Summer of Buzz- Part III

Though there is so much to remember about this summer, the highlight had to be the month I spent studying in the UK at Herstmonceux Castle, pictured left, and the subsequent week spent visiting Ireland and France. The International Study Centre at Herstmonceux (pronounced Herstmonsoo) was created when Dr. Alfred Bader, a man made very wealthy of the buying and selling of rare artworks (the man owns several VanGoughs), purchased the castle and donated it to Queens University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Why is RIT affiliated with Queen's and the ISC, thus having its banner proudly hung in the cafeteria? Dr. Bader's son is an RIT alum...

For those of you adept at Google Earth, Check this out:

Halley Road, Herstmonceux, Whealden, East Sussex, BN27, UK

Looking at the image that comes up, know that the complex basically covers one end of Halley Road to the other. Starting at the right, the main entrance comes off Wartling road. Observatory domes of varying size can be seen on Bradley Road, the location of the complex's science centre. The road to the south of it leads to a giant observatory dome that always looked so imposing on its distant hillside. It's the circular object at the southern tip of the road.

Continuing left, the Castle itself is the brown area in the corner of Halley Road and the next road going North, or "up," with the loop at the end. The dark area at the bottom and right of the brown spot is the water of the moat. Finally, the small road at the left, or western side of the complex is the home to the dorm, Bader Hall, at its end. For perspective, the walk to the castle from Bader takes about five minutes. Along this road is an actively used observatory, which nightly beams a concentrated ray of green light into the sky and tracks satellites for readjustment. Very cool to watch. From Bader Hall at the southern tip of this road, one can look out to the "lower right" and see the channel. Zoom out, for a moment, until you see the water, and realize just how far that is (about three or four kilometers)

There is simply too much to discuss about it to cover in a single blog entry, but if you have access to facebook, you can look at the multiple albums I created during my time abroad.

Herstmonceux Castle Website:
http://www.herstmonceux-castle.com/

International Study Centre Website:
http://www.queensu.ca/isc/