Robert mentions that in lieu of straining to see Nelson I should be sure to go pat all the lions' paws at Trafalgar. As an aside, I bet Nelson wishes he had been that high at Trafalgar -- maybe he wouldn't have been shot.
In point of fact, when I was at Trafalgar Square Sunday it had been taken over for Sikh new year celebrations, and the base of Nelson's column was the police command post/backstage entrance, and inaccessible to mere tourists.
The next day was May Day (observed, as we might have on our federal calendars), so official London was shut down. It is amusing how we have appropriated these pagan customs and continued them as holidays, just with different justifications.
And in Albania things were just closed down for Orthodox Easter. They use the same method for calculating the day for Easter, the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, but a different calendar. They didn't adopt the Gregorian calendar for a few centuries after the west, and when they did they just dropped 10 or 11 days to make it come out right, but those missing days account for the difference. Some years they're the same Sunday, and others not, like this year.
2 comments:
The Spanish Admiral Federico Gravina commanding the Spanish fleet also died months after the battle due to the wounds he received. Where is his column?
You and Cindy need to take a boat, or train then ferry, to Greenwich and stand with on foot on either side of the prime meridian. On the walk up the hill from the river to the observatory, there are several pubs in the old town area offering decent traditional pub food at a reasonable rate.
Pip Pip. Tally ho
French Admiral Pierre Villeneuve committed suicide not long after the battle. No column for him either, and his actions are the reason French sailors do not say Sir to officers anymore.
As clarification, touch/rub/pat one paw and clockwise circle the lion. Then move clockwise to the next lion and clockwise circle it touch/rub/pat the same paw as the first. And on again. So each lion is circled four times and the column is as well. Sir Edwin Landseer designed the bronze lions that were placed on guard at the base of Nelson’s Column in 1867.
Landseer was something of a child prodigy.
At the age of just 21, in 1815, Landseer exhibited works at the Royal Academy. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy at the age of 24, and an Academician of the Royal Academy five years later in 1831. He was knighted in 1850, and although elected President of the Royal Academy in 1866 he declined the invitation.
Landseer was a notable figure in 19th century British art, and his works can be found in Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kenwood House and the Wallace Collection in London. He also collaborated with fellow painter Frederick Richard Lee.
Windsor Castle in Modern Times (1841-1845) Queen Victoria and her family at Windsor Castle.
Windsor Castle in Modern Times (1841-1845)
Queen Victoria and her family at Windsor Castle.
Landseer's popularity in Victorian Britain was considerable. He was widely regarded as one of the foremost animal painters of his time, and reproductions of his works were commonly found in middle-class homes. Yet his appeal crossed class bounda
Landseer's paintings of dogs were highly popular among all classes of society.
So popular and influential were Landseer's paintings of dogs in the service of humanity that the name Landseer came to be the official name for the variety of Newfoundland dog that, rather than being almost entirely black, features a mix of both black and white; it was this variety Landseer popularized in his paintings celebrating Newfoundlands as water rescue dogs, most notably Off to the Rescue.
In his late 30s Landseer suffered what is now believed to be a substantial nervous breakdown, and for the rest of his life was troubled by recurring bouts of melancholy, hypchondria, and depression, often aggravated by alcohol and drug use (Ormond, Monarch 125). In the last few years of his life Landseer's mental stability was problematic, and at the request of his family he was declared insane in July of 1872.
If you get dizzy along the way, take a break.
Pip pip. Tally ho.
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