The "Humps and Bumps" of Virulamium

What's hiding underneath?

While on the dig, and when touring several Roman forts near Hadrian's Wall with Arbeia's archaeologists, we were instructed to look for the "humps and bumps" in the landscape. These contours are often clues to who and what came before us, and what may still remain beneath the surface.

Jennie and I were very much aware of changes and contours in the landscape as we hiked the wall.

See the ditch of the vallum?

 

Walking through Virulamium Park in St Albans, on our way to the Museum, we payed close attention to our surroundings.

 




Laid out in 50AD, Roman Virulamian was the second largest city next to Londinium, or London. The 100 acre park now covers most of the Roman city, and when strolling through its grounds, we were very aware of "the humps and bumps" in the landscape. Much of the city was excavated and then covered up again to protect it.

Any guesses what this channel once was?

Who knows what this little boy might have found if he had a go with a pail and shovel!

The remains of the London Gate

 

This wall was part of the defense system surrounding Virulamium, and the London Gate served as a major entrance.

 

Local materials were always used. You can see the flint in addition to brick in this section of wall.

 

"And now for something completely different!" -- Monty Python

I loved this little amusement park right in the middle of the Roman ruins!

I'm dizzy just looking at it!

And now back to the Romans!

Virulamium Museum

My meeting at the Virulamium Museum surpassed all of my hopes and expectations, and was truly a highlight of the trip. Lasting nearly 90 minutes, Fiona, the Education Officer, shared many of the objects she uses during her school visits, demonstrated the line of questioning and probing she uses with children (she practiced on me!), and she had me help her set up on the floor a hands-on simulated "dig" she does with groups. Using fabric to represent soil layers, she places coins and objects from various time periods under each layer, with more recent items at the top and then working down through time. I can't wait to try it! I left with many curriculum resources, and, to my great surprise, Fiona presented me a few treasures to take home! She has a number of samples of excavated pottery and tile, which over time have lost their context. When the context, or exact location where an object is found, is lost, the object no longer has value. I am very excited to share these objects with both children and colleagues.

 

On my way out I had a chance to explore the museum a bit.

They have several amazing mosaics from Virulamium that are relatively intact.

Some of the tile Fiona gave to me are tesserae, or tile used in mosaics.

The museum had some wonderful examples of the "female finds" I spent time researching at Arbeia.

In a separate building within the park, a stunning hypocaust mosaic was left in situ, it's exact location.

And we think radiant floor heating is nice!

 

The park was filled with adorable rabbits munching away.

After a successful day, it was time to celebrate with an ice cream.

I don't know what they feed their cows, but their dairy products are DELICIOUS!

 

I couldn't let Jennie leave England without trying a 99 -- vanilla ice cream with a chocolate Cadbury Flake bar stuck in it.

On our way back to the cathedral for Evensong, we looked at this familiar spot with new eyes.

What lies beneath!

Evensong was lovely, with the afternoon light streaming through the windows of the cathedral.

 

One last stroll around the cathedral...

...and gardens, and we headed for home to get ready for the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

 

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A Morning at St Albans Cathedral

A day without public transportation. Hurray! A break from hiking boots was nice, too.

I chose St Albans (named for Britain's first Christian martyr) as a destination for several reasons. We needed to be close to London without staying in London proper during Olympic madness. It is also home to St Albans Cathedral and the Virulamium Museum, where I had booked my second visit with a museum educator. The bonus was that it is not far from the Village of Radlett, the home of some dear family friends!

We began our exploration of St Albans with a guided tour of the Cathedral, the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain. A lovely older parishioner guided us around the bustling church -- services were taking place, the organist was rehearsing, flowers were being arranged, and art projects were being tended to.

Our tour guide whisked us into the Lady Chapel, out of the tour's usual sequence, before a noontime Catholic Mass was to be celebrated there. Hard to believe it was used as a school for 300 years.

The Cathedral, dating to the 11th century, is part of the Church of England (Anglican), but is quite ecumenical and hosts a variety of other services from time to time. The visiting Catholic priest found a quiet corner in one of several side chapels to put on his vestments.

Needlepoint, created by the nimble fingers of parishioners, covers the chapel's kneelers.

The High Altar and screen. As we stood admiring it, the carillon began to play "Chariots of Fire," in honor of it being the opening day of the Olympics. The tour guide rushed us into the tower area, so we could here it better. Here is the YouTube link to a recording of it made that morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3GMpJ33o5Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player

For over 1700 years, pilgrims have visited the shrine of St Alban.

Monks would hide in the Watching Loft and monitor the comings and goings of the pilgrims. They wanted to make sure that offerings came in and didn't go out. Apparently this was an issue.

The Nave Altar

The Rose Window, incorporated into the building in the Victorian era. It didn't actually have stained glass in it until 1989, when it was dedicated by the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

 

The ceiling of the Crossing Tower.

The architecture is part Saxon, part Norman,...

... and even Victorian.

Materials from the original Roman town, Virulamium, we're used, too. Nothing gets wasted.

The choir, which we would return to at the end of the day for choral evensong.

This angle of the Cathedral showcases the many architectural periods perfectly. The tower on the right is made almost entirely of Roman materials.

Off to my appointment at The Virulamium Museum and to explore the Roman ruins.

Stay tuned!

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The Amazing Race Part III: Dover to St Albans

Day Three, the final day of the harrowing 3-day Amazing Race. Slightly more complicated than the day before, with two train journeys and the possibility of a London underground journey the day before the opening ceremony. But there are several rewards at the end: London during the Olympics (not sure if this will be a reward or a punishment!) and five nights at the same hotel. We are going for the gold! Here's what happened.

Route Info: Travel from Dover to London via train. Depending on which of three stations the train arrives in, a ride on the underground to change trains for local service to St Albans may be required. There is also the possibility of an express train, which will eliminate the need for the underground, as it arrives at the same station (St Pancras) trains to St Albans depart from.

After a night in a less then sanitary room, we couldn't get to Dover Priory Station fast enough. Normally on travel days, Jennie and I don't mind relaxing in our room until the official check out time when our train isn't leaving for a while. In this case we couldn't wait to sit on a bench in the sun and read for an hour or so.

Fast Forward: Train is an express to London, stopping at St Pancras!

Speed Bump: Jennie gets motion sick, so must have window seat facing in direction train is traveling. Unable to reserve seats.

Goodbye, White Cliffs of Dover. Sure glad Jennie got a window seat facing in the right direction!

Fast Forward: With train arriving at St Pancras, an easy transfer, clearing heavy Olympics security, is made to train bound for St Albans.

Detour: Attempted cab ride from station to hotel. Cab driver insists its a quick walk to hotel. He lied, and we are once again pulling very heavy suitcases and carrying heavy backpacks. Disgruntled upon arrival!

Surprise bonus reward for being such intrepid travelers: Ardmore House Hotel and it's helpful and charming staff, Joe and Morris. (When inquiring about the password to access the internet, Morris said to me, with a deadpan look, "It's 9 zeroes, but you have to make sure you get them in the right order.")

When we arrived at the Ardmore House Hotel, we thought we'd died and gone to hotel heaven. A pleasant treat after our creepy night in Dover and three scary nights in our hotel in Bath, where we were pretty sure we weren't alone in the room! (I focused on the positives in my Bath posts.)

The sunroom where we had breakfast every morning, and the garden, where we enjoyed several meals al fresco.

The grounds were peaceful and there was a wedding there on the Saturday evening of our stay.

Jennie and I are both avid gardeners, and with the trip winding down, the beautiful gardens made us yearn for our own flowers back home.

I always have the desire to nest and fully move into a room when I travel, unlike Jennie, who prefers to keep everything in suitcases and bags for fear of leaving anything behind. Everywhere we had stayed thus far had been for 1-3 nights, and didn't allow me to do that. We were now in one place for five night and I claimed nearly every drawer, shelf and hanger!

Speed Bump: After lunch in the garden and unpacking and resting most of the afternoon, we realized we had no clean clothes and the world would be a better place if we did some laundry.

Fast Forward: Through an internet search of the neighborhood, we discovered the Posh Wash Laundrette not far around the corner. It was 5:00 PM, and with a closing time of 7:00 PM, that would leave us plenty of time for several concurrent loads and chance to grab some dinner somewhere. Right?

We arrived at Posh Wash and immediately noticed a sign that read, "We close at 7:00 PM. No exceptions. Last wash at 5:30 PM."

Road Block: It was 5:32 PM, and the owner, who was folding laundry and chatting with two girlfriends, spoke right up and firmly said, "Sorry. You are TOO late!" Now, you know as well as I do, that it doesn't take 90 minutes to wash and dry a load of laundry. Even heavy wet things will be mostly dry, if not fully. We told her we'd been travelling for a while, had no clean clothes to speak of, and assured her our loads would be done at the same time and that we'd pull them out before 7:00 PM. Nope. Not budging. With tails between our legs, and pouts as dramatic as any self-respecting 3-year olds could muster, we walked out. On the sidewalk, Jennie and I had the depressed "What are we going to do now?" conversation. We decided we should calmly go back in and plead our case one last time. We are both teachers. WE ARE NOT QUITTERS! When we did, her friends both looked at her, we thought sympathetically towards us, and she reluctantly gave in. We thanked her, gratefully, and assured her all of greater London would be thankful, too! The three of them were chatty with us from that point on and we were done by 6:50 PM!

Pitt Stop: The delicious smells of lamb and beef kabobs from the Mediterranean Grill up the street wafted towards us as we waited for our clothes to be ready. We ended our outing there and returned to Joe, Morris, a man snoring in a chair in the quiet hotel bar, and our lovely accommodations for one of the best sleeps of the trip.

Next up: A day that involved no public transportation (yippee!), exploring St Albans, and my second museum visit with education staff.

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