A trip to London

We just got back from five days in London, an experience none of us are ever likely to forget.  We'll be posting our individual comments in the next few days.  In the mean time, I'll tell about a walk on Hampstead Heath that Ruth and I took on Sunday morning away from the noise and pressure of the city.

The Heath is arrayed around some hills to the North of the city center.  Somehow it was not developed like the hills surrounding, so the noise of the city gives way to the calls of children, the distant barking of dogs, wind in the trees and birdsong.  A great relief to the Minnesotan ear, I must say.  Somewhere near the summit, we are told, lies the tomb of Boudica (d. 60 AD).

According to Tacitus, Boudica was the daughter of a Celtic king who left his kingdom to her and to Rome jointly in his will (one wonders what he was thinking).  Rome was not particularly inclined to split the kingdom with Boudica, and treated her very badly.  She consequently led a revolt that was so devastating that Nero considered abandoning Britain then and there.  The Romans in Britain, however, eventually defeated Boudica; she died, perhaps by suicide, before she could be captured.

According to Cowper (1782), a bard foresaw her death, and said

Regions Cæsar never knew
  Thy posterity shall sway,   
Where his eagles never flew,
  None invincible as they.’

That rings true as you stand at the top of Hampstead Heath and think about how the city below you controlled much of the world and gathered in its riches.  A stroll through the British Museum or the National Portrait Gallery will confirm it.

I forgot my camera, of course, but you can find plenty of images of London as seen from the top of Hampstead Heath.