A Library, A Prison, and The Vaults & Garden

 

The above pic is mommy and me at the Bodleian Library. This room was the infirmary in the first Harry Potter movie. This library is one of the oldest and biggest in England.

We ate lunch at The Vaults and Garden in the bottom of the St. Mary's Cathedral. Originally this room was a congregation hall (1320). Everything is really old here.

 

The picture below is me in the Pillary, which is similar to being in the stocks. We are standing in a prison cell at the Oxford Castle that started building in the 1070s. The guy in costume is dressed as Robert D'Oilly. 

The website says:

"When William the Conqueror invaded England and won the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Oxford Castle was marked by the Norman's as the ideal place for a motte-and-bailey castle. This task was entrusted to Robert D'Oilly, a distinguished soldier and member of William's inner circle. In 1071, in the west suburb of Saxon Oxford, D'Oilly began to build a castle which would leave the natives in no doubt about who was in charge.'

Below is my mugshot... they had prisoners as young as 7 years old for things like stealing a piece of bread or wheat stalk.

Flat Lola in the United Kingdom

Friday, Feb 27, 2015
After a car, a plane, a train, another plane, and a bus we made it to Oxford, UK. Here are some of my adventures with Flat Lola since we arrived earlier today. 

This is me learning how to drive a trolley through UK customs.

After dropping our luggage at the hotel, we went to grab a bite to eat. I had mousse and some Mango Tango tea.

This is Flat Lola in front of the pastry display at Patisserie Valerie, the shop where we a had tea. The shop was originally a school way back in the 1200s.

Tonight we ate at a little Italian place. There was a wall behind some glass that was over 500 years old. This is Flat Lola, Chloe, and me in front of this old wall.

I also went shopping, through the Christ Church meadow, and into Alice's shop.

Saturday, February, 28, 2015 
This is a really old door outside a bookstore in Oxford. I liked the lion head doorknocker.

This door is inside the Bodleian Library/

It is one of the oldest and biggest libraries in the UK. They add 3 miles of shelves every year to add all the new books.

Flat Lola toured a prison that was built in 1070. The Oxford Castle was a prison until the 1990s!

This picture is of a straight jacket.

This is one of the teeny tiny cells that prisoners had to stay in.

Flat Lola and I got in trouble and got placed in the stocks. Prisoners could spend 3 days without food and water standing in these. People threw rotten food at them. It was legal to punch the prisoner in the face while they were trapped in the stocks. The prison guards nailed the prisoners ears to the wood so they would have to look up the entire time they were standing in the stocks.

England Day 1

1. I learned what a queue is (and how to spell it). I was standing in the long line to go through customs talking with Ann.

2. I learned about the Hertford Bridge (also called the Bridge of Sighs). It connects to colleges. And looks like a bridge in Venice.

3. I saw the actual lamppost that inspired C.S. Lewis to write include a lamppost in Narnia.

4. I learned how the English coins work!

5. I learned how to sleep on an airplane. It is hard: the space is small, nowhere to rest your feet. And there's nothing you can do about it unless you are 10 and your mom changes seats and let's you lay down. 

Adventures with Flat Lola

Friday, February 20, 2015

Hi. My name is Kathryn, and Lola is my cousin. I'm excited Flat Lola has come to visit me in Nashville, TN 

Flat Lola arrived to 2 inches of ice in Nashville. The high temperature was 17 degrees. We have missed an entire week of school. Burr. 

I went sledding around town. This photo is at Vanderbilt University. The building in the background is Wyatt. My mom teaches there. 

Sunday, Febrary 22, 2015 

Today Flat Lola and I are playing basketball with my St. Bernard Academy team. We are having a ball at the end of the season party with my team. 

Local Coffee shops are a big deal in Nashville. This is one of my favorites: Edgehill Cafe. We can walk to it from my house. 

Monday, February 23

After a week off, school is finally back in session. I go to St.  Bernard Academy. It is an independent Catholic School. We normally walk, but it is 21 degrees today so we drove. You can see my uniform and part of my school in this picture: 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

And we're off! Flat Lola and I are going to London! 

Matilda Book and Movie

Matilda in the book was a smart, angry little girl who finds she has a power and uses her power to help her teacher. The teacher has almost nothing. The actor who plays Matilda does a good job at expressing these feelings and acting like a smart little girl.

Matilda's mum and dad... From the beginning you can tell by their tone and looks on their face how much they dislike one of the children; the one named Matilda.

The brother is just like his parents. He is dumb and dislikes Matilda and the actor that played him does a great job being dumb and being mean to Matilda.

Ms. Honeysuckle, the teacher, loves Matilda in the book and takes an instant liking to her. They become best friends. Ms. Honeysuckle knows about Matilda's power and tells her not to use it. The actor follows these instructions.

The principal is mean and grouchy. He is mad at Matilda's dad and punishes Matilda for it. Perfect acting.

Music is good. It is happy at the right moments and timed up perfectly.

Harry Potter Class (7th book/movie anaylsis)

Hermione: I feel Emma Watson did a fantastic job with Ron left her. You could feel her sadness and when he returns, she's mad; just like the book describes.

Ron: He had emotion. You could see the sorry look in his face, but you could not see the fear that is talked about in the book.

Harry: I think that the actor who played Harry was great. The book described him as a tease and secretive and not really wanting to share his feelings. This is exactly how the actor did it.

Music: The music was fantastic. It put feeling into the tense moments and it really helped the mood of the movie.

Extra characters: The actors playing Neville and the Wesley family did great. But a lot of background characters seemed fake. For example, when they were supposed to be scared, they didn't look scared and in the book I thought they were terrified.