Day 8

Day 8 

Today we had a jam packed day in London. We started out by of train to St. Paul’s Cathedral, the original part of the cathedral was designed by Christopher Wren and his vision was for it to be more simple than many other buildings/churches at the time. It has a very open feel with mostly black and white colors. I made the 520 step climb to the very top of the dome to see a wonderful view of London. Next we went to Buckingham Palace with the intention of seeing the changing of the guard. This ceremony was cancelled, but it was still fun to get to see the palace and take photos. Next we got lunch, and then went to the National Portrait Museum. I really enjoyed learning more about the history of Great Britain and the many scandals within the royal family. I also really enjoyed seeing the more modern portraits of the royal family, along with Paul McCartney and Ed Sheeran. I was a little disappointed with the representation of women and other marginalized groups though. It was certainly dominated by white men. Next we went to the British Museum, which was very large and diverse in what we saw. I most enjoyed seeing and learning about the greek marble sculptures. After the museum we went to a play called Quiz which was really fun! 

I was surprised by the diversity in representation at the British Museum. I was at first impressed with the different exhibits and how different they were from each other. Going into it I was expecting more of the same British history we had been receiving.

Today was a good lesson in understanding how the church impacts the royals and their behavior. The church plays a big role in what people feel is acceptable or not and it made a big difference in who was eligible or comfortable taking the crown. I think this definitely still impacts the culture and thought processes of everyday citizens today. This would definitely impact how others are viewed. In the play that we saw today it actually talked a lot about fairness and what it means for there to be a fair playing field. With the Church of England setting the standard for what it means to be civilized or respected it really could put others at a disadvantage right from the get go. 

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