanding, being different, and standing up for what you believe in; plus the music is pretty awesome!
It was a great way to spend my last afternoon in London…
image courtesy of londontheatredirect.com
Peter Pan
Tuesday August 4th- Tonight we saw Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and it was wonderful! After a quick trip to see the statue of Peter Pan across The Serpentine, we made our way into the theater. As we took our seats and the play began, we knew we were in for a very special evening. It was a spectacular presentation of a beloved children’s story and I loved every minute of it.
I work with kids on a daily basis, fairy tales, story time and glitter crafts play a large role in my daily activities. Seeing classic tales interpreted through different mediums is always interesting as sometimes I find ideas for future programs. I’m very excited to share what I saw with the kids at the library, to describe what it was like to see Peter Pan fly across the stage and the Crocodile swim after Captain Hook. Sitting in the audience listening to hundreds of tiny voices whisper “I believe in fairies” when Tinkerbell needed help brought a smile to my face, not only because it made me think of the kids I work with back in the States, but because I was reminded what it’s like to be a kid. Observing, day in and day out the fierce belief and steadfast hope that exists in young children is always a joy- it makes my job incredibly worthwhile.
Ireland
Thursday July 30th- Monday August 3rd
What can I say about Ireland, it was an amazing trip all around. I feel as though I’m using the word amazing in every other sentence I write, I’ll try to incorporate other words form now on, but sometimes I’m just at a loss for words, as my trip thus far has been truly…amazing.
Thursday we landed in Dublin early and took a much needed nap. In the afternoon however, we managed to sneak into the Trinity College library to look at the Book of Kells and the Library, such history and beauty, we were awestruck.
Friday we started our three day tour of the south of Ireland. We stopped at Clonmacnoise, an ancient monastery, and even though it was rainy and very, very windy we couldn’t help but feel the history that was laid out before us. That night we stopped in Galway which is a beautiful little town right on the ocean. There’s nothing quite as refreshing as the smell of the ocean air.
Saturday we ventured out to the Cliffs of Moher, truly one of the most breathtaking sights I’ve ever seen. We almost blew away when we reached the top, but the view was well worth it. The sun was bright and bounced off the water as the water crashed onto the cliffs; it was like a scene from a movie. It’s hard to pick a favorite sight from the trip but this might be it. We stayed the night in the quaint town of Tralee and enjoyed the local flavor.
Sunday, we made our way back to Dublin via the Blarney Castle. Yes, I did climb all the way to the top to kiss the stone; it was a long way up. The grounds were beautiful, Ireland truly is that green!
Hopefully we took a little bit of the luck ‘o’ the Irish with us when we left!
Highlands Tour and Ghost Walk
National Archives of Scotland
Tuesday July 28th- Today we visited the National Archives of Scotland. We were first provided with a presentation on the history and inner workings of the Archives. A few interesting facts we picked up were that the archives are broken up into two divisions, the Record Services Division and the Corporate Services Division, the documents in the archives span over 70 kms worth of space and the dates of the information held by the archives range from 12th century to the 21st century.(photo courtesy of the National Archives of Scotland)
Scotland Libraries
Monday July 27th- This morning we visited the National Library of Scotland and were given the opportunity to learn a bit about how and when the library was founded. From 1689-1925 the National Library of Scotland was known as the Advocates Library and today it holds approximately 14 million books and manuscripts, 2 million maps, 300,000 music scores, 32,000 films, 25,000 newspapers and magazines and on average it receives 6,000 new items a week. Pretty impressive!
This afternoon, before we met up at the Edinburgh Public Library, we ventured over to the Elephant House which is know known throughout the world as “the birthplace of Harry Potter”. This cafĂ© was the place JK Rowling would sit in day after day, working away on the first Harry Potter book so as to save on her heating bill. Needless to saw we were in awe and many of us felt inspired by sitting in a place where such an amazing book was created!
Our final stop of the day was at the Edinburgh Public Library which was built by Andrew Carnegie between 1887 and 1890. He donated approximately £50,000 for the library to be built. The library was designed and built by George Washington Browne in the French Renaissance style. Above the entrance into the library is the inscription “let there be light”, it was put there at the request of Andrew Carnegie.