KEEP IT RIEL

My dear brother likes to send me photographs of historical things that he finds around him. I love that he sends me photos of the graffiti image of Louis Riel that says "Keep It Riel" underneath.  I think it's hilarious (who doesn't love a pun?) and I love that someone was inspired enough to begin to disseminate this image as well as inspire other copy-cat taggers.

The fluidity of street art fascinates me. One day it is there, the next it could be gone. The best part is the discourse that it can evoke, and I'm not talking about the aural one, but the multiplicity of artists (or hooligans or whatever you want to call them) who will react to each other's work. But maybe that's just an overly elegant way of saying people deface each other's defacements.

 

Image taken from smurfun

I've been thinking a lot about street art lately since watching Exit Through the Gift Shop which is a brilliant movie directed by Banksy that really brings up the questions about when does street art stop being street art? Can something be subaltern when it is shown in galleries and sold to the rich? Many of Banksy's works are now taken off of walls and sold, and he isn't the one making the money off of this. That was a bit of a tangent. But seriously, watch the movie. Mind blown.

I want to get back to this idea of history on the streets or at least discourse through graffiti. My brother took this photo in a bathroom stall in the library at his university.

  HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!?

I'm not getting into the debate about whether or not Riel was crazy, a traitor or a hero, what I want to talk about is how a student took this image of general support of Riel and his goals and has now 'made it Riel" by pointing out the unavoidable fact that Riel thought he was a prophet. We have the standard stencil of Keep it Riel. Which you can find on shirts, on walls, really all over. It looks to me like the person that scribbled this stencil also wrote: "Riel was a madman who thought that he was the reincarnation of David from the Old Testament." This is a really interesting twist on an image that I always assumed was a positive affirmation of support for what Riel was fighting for.

So we have the use of "Keep it Riel" twisted into pointing out a major character flaw and one of the most debated parts about Louis Riel. Then this gets even better! We have another person who clearly takes offense to the word 'madman' (fair enough) and circles it with a note that says: 'subjective.' This dialogue has now gone full circle because the pen-writer has remarked on the lack of authority that the stenciller now has. They lost their authority by being subjective or biased. This is pretty typical occurrence in history in public spaces because there is the assumption that there is fact and flasehoods. The pen-writer is making a claim of authority by essentially grading this graffiti, as a professor might, therefore denying their opinion. This negates the idea of Riel as a madman and although it brings the signification of the image back to its initial meaning, it also has a thicker meaning now simply because of a few scribbles.

So there you go! We have public history, street art, discourse, and authority claims all in one little photo!

September 24: North Queensferry

Today was a quieter day and we stayed in the town of North Queensferry where Anne and Wilf live. We went for a walk (in the rain. Again.) down to the pier at the Forth of Fife. I got a chance to see the world's smallest working lighthouse. Which is really, really small. It's maybe 12 feet high! We also walked along the shore and checked out some of the old wells in the town.

In the afternoon, we headed over to Dunfermline which is a town nearby. We walked around the pretty little town and got ice cream. I found a really lovely lambwool tartan scarf, which Anne bought for me. Since I was epically spoiled by them. We then looked at Dunfermline Abbey, which is still a half functioning Church. Inside the actual church part, they have the remains of Robert De Bruce!

Following this, we checked out the park that Andrew Carnegie paid for since he hails from here. It was really a beautiful park known as Pittencrieff Park. It has a small burn (stream) running through it and lots of trees and pretty flowers. It also has the remains of a tower that King Malcolm built. Yay for knowing some Scottish history! It was up this slight hill and surrounded by the Burn Lyne (like my middle name!).

Later that night I started packed to head off to Berlin next!

September 23: Edinburgh

Anne and Wilf decided to take me around on a tour of the surrounding area. We started off checking out the William Wallace memorial. I met one of Anne and Wilf's daughters and her youngest kid, baby Sarah. We walked up from the base all the way up to the base of the memorial and then up the spiral staircase.  You can actually see what is reputed to be Willie Wallace's sword as well! Apparently, based on the size of the sword he would have been over 6'6"! That's a big guy! There are several rooms as you go up the staircase, one with a super cheesy movie about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. I tried really hard to not to laugh! When we got to the top there's this beautiful view of Stirlingshire. Too bad it was raining. And never stopped the entire day.

After the memorial, we went to Castle Campbell, which was great because you actually can walk around in all these different rooms in the castle's tower. It was the first castle that I could actually imagine people living in. We ate a sandwich and soup in the basement of the castle and it was kind of cool to eat in an arched stone building. Then cook told us that the fog was coming in, so I ran up to the top to see the view before we got totally socked in by the fog. Sadly, I was too late. It was still so cool because I've never really experienced such thick fog. It is really quiet. I don't know if that really makes sense, but that is the best way to describe it.

That evening we headed to Dunkeld, Perthshire. The neat thing about Dunkeld is that it is right beside Birnam! As in Shakespeare's Birnam woods! We went and checked out the only tree left from Birnam wood (Although I have no idea how they can tell). It was an impressively huge tree though! After, we looked at Beatrix Potter's Gardens. It's this really cute park in the middle of Dunkeld. Beatrix spent all her childhood summers there. So the garden has all of her characters in little bronze statues all over the garden! Interesting fact: Beatrix Potter was actually an expert in fungi and presented a paper on spores that was dismissed by the academy because she was a woman. Her ideas proved later on to be correct, but it was too late and she went on to other things. Namely writing and drawing her awesome books! After we went to an exhibit about her, and it was honestly one of the best exhibits I'd ever seen. It focused on her development as a scientist, early interest in water colours and drawing minutely detailed animal life. The child's side of it involved little costumes that kids could wear of her characters and puzzles, and play areas all aesthetically tied to Beatrix Potter!

Then I met Morvan's family and had "tea" (that's supper here). We stayed after supper for a while talking. It was really fun!

Edinburgh: Sept. 22

Today was my day to see the sites in Edinburgh. I got on the train and walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. It was awesome, but super overpriced! I had a moment of stupidity and decided that it would be a good idea to get the audio guide and souvenir guide so it cost me around 20 pounds for 2 hours on the castle. So interesting factoid: Scotland is full of dead volcanoes, and the castle is built directly on top of a plugged up vent. (That's for you, Steph). It is a really strategic site because it is much higher up than the rest of the city and you really have to hike to get up there. I imagine it was a wee bit trickier still when the road wasn't paved. The biggest highlights at the castle was seeing St. Margret's Chapel, and the Honours of Scotland. St. Margret's is really just a small stone cube, but it also happens to be the oldest structure in Edinburgh. It is the tiny room lime washed white inside with a small altar and little stained glass windows. It was quite a contrast from Yorkminster a few days before!

The Honours of Scotland, also the Crown Jewels were also amazing to see! It's set up to be near the last of what you see and they really do save the best for last! Other than the cheesy and slightly bad exhibit running up to it, you kind of start and stop as you go because it is so full of people all being streamed through these various rooms in the palace proper. Finally you get to this antechamber and you can read up about the history of the Honours. Sir Walter Scott actually was the one that found them. Turns out people kind of forgot about them for almost a century. They also have bronze casts of the sword and crown and wand so you can “Touch” them. I think it was more with the intention for people with visual impairments, but it was cool to be able to touch something like it anyways. Finally you get into the chamber and there's the stone of destiny, the wand a sword and some diamond encrusted jewelry. All very exciting. People kept on being yelled at for trying to take photos, their indignation over it is certainly was entertaining.

After checking out the rest of the castle which includes a war memorial, the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James, and a number of small museums, I headed over to meet my second cousin twice removed. Morven and her boyfriend Ben met me for lunch. Which consisted for me, of a tasteless quiche, a half rotten salad, coleslaw (which was the best part) and inexplicably, this HUGE pile of shredded cheddar cheese. So gross. But that's what you get for eating on the Royal Mile. Tourist food Blech.

Morven had a lecture so Ben and I went to have a tour of the vaults. Well, a tour of the vaults, after getting ourselves a beer! This was my favourite part of my time in Edinburgh. They built a bridge out of the old, gated city into the area around it. This was going to be the newer, more fashionable place for merchants and the like. Instead of having to walk up and down the valley, they built bridges to cross the gap. The bridges had arches to keep it up, of course, but in true Edinburgh tradition, they built buildings so close to the bridge so that it is actually completely encased. Merchants planned to have stores there and make it a new, fashionable shopping district. That fell through because they forgot that maybe people would open up shops in the newer parts of the city. So, the vaults because pretty sketchtastic, and when piles of people started squatting there they decided to close them and fill them up with rubble. Lots of illegal distilleries and wine sellers, cobblers, and even taverns were down there. Ben got pretty creeped out which was kind of funny to me. I quite liked it!

We picked up Morven from her student flat and went to check out a vintage store that Morven just loves. It was pretty epic, really nice vintage clothes and real kilts and beautiful hats. It was neat to look through, but I'm glad I manage to not buy anything. Space is so limited after all! We got lost then, and it took us a while to figure out where we were. Finally, we headed off to Hollyrood palace and the conversational piece known as Scottish Parliament. Morven really hates the building, as do most Scotts it would seem and at first I just kind of stared, baffled by it. We went inside and note to all future travellers, Scottish Parliament sells their own wine and whisky in their gift shop. We then went into the Chamber and it's pretty neat. I liked that instead of having a traditional British Parliament set-up with the Government and the opposition on opposite sides, it was more like the UN with a semi-circle of desks for the Mps.

After, we headed to Holyrood Palace. It was 9.30 quid to get in and I went in alone. Because of what a dismal cheesy failure the audio guide was in the castle, I decided against taking the guide which was already included into the price. So my tour of Holyrood Palace consisted of looking at rooms with people not speaking to each other listening to their audio guides and wondering why every room has so many horrible tapestries everywhere? The best part was the gardens and the ruins of an old abbey actually attached to the Palace. I saw lots of abbeys in the UK. The gardens were beautiful. And the walk full of rose bushes was just bursting with blossoms, but of course the plebs weren't allowed to walk down that lane!

I met up with Ben and Morven and we headed off to find me some Crabbie's which is alcoholic giner beer. It was very tastey and so I tipsily made my way back to North Queensferry.

York: Sept. 20

I got to sleep in this morning and Iain made an “English Breakfast” which consists of putting cut potatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and egg into a pan and cooking them together. I am getting the distinct impressive that the mantra behind English cuisine is “Just add sausage.” In the afternoon, we headed off for a visit through York proper.

We started off at the Castle in York. It was pretty rainy and cold and the roof had collapsed long ago in the castle tower, so it was pretty wet. I got to climb my first spiral staircase, and it was probably the most difficult one so far. The whole structure is leaning at an angle. I didn't really notice it until trying to go up the staircase. I managed to get some nice shots of the city all around and got somewhat confused about the structure of the castle.

Shrugging that off, we went to Fairfax house which is a replica Georgian home half a block from the castle. It was a really beautiful home with super ornate plaster on the ceilings and lovely furnishings. There was an exhibit throughout the house about clothing of the period and I liked looking at all the beautiful dresses shoes etc...

Then we went to Yorkminster, which is essentially the equivalent of a cathedral or basilica for Protestants. Iain is a verger there, so he was a great tour guide! The Minster is the largest or its type north of the alps and it is an incredible structure. It took centuries to build and it is eternally under repair, which seems to be the state of most of the old buildings here. The stained glass was stunning, and it was cool to see all the old memorials built into the sides of the corridors. The chapter house is particularly spectacular. It is a circular room that has a huge domes ceiling that is painted. Along the walls are small recesses where the various important clergy people sit. The room was constructed so that everyone can hear each other easily from across the room without needed to speak loudly. Above all the stone seats are striking stained glass as well as small faces carved into the stone. All of them are different.

Iain wasn't feeling too well, so I went up to the tower alone. This was a far longer spiral staircase than York Castle. It got to what I thought was the top and was admiring the view with a mother and daughter from California and suddenly a voice on a loudspeaker told us to keep going up. I was perfectly fine with the height that I was at. Turns out, I was maybe a third of the way up! The sky began to clear when I got to the top so it was perfect to get a great view of York and the Minster.

September 21: York to Edinburgh

The next morning I got on another train and headed off to Edinburgh to meet Anne and Wilf. Anne is a childhood friend and second cousin of my grandmother. They were generous enough to have me stay with them. They picked me up from the train station and we wen to the New Museum of Scotland. This museum outlines the history of Scotland and was absolutely AWESOME! It was beautifully laid out and there were a number of unique art pieces integrated into the exhibit. It was a good way to start off my time in Edinburgh because I'd forgotten a frightening amount of my Scottish history.

After spending the afternoon at the museum (with a great deal of hassle since Anne and Wilf kept getting lost) we headed back to North Queensferry, a small village just outside of Edinburgh. We had a nice supper and they wouldn't let me help clean up. So spoiled. Went to bed early because I had a big day in Edinburgh the next day.

York: Sept. 19

Ian had the day off but had to volunteer at the Fountains Abbey first, so while he did that I got to wander around. It is too bad it was only 2 hours because the grounds were huge. Weird. But huge and pretty.

Fountains Abbey is a UNESCO site and houses a very old abbey and cathedral. The ruins are stunning and very historically significant. The ruins became a popular tourist site in the 18^th century and so they built this rather random French Garden downstream from the rather manicured Abbey. I can just imagine these monks turning in their graves under the church floor seeing all the Greek God statues and “Temples” around the Abbey.

There was a tour an hour after I arrived, so I figured I could manage to walk around the gardens and river and loop back around to the Abbey in an hour for the tour. Not so. WAY bigger grounds than I thought and I had to book it back to the Abbey. I was still late for the tour then rudely had to leave 40 minutes after to meet Ian at the church he was working at. Turns out that in itself was at least a half hour brisk walk.

Still, found Ian and we went off for our Adventure. This Adventure consisted of me screaming a lot and cringing on a regular basis from his driving. From what I understand, this is payback for scaring the shit out of him when I drove in Canada. There's no way my driving is as psychotic as his. Nor do I drive 70 miles down small twisty roads with no centre line ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE DAMN ROAD!

Still, despite the general fear I suffered the afternoon, we still managed to visit a little village and get pear drops and lemon sherberts and rhubarb custard candies. Then we drove past this spot where a lot of cars were stopped and decided to check out what seemed to be a view point.

Turns out its' the bizarre art installation, we didn't realize it until after, so mostly we were just confused. It has these miniature roads with a traffic circle that was pedestrian sized between these big stone walls. Then you walk in this huge spiral and get up to a view point overlooking a (coal?) mine. The view point is circular so you can look along the railing and see how far away all these different cities are in reference to where you are. Found Calgary, but here's a shocker: not Edmonton. No one actually has ever heard of Edmonton here as an aside.

Ian and I then make the cold climb down and I get a thistle in my sock. I complain loudly and receive no sympathy due to the fact I walked on it.

Down below the Coldcut WTF Art installation, we looked at an old Lime kiln and walked around the ruins. Then I found the sheep. Bob the sheep refused to acknowledge my attempts to befriend him. Ian thought I was insane. Apparently all the Canadians that see sheep in the UK get really excited and he doesn't get it. It's a sad state of affairs if you can't like sheeps. I like sheep. They are cute. And woolly.

After that bizarre stop, we drove along the Yorkshire Dales (valleys, basically). We stopped and I took photos of some more sheep and pretty stone walls and meadows. Then we nearly killed a pheasant. Because Ian can't drive reasonably.

The last stop of the day was Asygarth Falls of Keven Costner in Robin Hood fame. We took a few photos then headed back to York!

I called a few people from Home then we watched Top Gear and QI and Mocking the News. Good BBC stuff then off to bed!

London-Leicester-York: Sept. 18

I left mid-morning to go to Leicester. I should have left 10 minutes earlier, maybe then I wouldn't have had to make a mad dash across St. Pancras Station. Note to people travelling by train from London. St. Pancras and King's Cross are different and St. Pancras is not just international trains!!!! I tried to get into King's Cross but turns out my train was St. Pancras and by the time I realized it, I had 3 minutes to get on the train! I bolted across the station and nearly took out two Italians. Everyone afterwards in front of me got the hell out of my way, I'll tell you! I supposed a 5'6” girl with a giant red back pack running across the station was signal enough to get out of me way! I just lied to you there: I'm actually 5'5.5”

Anyways, got the the train (Which was thankfully the right one. I had no clue what I was doing!). Once I arrived in Leicester, I realized I'd forgotten my map of the town. So I went to the info booth at the station and asked for a map and directions to the University of Leicester. According to the info woman, no such university existed. Oh I nearly exploded. I finally gave up trying to get information from her and figured I'd manage to ask someone in the town where it was. I found a real map outside the station and sure enough. The University of Leicester not only exists but is practically beside the station. Moron. I was hungry because it was about 1pm, but decided to find the Museum Studies department first and then figured food would be easily accessible then come back because I had two hours for my appointment.

I should have gotten food. And peed.

I walked along University Road (subtle hint, info booth girl). I tried wandering into some kind of hall, but no doors seemed really open. I kept going hoping to find evidence of the campus more than some fancy flags on the lampposts. I finally found a building with another university sign and walked in. It was a medical building, but I asked reception for a map. A nice fellow gave me a map and showed me where to go. Turns out I passed it blocks before. So I walked back and looked everywhere for a sign for the department. Nothing. I looked at the map, ok, have the Department of Social work. Check, then I have the next department. But no Museum Studies. Now, you need to realize that I've been walking for an hour with a large backpack on my back, my purse and another smaller backpack on my front. I needed to pee, and I hadn't eaten all day. I was sweating so badly, my nicest shirt that I brought was soaked through in the back.

I finally figured out which building it had to be after walking up and down the block at least 5 times. No exaggeration. The problem was the building's sign was for some sort of Knowledge Institute. I tried to open one door. Locked. The other door to the office (these are really old townhouses) was open, so I walked in. No one around. I walked past a door with a sign saying meeting in progress. Then found an empty room with some sandwiches on a table. Thinking back, I should have taken one. I was so hungry... Realizing that I was not supposed to be there, I figured I would sit on the wood pew (I can't call it a bench, that would imply slight comfort) and wait the hour until my meeting. I thought about going back to the main street and finding food, but I wasn't even sure if this was the right building and I just couldn't bring myself to carry all myself all the way back up the hill.

I waited about 45 minutes. One fellow came out, shut the door, gave me a funny look and ran off before I could talk to him. Eventually I figured out there was a buzzer and rang out. I asked for the person I was meeting and they replied with a “who?” Great. Turns out that Museum Studies had moved buildings a year ago. The man on the buzzer came down and showed me where it was (luckily just down the road) and I headed over. I get there and have a pretty good meeting other than a minor incident involving me spilling coffee on the stairs and on myself.

I got a free book! Which was pretty cool! At the end of the meeting I didn't have quite enough time to look around campus so I just went back to the station and scarfed down what seemed to me the most delicious sandwich I'd ever eaten. Apparently they are not good sandwiches. Whatever, anything tastes good when you are really hungry! Train ride was good. Spoke to a nice man from Newcastle. His daughter just started university and he obviously really missed her. It was sweet.

Got to York with no trouble and Ian picked me up from the station. Then I got to walk another 25 minutes with my bag. Which sucked, but I'd had a long enough break that it wasn't too bad.

We got Pizza Hut pizza (which is even grosser in the UK) and then I crashed pretty hard. I even got my own mattress! I was sleeping on couch cushions in the kitchen in London.