UCI Travel-Study: Hal Golson

I leave Saturday. How can two months be almost gone? It feels like I just started classes at Cambridge. I don’t want my time in Europe and the Travel-Study program  to end, but part of me knows that to fully enjoy the opportunity, it has be finite. So I am sad that it is coming to an end, but happy that I was able to have this opportunity. For anybody thinking of doing one of the many UCI Travel-Study Program, please do. They don’t only go to Cambridge, and you do not have to be a student at UCI. I, for one, am not, and I have met many other students on the program both from other UCs and other universities. The Cambridge Travel-Study has been a fantastic experience.

I thought it would be appropriate to list everything that I have had the opportunity to participate in while on the program to a give an overview of how great of a time I have had:

·      Live on the medieval campus of Pembroke College, Cambridge to get the full experience of living in the United Kingdom.

·      Take classes at Pembroke College, Cambridge from professors from throughout the University of Cambridge.

·      Take a 5-day trip to the capitol of Scotland, Edinburgh. Along the way we stopped at one of the oldest castles in England—Richmond Castle—and on the way back we explored the ruins of the Cistercian Fountains Abbey. In Edinburgh we went on the Saints and Sinners Tower and to a traditional Scottish Kalee dance.

·      Hike the beautiful Scottish landscape—twice. I climbed Arthur’s Seat that overlooks all of Edinburgh, and hiked the legendary Scottish Highlands at Trossachs National Park.

·      Spend a weekend in London. The highlight of this was going to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater to see Hamlet. Other great things I did in London include seeing The British Museum, Sherlock Holmes “house”, The Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and strolling through beautiful Hyde Park.

·      A trip to Stratford-upon-Avon to see Shakespeare’s hometown and a production of Macbeth at the famous Royal Shakespeare Company.

·      A trip with my Secret Intelligence class to The American World War 2 Cemetery, and Bletchley Park to see how Signals Intelligence helped shorten the Second World War.

·      A visit to all of the major colleges of Cambridge, including the famous Trinity, St. John, and Christ.

·      A walking tour with my class on Darwin to all of the Darwin sights in Cambridge.

·      Visits to the Zoological, Geological, Fitzwilliam, and Anthropology Museums.

·      Pool almost every night in the Junior Parlor.

·      Being shown around the great town of Cambridge by our Program Assistants.

·      Meeting some great new people and making friendships that will continue into the future.

With midterms over, I thought it was time to celebrate. I received an email that there were cheap tickets to see Macbeth at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. All we had to do was find our own transportation there. I knew I had to go. It would be great way to celebrate outside of Cambridge, and I would get to go to Shakespeare’s home, which I didn’t think I would get the chance to do. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my dad is a theater arts professor, so a love of all things Shakespeare has been instilled in me. For him I knew I had to make the “pilgrimage”. I bought a ticket for Macbeth and waited anxiously for the short trip to come.

            Unfortunately, no one I knew very well on the program was going, so when the day came, I made my way down to the Cambridge train station alone. For 20 pounds I was able to buy a train ticket to Stratford and back. What a good deal! I boarded the train 10 minutes before it raced out of the platform. The train hurried past English countryside-hedgerows and rolling hills, drawing closer to Stratford at breakneck speed. It was the first train I’d been on during this trip, unless you consider the countless metros, trams, and trolleys I rode on the Continent. It felt European, even stereotypically British, to say I’ve now been on a train in Europe.

            The train arrived in Stratford after aboutan hour’s trip. It was 4:00 PM, so I had three hours before the play started. Looking at a map outside of the train station, I realized that three hours was plenty of time to see everything that I wanted to in town.

            As you can probably guess, the first place I visited was Shakespeare’s childhood home, which is also the sight of the Shakespeare Center. When I saw the entry price was 11.50 pounds, I was   hesitant to enter, but I knew I wouldn’t be back here anytime soon, so I forked over the money. In retrospect, it was worth it. I walked through the Shakespeare Center, which led to Shakespeare’s family home, and was greeted by Patrick Stewart’s voice giving me a little history of The Bard’s life. Then I  entered Shakespeare’ house. It was a prosperous home, indicative of the money that John Shakespeare, William’s father, would have made as a glove trader and part time illegal moneylender. After walking through the many rooms of the house, I toured the garden that lay outside before leaving for another landmark.

            Next I visited Shakespeare’s manor house which he bought on his return from London with the success of his plays. It was not in as great condition as his childhood home, but it was still great to see. A quick walk from here led me to the Stratford Trinity Church, which is where Shakepeare’s grave is located. I hurried over there, and for only 50 pence I was able to tour the church and see his grave which was built into the ground of the church. I felt that—aside from seeing a play at the Royal Shakespeare Company—my pilgrimage was complete.

            The play was going to start soon, so I hurried over to the Company’s theater on the River Avon. The stage looked fantastic. It was in the round with a platform on top where four cello players sat. The play opened as four long cello notes filled the air. While I was disappointed with the costumes (Macbeth was a real Scottish king prior to the Norman Invasion, so I always like to see the Scottish Play in more medievalist garb) and the cutting of the “double double toil and trouble” scene, these were minor points of contention. The production was wonderful. Actors emerged from under the stage and above it. I was particularly impressed with the character Ross who presided over Macbeth’s coronation by singing a traditional Latin hymn. I also liked the replacement of the Witches with these incredibly creepy children, and the use of the cello music as interlude. I feel very lucky to say I’ve seen Macbeth at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

After spending a beautiful and relaxing day by myself in Cambridge on Saturday, I was back on a bus, traveling with my Spooks and Spies class to visit Bletchley Park (once I’m stateside, I am taking a break from buses). Because of the class we had chosen, we were given another incredible opportunity. This time, we visited the center of British World War 2 code breaking and arguably, the birthplace of computer technology where we were given a tour by Dr. Peter Martland, our professor and an expert on Secret Intelligence history.

            But before we arrived at Bletchley Park, we stopped ten minutes outside of the city at the American Cemetery, which is the only American World War 2 cemetery in Great Britain. It might seem a little morbid, but I enjoy going to cemeteries. I think a lot of history can be gleaned from one, and if it is a military cemetery, the horrors of war can be felt. We strolled down the memorial wall listing all of the men and women who had gone missing while serving in England. The wall, all white with black lettering, ran for 700 yards. Included amongst the names were Joseph Kennedy, Jr. and the bandleader, Glenn Miller, proving that war touches all, even the famous. Similar to my experience at the Vietnam Memorial, which it inspired, my breath was taken away.

            When I reached the end of the wall, I entered the memorial chapel and walked amongst the tombstones with a small group to pay my respects. The rows of white crosses and Stars of David were haunting. It was as if I was at a smaller version of Arlington Cemetery. As we were leaving, a British Spitfire flew over our heads. How appropriate that the main British fighter pilot from World War 2—the savior of the Battle of Britain—would fly over our heads at a World War 2 memorial and cemetery.

            The trip to the cemetery left me speechless for the hour bus ride into Bletchley Park, but once we got to the old manor house, maybe because of hunger, I was talking again and ready to explore the historic sight. It turned out to be Polish Day (Polish scientists were the first to break the Enigma Code which is what Bletchley Park is famous for doing), so I grabbed a few Polish sausages and talked with two Polish immigrants who were showing off artifacts from the War. Polish dancers, including a kid dressed up like a wizard on a horse, passed us. I wanted to  watch the Polish dancing, but I knew I had to get back with the group to go on the tour. 

            Professor Martland first showed us around the mansion, the focal point of Bletchley. It had been an old Victorian hunting house before falling into disrepair. It was then bought by the British government before the Second World War as a location for their code-breaking facilities. When war broke out, scientists, mathematicians, and other gifted students from Cambridge and Oxford were brought to Bletchley to break the German code machine, Enigma. So many code-breakers were recruited that huts had to be built around the mansion.

After seeing the few rooms of the mansion that you can visit, Martland took us to the huts that ringed the mansion’s yard. The most impressive of these was the computer hut that housed the Bombe, the British device programmed by Alan Turing that broke the Enigma, and the Colossus Computer, which was the first programmable computer. Created by Tommy Flowers, Colossus could be programmed based on an algorithm to determine the specific code the Enigma was using. I hope I got that right. It was pretty technical and even Professor Martland said he was not entirely sure how the room-sized gearbox worked.