As the Wind Blows

Instead of buying souvenirs I prefer to take photos as a reminder of the places I’ve visited. Some places however, visitors are not allowed to take photos which means the memory of the place will very easily just slip my mind. Now I can understand not photographing paintings and interactive exhibitions (such as ones which involve short films and flashing lights) as a camera flash might ruin the effect of the display or, in the fullness of time, photography will destroy the product on display. What I don’t understand is why taking pictures of stones, marble and products used for construct buildings aren’t permitted.

I visited Westminster Abbey this week and discovered that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of some of elaborately decorated tombs/graves, even though the engravings on many of the graves on the floors have faded away from the number of feet that have walked over them. And really that’s what Westminster Abbey is – a glorified graveyard where it’s difficult to avoid stepping on people graves because they are absolutely everywhere; the walls, the floors and even memorials on the stain glass windows.  The gardens however are lovely and well designed and have a university campus feel to it. (I think that part of it was used to film Harry Potter because it looks an awful lot like a couple scenes from Hogwarts.)

Kensington Palace is the same. Although half the palace and its gardens are shut down because of refurbishments, I still wasn’t allowed to take photos of the small part of the palace visitors were allowed into. They're running an ‘Enchanted Castle’ exhibition, where you're meant to find the names of seven princesses who used to live at Kensington Palace from the description of, and artefacts from their lives (or find the small corner where their names are on display). To a certain extent it was justifiable as some rooms do have lighting and music to add to the atmosphere of the exhibition, however there were rooms that were open that had nothing to do with the princesses which could easily have been photographed.  Overall though I thought it was a rather depressing exhibition as all the princesses who lived at the palace seemed to have huge tragedies in their lives.

Speaking of tragic lives, after visiting Hampton Palace I’ve come to the conclusion that Henry VIII’s life was a huge tragedy because after all the effort he took in order to sire a male heir, his blood line ended after one generation. The Historical Royal Palaces in this case though, have done a marvellous job showcasing the good times as well as the bad in a beautifully maintained palace. The gardens are exquisite and come with a hedge maze and most importantly you are allowed to take photos of everything! Which means of course most people don’t end up taking photos because they are too busy listening to the audio guides that are included in the price of the ticket, watching really clever audio visual displays of scenes re-enacted from the period and sniffing the delicious foods from the kitchens as well as the flowers from the gardens.

When I sat down to write this week's entry I had nearly forgotten about visiting Kensington Gardens and Westminster Abbey. It was only through going my photos that I remember I had visited quite a few places/palaces this week. It's because taking photos of places and experiences such as that at Hampton Court, helps me remember these visits more than a souvenir ever will because not only is it more personalised it won't take up as much room in my suitcase on the way home :)