Follies and genii

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Our morning and afternoon activities were a sharp contrast in style, values and historical period. This morning we strolled around the gorgeous 18th Century Stowe gardens with its artificial lakes, temples and follies. The landscaping is gloriously extravagant including a Temple of British worthies, a Chinese house and a Gothic castle. We also toured Stowe House, now part of Stowe Grammar, which includes a vast elliptical hall and a magnificent library.

This afternoon we visited Bletchley Park Museum, where British code breakers cracked the Nazi enigma code in WWII. It's a monument to ingenuity and also to the power of the outsider - three quarters of the BP code breakers were women and many others - including the brilliant Alan Turing (tragically persecuted for being homosexual) were outsiders whose value to the society was never appreciated. We found inspiring the story of these diverse outsiders who used their intellectual powers to win the war.

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Comments

[Zoe London]

So interesting to read your entries Deborah. Kedem 20th this morning - will be thinking of you!