The uneventfully-eventful day….

So, as I am here to actually do research, I headed out to Kew today to the National Archives. I got a late start because I wasn’t sure what time they would be open, so I left my apartment a little after 9:30. For some reason, I am completely unable to naturally adjust to the Tube and took the wrong train one station before getting off and transferring to the right line (at least I was headed in the right direction!).

When I got out to Kew (about 45 minutes later), I made a mental note to give Kevin a smack up-side the back of his head; he never mentioned how beautiful the archives, or the neighborhood they are located in, are! The walk up to the archives looks like a Disney film – all the little houses with their front gateways, and the cars parked pell-mell in front of them were adorable. The good times did not, as they say, continue to roll.

The whole purpose of my trip out to the archives was to see the d’Este family papers (the Prince and Lady d’Este, that is). Upon arriving at the archives I ditched my purse and brought what I considered to be ‘necessities’ with me up to the reading rooms. I registered for my readers ticket (which carries the most hideous photo of me anyone has ever taken) and headed into the reading room. That’s where my trouble started – security was adamant that I leave anything that they didn’t consider ‘necessities’ with them (which were my spare pencils, all my pens, the erasers out of the end of my pencils, my folders, and spare paper). I then had to wait a few minutes until I was noticed at the enquiries desk and was given my assigned seat and told how to collect and use my papers.

That was the other big problem. Even before I opened up the folios, I knew they would be of no use to me – what I didn’t know when I had ordered them was that they were the journals kept by the couple while on vacation in Rome (either right before, or after their marriage). What’s more, the Lady d’Este would switch back and forth between English and French mid sentence (much like my mothers and her sisters will when talking on the phone). That wasn’t such a big problem, but the Price’s handwriting was just plain illegible. After reading the first dozen pages of the 3 folios, I realized it was a ‘we saw this painting, we dined with this person, and we went there’ account of their time in Rome, and what’s more, the second journal was half empty. Needless to say, there was nothing usable for me at the Archives.

Not wanting to waste my day, I decided to see Kew Gardens while I was already out that way – I wasn’t sure I was going to get a chance, but since I now had the free time, I figured what the hell, I’m here and I might as well. When I had gotten off the Tube, I found my way to the Archives via a map that was posted outside the station. On that map was also directions to the Gardens – on my way back from the Archives, I didn’t bother checking the map again, because I remembered that the Gardens were in the opposite direction of the Archives; what I failed to notices, was that they were on the other side of the tracks. So, 10 minutes and about a mile of walking later (with my giant bag, full of all the school stuff I would ever need for researching, including my lap top), I finally turned around and consulted the map. I then realized my mistake and headed in the right direction to Kew Gardens.

When I finally reached the gate, I noticed a sign for The Original Maids of Honour, a scone shop that has been in operation for decades – Frommer’s mentions it as a must-eat kind of place. Since the sign said it was only 500 meters away, I decided it would be a good opportunity to knock another thing of my ‘want-to-do’ list and I headed that way. 5 minutes later I arrive and walk in, only to notice no one sitting there eating, no food in the display cases, and the lady behind the counter telling me they were closed for the day. Oh well, back to the Gardens.

At this point, I was hungry and tired. I paid to get into the Gardens (13 pounds!) and headed towards one of the cafés that are listed in the map they gave me. I found lots of opportunities to take pictures along the way of either flowers or garden ornaments. When I got to the Pavilion Café, I opted for a cheep sandwich and some chips and headed out side to eat. I hadn’t even got the wrapper off my sandwich before a MASSIVE peacock materialized out of nowhere at my side. The think looked at me while I snapped some pictures than wandered away to the next table when it was obvious that I wouldn’t share my lunch. After eating I headed over to the Temperate House where the tropical plants are kept. I meandered through there, sat on a bench for a while to update my paper travel journal, and snapped lots of pictures. From there, I took a different path back to the Victoria Gate where I came in, picked up a guide book and a post card for Karen, and headed back to the train station. In all, I spent a couple hours walking around with my heavy bag and my flats, so my feet and back are now killing me.

The tube ride back was uneventful, and I stopped at the Marks and Spencers for some more groceries on my way home. All in all, a day that didn’t go as planned, but one that was utilized to my advantage. I’ll be heading over to the British Library tomorrow to look at the London merchant directories, the Twining family papers, and some papers kept by merchants in the 18th century, and I expect things to go better there.

Some observations:
-Kew was freaking expensive! I almost had a fit at the gate, but upon walking around, I could see why; almost every square inch in landscaped and the areas allowed to grow freely look just as well kept. It took me two hours to walk less than a quarter of the park, so I get it now.
-On the train ride out, I was able to see the different ages that London has gone through – the regency townhomes are replaced with turn of the century, which are then replaced with more modern ones; it’s like digging into the ground and being able to see the strata of different ages.
-There was one block of apartment buildings that blew my mind – it was at least 3 city block long and it just kept going and going and going…. The front facing was a white plaster effect, while the backs (which is mostly what you could see from the train) were in red brick – the effect was amazing.
-The makers of the Tube map need to take a lesson in perspective – the distance between the stations shown on the map are horribly, horribly flawed.
-I’m having a serious problem adjusting to the Tube, it’s been so long since I’ve been on one, and it’s not like Toronto where my experience was all trains head to the same spot, so the difference in lines is really throwing me off my game.
-All the birds in this city are tame – from the peacock in the Garden that sidled up to me, to the chickens (also at the garden) who watched me go by then followed me a little, to the pigeons that will get within a foot of you to explore food options. I even had a Top Gun style moment at Earl’s Court station where a pigeon buzzed me – it missed my face by mere inches.
-Kew is pretty much a metaphor for the fall of the empire – the purpose of the Gardens were to collect specimens of every plant growing in the empire, but in the Temperate house, the Victorian architecture has been over-run with foreign plants; they cling to it, use it to grow, and smother it, making it almost unobservable. The imagery that the viewer gets is that the native plants are stronger and more powerful than English iron and steel.
-For some unknown reason, I’m having a hard time with my wireless internet – I’m either going to have to forego daily postings or figure out what the hell is going on or start paying for internet. I haven’t decided yet what to do….