The Royal Britannia

In October... I went to Edinburgh, Scotland with my friend Theea.  Ok, yes this is a very delayed post but I've been meaning all along to say something about Scotland and I'll begin with the Royal Yacht Britannia.

This yacht has been in action travelling the world for 50+ years throughout Queen Elizabeth's reign and has been put to rest in a dock in Edinburgh as a tourist attraction. There have been royal honeymoons, summer holidays, state visits and foreign leaders across the globe have been aboard when the Queen docked at their shores. The last royal event happened last July when the Queen's granddaughter Zara hosted a pre-wedding reception on board and all the royals mixed and mingled on its deck and Duchess Kate apparently "recycled a dress" for the occasion. Scandalous.

Royals aboard the Britannia
 

Me standing where the Queen is!

These guys are obviously familiar with the Royal Yacht as well... Diana and Charles honeymooned on the ship and you can see the rooms where they stayed during the voyage.

Having visited palaces and castles in England such as Buckingham and Windsor over the years, I can say that its really not the same at all. In a palace, you don't get the sense of visiting someones home as you do on this yacht. There are family photos everywhere of the royals standing in the same place you're standing. The yacht was designed in a minimalist 1950s style. There is little fluff and every effort seems to have been made to make the furnishings much less pretentious than you might imagine they would be.

Aside from the fact that this is a ship that employed dozens of crew members to wait on the royal travelers and you can walk through the kitchen where a world class chef was employed, the laundry room where all the crew's uniforms are pressed to perfection...  The actual living quarters are simple and straight out of the '50s. Not much to them at all... the bedrooms consist of a dresser and a bed. There are basic nautical themed sitting rooms where Harry and William have played board games and the Queen's "office" is a simple desk. Of course, there is a more formal dining room and there have been many "posh" parties aboard. But what I liked most about seeing this ship is the teeny tiny sliver of normalcy you are able to peek in on.

Charles and Diana's Honeymoon Suite

I've read somewhere that the Queen's husband Prince Philip has never in his life put toothpaste on his own toothbrush. Apparently that task is reserved for his butler. So yes, "normal" and "royal" don't usually go together in the same sentence. But aboard the Britannia, the family photos unveil that they are just people in the end no matter how much scandal, heartache or loneliness those posed smiles are hiding.

The Ugly Side of Oxford

Oxford is one of the most beautiful cities in England. Historic. Inspiring.

I'd imagine if you haven't been here you're thinking all of the buildings are majestic and the aura is like I said before, "Academic Disneyland". Well they are... and it is.... sometimes.

I literally cringe everytime I drive down Banbury Rd and see this eyesore - the Denys Wilkinson Building. 

Or drive along this beauty...

A few blocks from my home you find Oxford's Administrative building - University Offices in Wellington Square - home of the University Chancelor, Vice Chancelor, University Admissions Department, Development Office etc... one long block of beautiful 2 story cement facade. Quaint, isn't it?

I've been reading Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island", which is snort out loud funny and chock full of spot on observations. As an American writer that lived in England for more than 2 decades, Bill has an uncanny ability to unravel his surroundings and put them into words that make you think - Wow, I've definitely noticed that but have never put my finger on it quite like he does.

In Notes from a Small Island, Bryson sums up Oxford's architecture....

What sort of mad seizure was it that gripped the city’s planners, architects, and college authorities in the 1960s and 1970s? [...] Just look at the Merton College Warden’s Quarters – which is not by any means the worst building in the city. What a remarkable series of improbabilities were necessary to its construction. First, some architect had to design it, had to wander through a city steeped in eight hundred years of architectural tradition, and with great care conceive of a structure that looked like a toaster with windows. Then a committee of finely educated minds at Merton had to show the most extraordinary indifference to their responsibilities to posterity and say to themselves, ‘You know, we’ve been putting up handsome buildings since 1264; let’s have an ugly one for a change.’ Then the planning authorities had to say, ‘Well, why not? Plenty worse elsewhere.’ Then the whole of the city—students, dons, shopkeepers, office workers, members of the Oxford Preservation Trust—had to acquiesce and not kick up a fuss. Multiply this by, say, two hundred or three hundred or four hundred and you have modern Oxford.  - Bill Bryson

Seems the post war era led to many monstrosities dotted around the city with some of these buildings looking like they could be prisons.

I have to say, that my university town, Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University and founded to model after the real deal - Oxford University - has done a better job of preserving the consistency of the architecture with those red brick buildings.

I never appreciated it much while I was there, but its clear what 1000 years of history and nouveau building ideas will do to an institution!