It began bright and early with breakfast here at Generator Hostel around 7-8:00, followed by waiting for the coach to pick us up. Our first stop: Down House, home of Charles Darwin from 1842-1882.
It began with a self-guided garden tour while we waited for the audio tours to be ready. I took it upon myself, as did a few others, to take some photos of the flowers and walk through the green house.
Once the tours were ready, half of us begin on the ground floor and gardens while the other half began upstairs. I started upstairs, not needing the audio tour for this part of the house. It was fascinating to see the exhibit put together on Darwin's life and research, but I was disappointed we could not take pictures inside of the house (this was due to some objects being on loan to the exhibit and having copyrights). It really is a must see for yourself, if you're ever in London!
After I finished the upstairs tour, I used an audio tour guide to tell me about the different rooms on the ground floor. Darwin had a drawing room, a study, a billiard room, and a dining room. It seems that Charles' day was about the same every day. He would wake up, research, go for a walk, have lunch with the family, and then be with the family the rest of the evening from what I understand.
The tours were very detailed, describing each furniture piece and painting, it was hard to listen to them all but you still wanted to! The garden tours had a special selection of poetry I found. It was written by Charles Darwin's great- great- granddaughter about his life, using his memoirs, letters, notes, as well as his wife Emma's letters and memoirs, and their children's memoirs.
We had lunch at the Down House kitchen and it was absolutely delicious! I enjoyed a delectable brownie and a coronation chicken jacket (baked potato stuffed with spiced chicken). It was a beautiful day to be out in the garden and to share a meal together!
Next up was a quick 20 minute ride over to the Bethlem Hospital, one of the first and oldest psychiatric hospitals in history. It was founded in about the 1400s, has moved sites a couple of times, but is still in operation where it lies today. We got a quick overview of the 800 years of history, and even got to see some of the cases recorded in the 1890s.
It was interesting to see how the records didn't provide any information on how patients were treated, and sometimes barely said if they were improving or worsening. The books also had small treasures such as letters, photographs, and death certificates.
The Bethlem Hospital also had an art museum, with pieces made up by patients who had stayed there. Many that I remember most depicted OCD, depression, or disassociative disorders.
This exhibition was really well laid out and easy to follow. The interactive pieces were informative in a new sense, such as hearing patients speak about their initial diagnosis.
Next up was another quick hour bus ride back to the hostel to freshen up and change for our capstone dinner! We walked through the streets of London for dinner at PizzaExpress around 19:00. While many of us enjoyed pizza, I had some type of pasta that was really delicious!
Dinner was full of laughter, cute dresses, and throwback songs! A couple of us sang High School Musical tunes, Mayday Parade jams, and NeverShoutNever! too. It was in this moment that some, or all, of us realized: this is it. It's ending. We have one more full day before we leave.
I'm really going to miss this group once we leave. I'm also excited to go home and see my family again. It's a weird tearing feeling of wanting to stay and wanting to go home, because it feels like you've been gone forever.
Cheers from London! -Hannah W
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