A cultural day out.

We made our way to the British Museum yesterday (to see if we could learn something!)

Our first impression was that it was going to busy.  We didn’t include the  museum during our last visit to London in the summer for this reason but it seems it doesn’t matter what time of year it is.

The Egyptian exhibitions were, as expected, very busy – possibly due to our human interest in the macabre!

We did manage to get a few shots of the Egyptology without too many people in it and we could certainly see why so many gather there – the exhibits are very impressive.

The clocks and watches collection was extremely interesting also  (thanks to Sir Harry and Lady Djanogly).  Many exhibits are very old like this 1580 clock, which is one of only three surviving, made by Queen Elizabeth I’s clockmaker.

Some clocks weren’t quite so old – like this one, which is same as ours!

We don’t have one of these though – the Easter Island statue of Hoa Hakananai’a (pronounce it as you will!).  Seeing all these wonderful antiquities (including such things as the Elgin Marbles, which we walked past and didn’t notice at first) it makes one wonder whether it’s been right to “pillage” so much from other countries in the past.

James particularly wanted to see the Rosetta Stone which has been so important in the deciphering of hieroglyphs and has allowed us to learn so much more about the lives of people 3000 years ago.

Enjoying the architecture of the building should be very much part of a visit to any of the grand museums ………..

……and the Great Court, with it’s one time controversial roof, now stands proudly as part of the buildings historical development.

Most of London’s major museums are too large to take in a fraction of their contents and, with the large numbers of visitors you have to encounter, it soon becomes tiring – so that’s probably why the old Museum Pub which stands opposite looks so inviting when you come out.

During the evening yesterday we met up for a meal with friends, Adam and Adrian (nb ‘Briar Rose’) as they were both in London.  We had a great time with them at ‘Fire and Stone’ in Covent Garden before they left to prepare for their busy work schedules.  For the last part of the evening we went across to our favourite watering hole in Soho where we enjoyed another evening of “United Nations” socialising, chatting to people from Kuwait, Paris, America and of course London.