Randolph and Ashmolean.

So last weekend my cousin got married, congratulations Katy and Ahilan. This was a great excuse to be in Oxford and indulge in a luxuriant weekend.

The Randolph Hotel is on Beaumont Street in the centre of Oxford. My sat-nav knew exactly where it was and my own eyes soon attested to its presence! See photo below.  I drove to the entrance and our valet took over from there. Apparently valets are quite normal in America but I have to say it was a first for me; and my Mum definitely cleaned the car before we set off! Inside customer service was prized with concierge and many complimentary services on offer.

Chillin with a paper

 I have to say though, that we did spend time in queues, get delivered twice as many Sunday papers as we’d like and receive a visit from a member of staff ‘checking the mini-bar’. So the room itself cost just over £200 (definitely the most my parents ever spent on a room, me too!) and for that we got a twin room complimentary tea, coffee, hot chocolate (including cream as a milk option!) water (sparkling and still), an ensuite with some small toiletries (and a confident reminder that if I were to make a souvenir of my bath towel I was to enquire as to its sale price at reception!). Our beds were Egyptian cotton and we also had a writing desk, arm chair and footrest, complimentary wifi and of course, a trouser press. We decided in the main to avoid the mini-bar and 24-hour room service (you could even have your herring brought to you in the morning!). Our experience over night actually left me a little disappointed; the room was uncomfortably warm or noisy depending on whether you used the fan or not, the industrial fans outside also made for a noisy evening. I would also say however, that my parent’s room on the other side of the building, overlooking the Ashmolean museum was quite tranquil and beautiful, they had no such complaints. Perhaps it is luck of the draw. And as we were a family of four at a wedding it was so nice not to feel joined at the hip!

Writing my last blog

The hospitality on the other hand was brilliant. The reception venue was very smartly decorated, even the children’s menu had adult portions, our food was very tasty and the customer service was really good; just the right level of interaction and invisibility. I also had the good fortune of visiting the famous ‘Morse Bar’ and watched them make me a Mojito on my room tab (thanks Mum!), it was truly worth the £10.50 rivalling my local London favourites, Sophie’s.

As I mentioned earlier the hotel is across the road from the Ashmolean and remembering the occasion my Anglo-Saxon history lecturer claimed to have stolen the ‘Alfred Jewel’ from the Ashmolean I decided it was time to pay this place a visit. I will make the caveat now that I only had an hour. The first thing that struck me was a resemblance to the British museum; the fusion of old buildings with new architecture that makes the most of the light. Also like the BM it had an orientation space which serves to prepare the visitor for thinking about culture and provides information on the different exhibitions which are organised geographically then chronologically. Interestingly also like the British Museum I thought there was a noticeable lack of African archaeology on display. Plenty of Middle Eastern, Indian and European pieces but no African and a similar bias towards ‘classical archaeology’. The European Early Medieval Room was worth visiting if you are an ASNAC or British antiquarian, plenty of strap ends and beakers, armour and of course the Alfred jewel; it was photographing badly on the day I was there. But as far as I was concerned their visible early Medieval collection was nothing extraordinary; you’d have seen as much in that archaeology seminar with Geake.

Christopher Wren as a young man.

The other place that the Ashmolean reminded me of was the Louvre. My sister and I visited the Louvre in February and I noticed it was full of brightly coloured hallways with European paintings, hung upon the walls for contemplation. The Ashmolean had many themed rooms including one quite large room dedicated entirely to Dutch still life! If I had one complaint about the Ashmolean it would be that it seemed dominated by the interests of earlier Oxford academics; the room full of Russian ceramic and the Dutch still-life came from benefactors who had given large collections as represented by these large rooms. What the Ashmolean did well was partner the contemporary with the ancient. A sculpture exhibition put modern sculptures of Olympic sports up against classical statues in an attempt to get the public thinking about national feeling and the human body. Similarly their exhibition on conservation was inspired; lots of fun and not only for children! The picture below is me playing with a piece that counts the number of touches various materials can take before they fall apart. It was interesting.

Bodies: Ancient and Modern

Please Touch, interactive conservation.

So in conclusion, I enjoyed the bit of Oxford that I saw. Admittedly I didn’t actually go beyond Beaumont Street other than when I drove the car in. Being light blue for a start I wouldn’t have wanted to dirty my shoes...I jest. There were other priorities. I enjoyed my family time and what I saw of Oxford. I might even go back if only to taste more of the Morse Bar menu.

The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory

So when I was at Hampton Court I caught sight of a topical book which looked like a good yarn. Here’s my review of it. Written from my luxury bedroom at the Randolph, Oxford.

(as you can see its a terrible strain!)

‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ is the first in a series of novels by Gregory set at the Tudor Court in England. If your English history is a little rusty the Tudors were the English monarchical family between 1485 and 1603. My interest in this period of English history has taken some time to develop, starting with context for Shakespeare, via television series The Tudors and recently visiting Hampton Court Palace.

The ‘Other Boleyn Girl’ is Mary Boleyn, sister of Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn (mother of Queen Elizabeth I of England). The book follows the rise and fall of the popularity of the Boleyn family at Henry VIII’s court. It reminded me of some Jane Austen I’d read in that the story doesn’t travel very far; the story focuses on the social relationships at one court, albeit across 15 years. I enjoyed the novel approach of taking a well-known story from a different angle, especially one that lets us look on Anne with sympathy. I think our inherent monarchical stance in Britain has made us quite defensive of the king. Gregory’s talent is in furnishing well-known figures with human characters, with probable dialogue. When Henry has an accident on the tennis court, Gregory describes his thought, ‘torn between the intense pain of his broken foot and the ludicrous thought that the Boleyns had attempted to assassinate him with tennis’. Henry VIII depicted with humour and yet pointing to a deeper theme; throughout the book the Boleyn triumvirate (Anne, Mary and George) are embroiled in a battle at court whilst appearing dedicated courtiers and courtesans.

Taking the perspective of a woman in a patriarchal age was an interesting angle for Gregory to portray. There are frequent references to the role and powers of women in the novel. When watching Jane Seymour skate across ice Mary reflects, ‘to be a Seymour girl must be very like being a Boleyn girl, when your father and your brother thrust you towards the king and you have neither  the ability nor the wisdom  to run away’. Women in the novel have all the power and yet none of it. This is a woman’s book told from a woman’s perspective. It is about romance and laughter but simultaneously questions whether these are big enough things to live for.  It did get me thinking about what I wear and why, whose styles I follow consciously or otherwise.

I learnt a lot about the Tudor court whilst reading the book, even just remembering the need for itinerancy with such an opulent court.  It is obvious that Gregory has done copious amounts of research to ensure her book is faithful to historical events but this desire to be accurate can at times be exhausting, as if Gregory needs to show us how much research she has done. This reminded me a little of Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel) another recent work on Tudor England, although unlike WH, TOBG only concerned itself with romance and not all of politics and religion too.

The book was slow at times and I my mind did wonder, as with Austen, is there going to be anything more to this than romance and giggling. The book itself, however, has been turned into a film starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, and my little favourite Jim Sturgess. I have to say I haven’t seen the film yet but I think I will try to now. For a commuting companion on the slow trains of Germany Gregory kept me entertained.

7/10

Hampton and Hunger

Today’s blogs brought to you by the letter, ‘h’.

Hampton Court Palace

 

On Friday I had the great pleasure of visiting Hampton Court Palace and its beautiful gardens. Hampton is an English royal palace, built first by Cardinal Wolsey, an adviser to Henry VIII. The building subsequently left ecclesiastical hands when Henry VIII took the palace over, built additions to it and had his family based there. A century and a half later William III bulldozed half the Tudor Palace and created a grand baroque country home. 

 (Tudor Hampton Court on a sunny day)

Although entry cost £16 for an adult it was well worth the money. Entry included access to both parts of the palace, all the gardens, Henry’s chapel royal and a handset which gave different tours of all parts of the palace. I was immediately struck by how like a Cambridge college the whole thing was; the clock and base court of Henry’ s palace being reminiscent of St John’s and William’s palace and gardens more like Clare.

The palace itself is laid out in several different styles, Williams’s apartments were laid out in the traditional style of a country house, showcasing the royal collection of paintings. Whereas Henry VIII’s apartments and kitchens on the other hand were laid out as Henry VIII would have had them at the time, with a strong emphasis on experimental archaeology; reinforced by the constant referral to the archaeologists on the handset. Henry’s royal chapel is really worth a look.

One of the strongest exhibitions was about Henry’s early life and first marriage. I liked the fact that although it was sited in the traditional structure of the palace, it was a blank canvas onto which new ideas were painted. There were videos projected onto the walls, speakers hidden in seats and interactive screens. In each room the relationship between Woolsey, Henry and Catherine of Aragon was represented by three thrones; which like chess pieces, took different formation depending on their relationship at the time. This effect got round the excessive ‘political history’ boards whilst still conveying the essential information.

Although I only had three hours at Hampton I could easily have spent longer. The handsets went into great detail and featured, archaeologists, art historians, curators and actors to give you as full a picture as possible; I admittedly skipped lots of them. Similarly there are amazing gardens ranging from English wildernesses of daffodils and bluebells, to a maze, and walled gardens which serve as more than a background to your picnic lunch. Although I think the weather contributed to such a lovely visit (I’m not sure all the gardens would have been so pleasant in the pouring rain!) I would highly recommend a visit to Hampton Court.

The Hunger Games

 

Yesterday I went to see the Hunger Games at the cinema. Yes, I went on my own. No that’s not weird. The film is about a dystopia where in the wake of a peasant uprising there is a yearly memorial ‘games’; its a fight to the death. 

It was a strongly emotive film; from the start people are making sacrifices for oneanother and the constant threat of death makes lines from the actors all the more poignant. Although I think I was supposed to be drawn to the love-triangle in this film (see media image below) I was actually more affected by the narrative of sisterhood in the film. At the start the children go through a selection process and both the lead, Katniss, and her little sister are in the mix. Katniss’ sister is scared and she does her best to reassure her, even giving her a Morning Jay pin-badge for luck. Against all odds Katniss’ sister is chosen and confronted with such an awful reality Katniss volunteers herself. I don’t know what was going through Katniss’ head at the time but her desire to fix that terrible situation was something I could relate to; as a big sister my gut-reaction is to jump between my little sister and any things that frighten or threaten her, even when I don’t feel that brave myself. 

 (Katniss in the 'game', Trying to be Twilight-Games: photocredits: http://manriquejoyce.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/the-hunger-games-trilogy/,http://www.salon.com/2012/03/20/the_hunger_games_a_lightweight_twi_pocalypse/)

Later in the film Katniss forms an alliance in the game with a little girl called Rue. Together they make a great team and achieve things neither of them could have done on their own. Without Rue’s communication ideas and fire-lighting they would not have achieved their aims. Although this relationship was quickly forged it was deep and true; much deeper in fact than any of Katniss’ romantic attachments. Rue stood for hope in Katniss’ game. This sisterhood, forged in a time of crisis, where each has their own skills and strengths but both work as a team towards a common goal reminded me of my relationship with my sister, on a good day.

There were definitely some quotes to take away. I particularly liked, ‘Hope...it is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective, a lot of hope is dangerous’. That line was spoken by a dictator a man trying to keep morale high but contained, I’m not the only one who likes it (Clawson). If I were the sort that went in for tattoos I think I might have this one. In general it was a more hopeful dystopia than some of the films I’ve seen (Children of Men, for example).

Finally I liked this film because it had a heroine at the centre; she was doing strong things from firing arrows to burying the dead. Often action heroes are men and if they are women they can often feel one-dimensional, e.g. Lara Croft. Katniss was very real, she had strengths but also weaknesses. The way her romantic narrative played out was also interesting, no where near as cut and dried as Hollywood often tried to make it. I don’t think I spoil the plot in saying there is a romantic tension which Katniss lives with that is also reminiscent of real life.

Yes, the plot was a little unreal some times but it was a great way to spend a Sunday evening.

Thanks for making it through a double-blog. I’m off to Germany now so see you in two weeks time!