London 2024 - Day Five 9/19/24

It is hard to believe that we are at the halfway point of our trip! Day five started off, as usual, with a wonderful proper English breakfast at our hotel. Today our group split in two, one small group hopped on the train bright and early for a full day excursion in Liverpool where they took in all things Beatlemania.

The remainder of the group traveled by bus to the lovely, lush, green town of Hampstead in North London. The first stop was a visit to Kenwood House, the home of many different historical noble families since its construction in the 17th century. It is currently home to the 1st Earl of Iveagh's renowned collection of Old Master and British paintings, including works by Rembrandt and Vermeer. The artwork on display in the mansion was incredible as was the architecture of the home itself.

After wrapping up our time at Kenwood House, we had some free-time to explore downtown Hampstead. Some of us hit the shops, others hit the pub, and some decided to explore the graveyard at St John-at-Hampstead Church, which is where it can be said that Captain Hook and Peter Pan are buried next to each other...

J. M. Barrie was a close family friend of the Llewelyn-Davies family. Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn-Davies had 5 boys: George, Jack, Peter, Michael and Nicholas, and became his inspiration for the Darling family in Peter Pan with the title character of Peter being named after Peter Llewelyn-Davies. The story of Peter Pan originated as a play and was first performed in 1904 at the Duke of York’s theatre in the West End. The villain, Captain Hook, was played by Gerald Du Maurier, who happens to be buried right next to the Llewelyn-Davies family in the churchyard. Such an interesting find in the town of Hampstead!

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Barcelona - Dos

Day two in Barcelona has been fantastic! Jose gave us lots of information on the artist Gaudi - not born here but arrived in 1852 to attend the university. His artistic style and influence can be seen across the city. We stopped at Park Guell which was an amazing outdoor area Gaudi designed near the home he lived in. Inspired by nature, fairy tales and classical legends the park is beautiful. With its kissing benches, 'candy house', salamander and plaza with the longest bench in the world it is a work of art in itself. Some of us made the walk up to the top where the three crosses are - and found even more breathtaking views of the city. From there we headed back downtown for a short walk to La Sagrada Familia cathedral. Design by Gaudi and still not yet finished, it is very unique and ornate. Just walking around the outside, Jose had enough informatiion to share about its intricacies that it took some time. The line for entrance was nearly wrapped around the ch

Cordoba

First our morning started with an alarm - or a lack of one; as Mary Jane and Pat's room never received a wakeup call. So everyone else was on the bus ready to go when they finally got a knock on the door. What troopers they were, though! In 15 minutes they were on the bus with everyone and not long after they were able to laugh at the 'chaos' of it all. Our local guide Isabel was just delightful - and clearly has a love for her city. She tells us that filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is from here as we begin our walk. First we go through the old Jewish center. Nearly all of the city's buildings are white-washed (originally by the women we hear). We stop at an old Jewish synagogue and learn some history of the area. Then we stop at the statue of a famous rabbi ( can you name him ?) which legend is that by rubbing his foot and then touching your own head you will get taller and wiser. most of us did that - some hoping for extra height, others for a bit of wisdom!

2011: Day 4 - Vienna

Another great day! We had a 6am wake up call - but it paid off! Our tour director, Robert, secured the first reservations of the day at Shronbrunn Palace - which meant we were the only guests in the Palace for the most part. We went room to room with our own local guide, Gabi, for a nearly private tour! A one-of-a-kind experience for sure. The Palace and Gardens were beautiful. 1,441 rooms and acres and acres of grounds. We learned about Mary Theresa (and all of her 16 children). This was the summer palace for the Hapsburg dynasty. We then switched gears and went to see modern art at KunstHausWien - what a creative artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser was. And a man who epitomized eco-friendly living and work. A very different experience after our tour of the Palace. Next was a driving tour of some of the city's monuments, etc. with a stop for lunch along the way. We ended with a walking tour to additional historic spots and a tour of the downtown palace - the winter residence of the

Stonehill College Alumni Travel

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