Toy Museum | Museu do Brinquedo

As we were going to have to analyse an exhibition for one of our modules this term (1st step - choose your exhibition), and we had to be in London in the afternoon for official course business, Kamini, Mireia and I decided to start off the day with something fun: we went to visit Pollock's Toy Museum.

In fact, the original plan, for me and Kamini at least, had been to start off with a stroll round (part of) the British Museum, then move on to meet Mireia at the Toy Museum. Maybe it's just because she's living in Oxford, but Mireia appears to have had better foresight... Neither I nor Kamini were capable of dragging ourselves out of bed early enough to make it to the British Museum!

So, after minor delays caused by late trains and police demonstrations, we eventually convened at Tottenham Court Rd underground station. Unfortunately, none of us had thought to print out directions from the website, so all we had was a rather limited map on the train company's promotion leaflet. Nevertheless, Mireia dug out her trusty A-Z, and we enacted our roles as tourists perfectly:
1.) Stand on a corner looking repeatedly from street names to inappropriate map
2.) Get out different (better?) map
3.) Repeat step one while walking along near-randomly chosen road
4.) Find your destination on map
5.) Find your current location on map
6.) Decide on directions
7.) Round corner still looking at map
8.) Lift eyes momentarily from map (after 7a.- narrowly miss bumping into someone) and spot your destination right in front of you!

So we got there, bought our tickets, and started exploring! Meaning we walked through the first door and sat on the stairs. Before you start labeling us as lazy, allow me to explain: the Museum is housed in a relatively small space, so they make the most of it - the stair walls are covered in board games (complete with explanatory labels) and other toys.

Mireia (Catalonia) and Kamini (England/India) on the stairs with the games

So while we sat on the stairs (after letting two groups of people past, as we were taking longer than them - can't think why!), we learned - amongst other things - that snakes and ladders was originally a more complex Indian game involving ascending to states of increasing purity (through good deeds) or reincarnating in lower life forms (due to bad deeds). And that magnetic fishing, jumping paper frogs, mikado and many other games from our childhoods (including, in Mireia's case, the Juego de la Oca - to all Portuguese people reading this, it existed for year as a board game before being warped onto TV!) had been around in one form or another for far longer that we had imagined... Not to mention getting to see sheep's knuckles like those used as dice by the ancient Greeks...

The "original" snakes & ladders - or near enough!

In the rooms (yes, we eventually got past the stairs), we saw everything from old cardboard theatres to rocking horses, including a cabinet with "Sooty & Friends" cuddlies! Amongst these was the oldest version of a caleidoscope we had ever seen: it basically looked like an old microscope, but on the plate at the bottom there was a pile of randomly glued shreds of coloured fabric, and there was a handle which rotated the plate, so that you saw "changing patterns" when you looked through the view-piece!

There was also a room with waxed dolls, where conversation suddenly turned to horror movies... when Mireia and Kamini had got themselves 'psyched-up' by talks of spending the night at the museum, getting chased by zombie dolls and saved by the oldest and most battered-looking one, someone came into the room through a door they hadn't noticed existed! After my two companions had re-composed themselves, we moved through the "magic door", and eventually came to a room with teddies... unfortunately, old teddies never look very nice, but one display was particularly bizarre: a glass case with a tree on which teddies were sitting/dangling at the weirdest angles! We wondered if they had originally been nicely arranged, then struck by an earthquake - and obviously now no-one must know where the key to the case is... seems the only logical explanation to me...

Our walk back down was via a different set of stairs, where we marveled at Chinese shadow-puppets, traditional African puppets, and many more wonders, until we reached the gift shop, where amongst other things (e.g. replicas of the cardboard theatres to take home and build), Kamini found one of those old handle-wound musical boxes without the box (I've no idea what they're called and can't be bothered to go search) and I found an aardvark cuddly. Now I have what some would call an obsession with cuddlies, and own quite a diverse collection of them myself, but never before had I seen an aardvark cuddly! I resisted temptation, but I may yet acquire one before my stay in the country is over...

By this stage we were in need of sustenance, so we stopped for lunch and then moved on to Euston and the Wellcome Collection, where we managed to see about a third of the Sleeping & Dreaming exhibition before we were due to meet our teacher and the exhibition's curators for an "informal seminar"...

The seminar was really very interesting, especially as we discovered that the exhibition had been created in partnership with a museum in Dresden, having been mainly developed over there and displayed there first - in a bigger and different shaped gallery, which also posed challenges to the transfer. The next collaboration will be the upcoming Medicine & War exhibition, which will be mainly curated by the English, but with considerable input from the Germans - and should be quite interesting, considering the topic!

After the seminar, we went back and saw another third of the exhibition, including a girl falling asleep at a table they had there (and the poor staff-guy not knowing quite how to react), before closing-time kicked us out... So we still have to go back there (anyone want to come?).

We tried to watch a show at the Southbank Centre, but it was sold out, so after discovering the British Film Institute wasn't showing anything we were interested in, we decided to head off home.

I fell asleep on the train... and woke up just as it was leaving Norbiton (a.k.a. my stop)! So I had to go on to Kingston, get off, and catch the train back again. Oh, and hope not to get stopped by any inspectors, as my pass is valid for zones 1-5 and Kingston is in zone 6!

Kamini fell asleep on the tube, as did Mireia on the bus, so it must have been - in Mireia's words - "side-effects of the exhibition"!

Hugo - dia 1| Hugo - day 1

No primeiro dia do Hugo em Londres, decidimos não nos afastar muito de casa, e simultanteamente dar-lhe oportunidade de se manter treinado na fotografia. Para isso, nada melhor que Richmond Park! Lá fomos a pé até ao dito parque, para dar um passeio, munidos de rações que incluíam ainda Fudge. Passámos pela Isabella Plantation – o jardim vedado para não ser devorado pelos veados – onde o riacho fazia umas mini-cascatas engraçadas, e passámos algum tempo (como não havia nenhum não-biólogo connosco para se queixar, não sei quanto...) a observar as várias espécies de pato e galinha-de-água que por lá andavam.

On Hugo’s first day in London, we decided not to stray too far from home, and simultaneously keep him in training for his photography course. What better place than Richmond Park for such an endeavour? So we walked to the Park to have a walk, armed with rations which still included Fudge. We walked through the Isabella Plantation – the deer-protected garden – where the little stream made some nice mini-waterfalls, and spent some time (as there were no non-biologists with us to complain, I don’t know how much…) watching assorted ducks and waterfowl.

Pato arlequim a beber no lago.| Harlequin duck drinking from the lake.

Acabámos por almoçar em frente a um grupo de veados, e o Hugo aproveitou para dar de comer aos corvos (as pessoas normais alimentam os pombos e/ou pardais, mas os biólogo-fotógrafos têm que ser originais!)

We ended up having lunch in front of some dear, while Hugo fed the ravens (normal people feed pigeons and/or sparrows, but biologist-photographers have to be different!)

E apanhámos o fim da época de brama!|And we caught the end of the deer rut!

Na deambulação de regresso a casa, já ao entardecer, além dos corvos, pêgas e periquitos invasores abundantes nesta área, vimos um pica-pau verde! Infelizmente, ele andava muito escondido na erva alta, e na altura era eu que tinha a máquina fotográfica na mão, o que implica que não há grandes fotografias do bicho...

On the roundabout walk back home, at twilight, after ravens, magpies and the ever-present invasive perikeets, we saw a green woodpecker! Unfortunately, it was hiding in the tall grass, and I was holding the camera at the time, which means there are no great photos of it...

Juro que está um pica-pau nesta foto!|I swear there's a woodpecker in that photo!

"I went to London, to visit the Queen"

Last Tuesday, Rui (my "godson" from college) was passing by London, and we arranged to meet at Westminster for a touristy morning. When I got off the train in Waterloo, I decided it wasn't worth getting the underground, I could simply cross the bridge and walk along the riverside. So I set off, and shortly after crossing Waterloo bridge, I realized why traffic looked so chaotic: the road was closed. Fortunately for me, as I'd forgotten my map at home, the road was open to pedestrians, so I was able to enjoy a nice walk with no exhaust fumes or engine noises. I stopped on the corner in front of Big Ben, and decided to phone Rui in order to avoid the two of us walking round in circles chasing each other: take out my English mobile (the one he'd sent his message to) to check his number, take out my Portuguese mobile to phone him from, repeat the whole process because the mobile decided to ignore the +351 and then complained the number didn't exist, and finally Rui answers and says he's in front of Big Ben. For a moment I thought he was on the other side of Big Ben in relation to me, but as the conversation advanced it dawned on me we were on the same side. That's when I (finally) had the bright idea of actually lifting my head and looking around. And there was Rui, talking on his mobile, on the 'island' in the middle of the road - where the zebra crossing at my feet lead! So close, in fact, that I realized then I could hear his voice through the ear that was not glued to the phone... Anyway, after the inevitable comments, and although we were still rather puzzled by the fact that all the roads around us were closed, we decided to make the most of the opportunity to walk along the middle of Westminster Bridge. Fortunately our "making the most of it" was less enthusiastic than that of the group of Italian tourists (don't ask me why, but I mentally labeled them as Italian) who had sat down on the floor to take photos... and had to jump out of the way when two police motorbikes zoomed by, escorting a pick-up truck! We took the mandatory photos with the famous clock...

Na 3ª-feira passada, o Rui (meu afilhado da faculdade) esteve de passagem por Londres, e combinámos encontrar-nos em Westminster para dar o belo do passeio turístico. Quando saí do comboio em Waterloo, decidi que não valia a pena apanhar o metro, podia simplesmente atravessar a ponte e ir a pé à beira-rio. Pus pés ao caminho, e pouco depois de ter atravessado a dita ponte (de Waterloo) descobri a explicação para o ar caótico do trânsito: a rua estava fechada. Felizmente para mim, que me tinha esquecido do mapa em casa, a rua não estava fechada a peões, e assim tive um passeio sem fumo de escape nem barulho de motores, o que foi agradável. Parei na esquina, frente ao Big Ben, e achei melhor ligar ao Rui para evitar andarmos às voltas à procura um do outro: toca a sacar do telemóvel inglês (para onde ele me tinha mandado mensagem) para confirmar o nº dele, sacar do telemóvel português para lhe ligar, repetir o processo porque o telemóvel decidiu ignorar o +351 e depois queixou-se que o nº não existia, e por fim o Rui atende, e diz-me que está em frente ao Big Ben. Por momentos pensei que ele estivesse do lado oposto ao meu, mas depois pela conversa dele percebi que não. Foi aí que tive (finalmente) a ideia brilhante de levantar a cabeça e olhar à volta. E lá estava o Rui, a falar ao telemóvel, na "ilha" no meio da estrada, onde ia dar a passadeira aos meus pés! Tão perto, de facto, que nesse momento me apercebi que conseguia ouvir a voz dele pelo ouvido que não estava colado ao telemóvel... Enfim, depois dos inevitáveis comentários, e embora continuássemos um bocado perplexos com o facto de as ruas todas das redondezas estarem fechadas ao trânsito, decidimos aproveitar ao máximo a oportunidade de passear a pé no meio de Westminster Bridge. Felizmente, o nosso "aproveitar ao máximo" foi menos entusiástico que o de um grupo de turistas italianos (não sei exactamente porquê, mas estão catalogados na minha mente como italianos), que se tinha sentado no chão a tirar fotos... e teve que se levantar literalmente de um salto para dar passagem a 2 motos da polícia a escoltar uma carrinha de caixa aberta! Tirámos as fotos da praxe com o relógio famoso...

and walked down toward Westminster Abbey, after checking with a policeman that it was open - with so many policemen about and part of the road cut off even to pedestrians, we were beginning to wonder! As we walked down we became aware of an ever growing number of people, which we only truly understood when we saw a group of liveried horsemen go by... That's when I finally clocked it: it was the Queen's Parade, when Her Majesty goes to Westminster to officially declare the start of the parliamentary year (why in November, I don't know, but I'll try to find out). After the horsemen we saw three horse-drawn carriages go by, one of which (the most adorned one) we presume was the queen's... I only managed to get a (bad) photo of the last one, and it took some effort - I had to find some convenient steps 1st!

e descemos a rua em direcção a Westminster Abbey, depois de confirmar com um polícia que a Abbey estava aberta - com tanto aparato policial e parte da rua cortada até aos peões, já estávamos a ficar com dúvidas! À medida que fomos descendo fomo-nos embrenhando num aglomerado cada vez maior de gente, que só percebemos verdadeiramente quando vimos passar uns cavalos com cavaleiros em trajes de cerimónia... Foi aí que se fez luz no meu espírito: era dia da Queen's Parade, quando a rainha vai a Westminster abrir oficialmente o ano parlamentar (porquê em Novembro, não sei, mas vou tentar descobrir). Depois dos cavaleiros vimos passar 3 coches, um dos quais (o mais engalanado) supomos ser o da rainha... Só consegui fotografar (mal e porcamente) o último, e foi com esforço - 1º tive que encontrar uns degraus!


After the carriages, it was the guards' turn to move out (in the meantime we discovered, through a fellow crowd-member, that the queen had gone into parliament at 11a.m. and was now - at noon - returning home), which was quite fun to watch, if for no other reason then to pity the Beefeaters, who must have been positively melting there in the sun!

Depois dos coches foi a vez de todos os guardas se retirarem (entretanto descobrimos através de uma "companheira de multidão" que a rainha tinha passado a caminho do parlamento às 11h e que agora - meio-dia - estava a regressar a casa), o que até certo ponto foi mais giro de ver, mais que não fosse para ficar com pena dos "Beefeaters", que deviam estar literalmente a derreter, ali ao sol!


After the parade had gone by, we took a few more photos of Big Ben while we waited for the street to re-open, so that we could cross the square and (eventually) reach the Abbey...

Passado o cortejo, tirámos mais umas fotos ao Big Ben enquanto esperávamos que abrissem as "barricadas" para podermos atravessar o largo e chegar (eventualmente) à Abadia...



On the lawn by the entrance to the Abbey, some volunteers were hammering in these crosses with poppies on them, for Remembrance Day celebrations, originally dedicated to all servicemen (and women) who died in WWI and WWII (and to their families), and now extended to all servicepeople who died on duty. There's one cross for every dead serviceperson, and most even have messages on, written by the families... The idea is part of the annual fundraising Poppy Appeal campaign for the British Legion, where you can contribute by buying a poppy for your lapel or dedicate a cross, star of David or Muslim crescent to the memory of a fallen soldier.

No relvado frente à entrada da Abadia, estavam voluntários a colocar estas cruzes com as papoilas, para as comemorações do Remembrance Day, dedicado inicialmente a todos os militares que morreram na 1ª e 2ª Guerras Mundiais (e respectivas famílias), e agora a todos os militares mortos em serviço. Está uma cruz por cada militar morto, e a maior parte tem mesmo mensagens escritas pelas famílias... A ideia faz parte da campanha anual de recolha de fundos da British Legion, o Poppy Appeal, uma campanha tipo pirilampo mágico mas com papoilas vermelhas para pôr na lapela, e em que para além de/em vez de comprar papoila quem quiser pode dedicar uma cruz, estrela de David ou Crescente (Muçulmano) à memória de um soldado falecido.


Soon it was time to say goodbye: I took Rui to the bus for Stansted, and went on to my history class.
But my appetite had been wet for the tourist's life, so I thought I'd make the most of the fact that the sun sets at 4p.m. to see London "by night" and try to convince my camera that it can take night photos and that I don't shake that much...

Num instante chegou a hora de nos despedirmos: fui pôr o Rui ao autocarro para Stansted, e segui para a minha aula de História.
Mas tinha-me ficado o apetite para a vida de turista, e por isso lembrei-me de aproveitar o facto de anoitecer às 16h30 para ver Londres "by night" e tentar convencer a minha máquina de que ela consegue tirar fotos à noite e eu não tremo assim tanto...

Momento mágico | Magical moment

A semana passada fui passar uns dias a Bedford, com a minha avó. No sábado, no caminho de regresso, estava eu a ouvir música e olhar pela janela entre a penúltima estação e a "minha", quando vi... uma raposa a tomar banhos de sol ao lado da linha! Fiquei (obviamente) super-contente, apesar de supostamente não ser uma visão muito rara em Londres...
Ora no domingo, estava eu a ler à janela do quarto (mais propriamente, sentada no parapeito) quando espreito pela janela e vejo... 2 raposas a apanhar sol ao fundo do nosso jardim! Claro que saltei logo do parapeito para agarrar a máquina fotográfica (ia-me espalhando ao comprido!) e disparar umas fotos irreconhecíveis logo ali da janela, com medo que elas fugissem... Entretanto desci, convencida que as raposas fugiam assim que me ouvissem abrir a porta das traseiras. Quando saí não as vi e pensei que tinham mesmo fugido, mas fui em bicos de pés espreitar mais de perto, por uma questão de descargo de consciência. E atrás de uma das plantas, enroscada a dormir, estava:

Sunday afternoon at Richmond Park | Tarde de Domingo em Richmond Park

Com a Suzanne nas Filipinas em trabalho (coitadinha...), eu e o Ricardo ficámos por nossa conta... O que acabou por resultar num passeio até Richmond Park antes de almoço. O que não seria nada de estranho, não fosse o facto de termos saído de casa às 13h30 e chegado às 16h30! Apesar de termos chegado esganados de fome, foi um passeio excelente...
O parque, para além de grande, tem imensos recantos, portanto mesmo sendo um domingo soalheiro que todas as famílias tiraram para passear, estivemos completamente sozinhos nalguns sítios, e só nos cruzámos com muita gente nos caminhos principais, ao pé da estrada. A maior parte deste parque tem um ar muito "natural": deixam ficar no solo os troncos caídos propositadamente, para "alimentarem" novamente o mato, por exemplo, e não tem aquele ar de jardim cheio de "manicure" (apesar de que se nota que é um espaço cuidado e deve ter um bom exército de jardineiros por trás...)

Um dos caminhos através do Parque.
One of the walks through the Park.

Corvos, árvores antigas, ...a Natureza tão perto de Londres!
Crows, old trees,... Nature so close to London!

O roseiral não está no seu melhor em Outubro, mas ao fundo vê-se a antiga casa dos apanhadores de toupeiras...
The rose garden is not at its best in October, but you can see the old mole-catchers' house in the background...

One day last week... | A semana passada...

...I woke up, looked out the window, and saw a present from the squirrels!
...Acordei, espreitei pela janela, e vi um presente deixado pelos esquilos!

Finally, photos! | Finalmente, fotos!

So you can have an idea of where I'm living...
Para terem uma ideia de onde estou a morar...

Home seen from the back garden
A "minha" casa vista do jardim das traseiras



The back of the back garden
As traseiras do jardim das traseiras