UK, London: Lessons in History at Hampton Court Palace and at the Maze

I have been planning to visit the Hampton Court Palace while in London for quite some time now. Finally, on my recent stay in London I got that opportunity.

One of the reasons, I especially wanted to explore it is that The Wilderness Garden there houses the oldest maze known in Britain. It was built for King William III and Queen Mary II in 1690. I have longed to 'get lost' in it for a bit.


I chose my visiting day according to the weather report. And accordingly, it was a really fine day in London when I boarded a train at the Waterloo station for The Hampton Court Palace. It pays off to choose a good day against a rainy one as the gardens there are such a huge part of the visitor experience. My day was also a bank holiday in UK, so there were some extra attractions, like a big picnic on the lawn that made the visit really pleasurable for me and other visitors.

Since I did not really know much about the palace beforehand, I was very pleasantly surprised to find such splendor. It really homed on me how the history can be told in so many interesting ways to make it alive even for today.


What I learned is that actually there are two palaces there; first one a Manor house developed into a palace by Thomas Wolsey, who was a powerful administrator for Henry VIII. He entertained the king there as well as a huge number of foreign dignitaries. In reality the place was a genuine hotel with kitchens servicing 1200 guests per day.


The second palace is a lovely baroque building built for Mary II and William III. They made the palace in what it is today.


And then there are the gardens from different eras kept with great dedications and research of which the Wilderness and the Maze (originally there were four of them) is the most popular.


My day at Hampton Court was all about understanding the dedication and the compassion of the people who have preserved the history for us in a way that speaks to a modern visitor. Even just seeing half of it convinces me that how we relate to history is through well written and illustrated storytelling. Learning about the young king Henry VIII certainly proves that.

What we remember from our history books is a completely different picture we get from the beautifully told story at Hampton Court Palace. There you come to understand the tragedy, the intrigue and the romance gone wrong that you otherwise might miss between Henry VIII and his first wife of more than 20 years, Catherine of Aragon.

I was walking through the rooms that depicted the young Henry VIII and came to a stop at the end. "This is a really sad room", I heard a father telling his son beside me.

On the wall there are all the names of their stillborn children (mostly boys) as well as the names of those children who died at birth. And of course Mary I and the little boy who lived for six weeks is there, also. The explanations on the chairs named Catherine, Henry and Thomas tell about the decision Henry made to divorce Catherine and how it affected the nation. Their individual stories.

This is real history lovingly brought to life for us in the modern world. I was left thinking how important it is to know those stories today. Now 20 years of their life and all those children has not gone unnoticed just because history has preferred hero stories instead of real life stories.


I really liked walking through the baroque palace with its wonderful ceiling art and small details, including bits and pieces of the Mary's famous porcelain collection.


There was an exhibition there about the the secrets of the State beds. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed otherwise I would have photographed the queen's bed that reminded me of the fairytale of the 'Princess and the Pea' with its layers upon layers of silk mattresses, just like in all the illustrations I have seen. What a story it turned out to be, firmly grounded in the historic reality.


Finally, it was really fun 'getting lost' in the maze for a while, walking the old paths with lots of laughing families. And of course we found 'the heart'. It was not a very difficult task at all:


And the gardens were lovely, especially the Wilderness, that called the visitor to sit a while on a bench while taking in the atmosphere.


All in all, a day at the Hampton Court Palace was a success and I must go back since I missed the famous kitchens and the King Henry VIII's apartments and much more, I am sure.

But it was a start and a lovely day at that! I recommend it very warmly for anyone wanting a flash back to the long gone eras of royal life in Britain.
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Australia, Victoria, Macedon Range: Climbing The Hanging Rock

The Macedon Range in Victoria, Australia is just a place for a compassionate traveler to visit. The possibilities are great for a day in leisure combined with adventure for the whole family. The Hanging Rock (Formerly Mount Diogenes) with the hint of mystery should be at the top of the list for anyone wanting an outing spent with a friends and acquaintances.

The Hanging Rock is a former volcano, left from a few million (6.25) years as a monument on how a special kind of stiff lava can form peculiar sites. The formation is geologically called a 'mamelon' because it is formed from dense lava that does not flow away after eruption but instead forms a hill in the place.

In 1967, a novel 'Picnic at Hanging Rock', written by Joan Lindsay was published. It is a story of a party of schoolgirls and their teacher who went to a picnic at Hanging Rock in 1900. Some of the girls and later the teacher disappeared mysteriously while there. The case was never solved in anyone's satisfaction.

This story inspired a film:


'Picnic at Hanging Rock', in 1995, directed by Peter Weir. It was one of the first Australian films that truly created an international following.

The Hanging Rock has also inspired plenty of artists:


'At The Hanging Rock' by William Ford, 1885. (Picture from Wikipedia) is one of the earliest ones on display at the Victorian National Gallery.

I went looking for that particular place it was painted at and may just have found it here:


The Hanging Rock is quite a challenge to climb. I recommend sturdy shoes and great spirits.

There is a large picnic ground at the bottom, including a restaurant and a discovery centre. We found it really inspirational.

There are two ways up the rock, the stairs and the well made path. It should be easy to climb, being only 105m above the plain, even for the faint hearted, providing some rests can be had. Though, caution is recommended as always.


We found the rock really majestical and fun. The climb was vigorous activity and the discovery centre and the shop a real treat.


We inspected several cracks just to make sure that all has been done to solve the mystery of the Hanging Rock by now. Nothing suspicious was found.

At the end of the day, we had some ice-cream, the really fabulous kind, paid our $10 fee for the car to get out of the gate and left with great satisfaction.

A well recommended and enjoyable day for everyone.
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USA, South Carolina, Greenville: A Very Special Kind of Scavenger Hunt

Be charmed by a visit to Greenville in South Carolina in the USA. This city has a special treat to offer for those on the hunt for fun activities for the whole family.

In 2000, Jimmy Ryan, a high school senior from the local area wanted to do something special for his community by designing and developing the famous Mice on Main Scavenger Hunt for little mouse sculptures inspired by the popular Children's book Goodnight Moon. He raised funds and worked with a sculptor Zan Wells who created the little mice in bronze. They can be found hidden along the Main St of Greenville where thousands of people come to find them.


According to what I was told, the city has done a lot in beautifying the Main Street and the local Falls Park. The partnership of Jimmy Ryan and Zan Wells now also includes a writer Linda Kelly who wrote a book about how the Mice on Main found their 'freedom' and 'sparkle' prompted by her grand daughter who wanted to know about how the mice found their places on the street.

The combined efforts of the city, the creator, the artists and the writer have certainly paid off with the popularity of the park and the hunt that fills the city with tourists on a nice autumn day. It can be said that the realization of one brilliant idea has really created value for the community of Greenville. We certainly enjoyed our day there.


There is lots of information to be found by just googling Mice on Main or the name of artists. They have created additional goodwill with little mice sculptures and special t-shirts. The proceeds from the book and the shirts go to a charity it the area.

So, it can be said that Greenville presents its compassion and friendliness for the community and the world in practice with a very charming front. I look forwards to visiting there again and recommend you to do the same.

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Australia, Queensland, Sunshine Coast at Bli Bli; The Finnish Memorial Park

On the Finland Rd at Bli Bli, at the Sunshine Coast, there is a park that would interest the Finnish immigrant population to Australia, if not all the immigrants to Australia. It is the Finnish Memorial Park, created by the Finnish cane cutter families that lived there during the times when cane was still cut at the Sunshine Coast.

It was about 17-years ago that I had last visited this place. Then it was just cane fields, but the place for the park had been selected and the organisers of the planned park were just getting to ordering the memorial sculpture. After much discussion they settled in inviting Martti Väänänen, a sculpturer from Kiiminki in Finland to create the memorial. The park itself was opened in 1997. At the same time it was also donated to the Council for upkeep.

The Finland Rd as such is a long and lumpy ride amongst the last cane fields at Sunshine Coast. Not much of them is left as the new suburbs are born across the coastline. However, it is a delight to suddenly end up in a small, well tendered park that makes one remember those people who came to Australia on ships, after spending weeks on the oceans, and months on the migration centers in the south and ending up in Queensland on the cane fields.

The Migration Museum at Peräseinäjoki in Finland, previously presented on this blog, carries matching information about the emigration of the Finnish people to around the world. I am hearing that more than million Finnish people live permanently abroad.

One of the highlights of the Finnish Migration Museum is the cane cutters cottage that was actually dissembled in Ingham, Queensland and sent to the Museum at Peräseinäjoki, where it was reassembled in a totally new surroundings to the delight of many people interested in the migration history of the people of the area.

The Finnish Memorial Park at Bli Bli carries on the delightful tradition of people building spaces for themselves where they can comfortably meet and have a picnic in memory of the times gone by. I, for one, can very well see this park as a functional meeting place for a family gathering, even a wedding as there is a kind of Finnish style pavilion included in the park just inviting dancing.

When choosing a place where people could meet at Sunshine Coast for a celebration, the Finnish Memorial Park is a good pick. It is well kept, secluded and spacious. See you there sometime on your travels.

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