It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been out of the States for a week and a half.  I started my Study Abroad experience a little early, with some hiking and sightseeing in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland.  Apparently, I chose one of the best times to visit, as it was both sunny and warm.  I started “class” a bit early by going to see Ross Castle in Killarney before heading to Dublin, where I visited Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and Christchurch Cathedral.

The members of our class all arrived at London Heathrow this past Friday morning and proceeded to the Farringdon area of central London to get settled in our flats.  Moving in was a bit simpler than figuring out the London Underground.  The “Tube” system can be somewhat disorienting at first, but we have all managed to figure out how to get to class, the Jubilee events and many other cool places.  For me, the Tube is already an enjoyable experience, as it is cleaner and quicker than the subway system back home.

Today, we got to spend some time in the Victoria and Albert museum.  The museum has a phenomenal collection of medieval artifacts.  During the previous week’s classes, we’ve discussed the liturgical order and its objects in detail. Walking through the medieval exhibit, I was able to better visualize many of the objects and processes we’ve discussed. I thought that the piece in the picture below was particularly cool.  It is a lectern support, used for reading the Gospel during Mass.  There is a separate support for the reading of the Epistles.  An observer can identify this piece with the Gospels because it has a man (representing Matthew), an ox (representing Luke) and a lion (representing Mark) as indicators.  The lectern itself would have been in the form of an eagle, to represent the last Gospel of John. 

To wrap up the day’s tour, we met in the museum café with Dr. Hornbeck to discuss our finds.  However, on the way there, we were slightly distracted by some more modern artifacts in the museum garden…..

See how much fun learning can be?