idayiaToday is our last full day in London before the train to Paris. I do apologize for the jumping around in the blog. I am sure you are confused.
I did not write a great deal the trip itself. On the trip to Italy, we had over eight weeks. So if we did not do today, there was tomorrow. Also, there was wonderment. Everything was an adventure and unexpected.
We did so much. Even though we often left the apartment around 10:30, we were exhausted by the end of the day. I also found that I needed my morning walks to think about what I wanted to write.
I wrote for a few days in London. I then skipped to Paris for a few days. John, Angela and Caroline were with us for a week in London and then the week in Paris. They flew home from Heathrow on April 17th. Betty and I stayed in London until April 25th.
London is huge. It is easy to get around. But, being a casual tourist, you do as you please. We also walked as often as possible which is the way to learn a city, but does take time. On a guided tour, their schedule will get to the sites needed to say you have seen London. But, I can tell you what flowers were blooming in Kensington Park. I know where the Iran embassy is in London.
Today, we have the two great cultural flagship of the British Empire.
We take the Tube to the British Museum. We arrive relatively early. I cannot image the crowds during the summer. Now, we see school groups from all over Europe, tourists (I am surprised by the number of French tourists), English families on holiday and international tourists.
The British Museum is a very cool place. The core buildings are good. But the layout is modern and efficient. You know it looked different fifty years ago, but it is difficult to visualize the layout as it was then.
We split up. Caroline and I take off for the café. We leisurely study the Mesopotamia period. We comment on the Assyrian. We investigate the Babylonian period. We seek wisdom from the early and middle Kingdom.
And, we view the Rosetta Stone. The stone is not large at all. The stone could easily have been overlooked for centuries. There is nothing remarkable in appearance or size. Like most problems, the solution to reading hieroglyphics was there all the time. It took a French man to stumble across it and the English to confiscate.
The British Museum has a great cafeteria. After lunch, Caroline and I move on to the Greece.
I know a secret. The Parthenon was not destroyed. It still exist. Half of it is in British Museum. The other half is the Louvre. Seriously, it is kind to say that the Earl of Elgin (Thomas Bruce) took "some of the surviving sculptures" after 2,000 years of damage from war and conquest. He took a lot more than "some". The Louvre portion is a result of Napoleon's army theory "it is nailed down, take the entire wall". Elgin's theory was to find the most corrupt bureaucrat he could find and with some "greasing" offer to take the sculptures back to England to protect them.
The British Museum's display of their collection is excellent. The museum has recreated a small Greek tomb/temple. It is impressive.
Caroline and I are now using the Museum map. We have surrendered to the museum. To examine the museum in any detail is two full days. No one does that since large portions may not be of interest to you. For example, I am not interested in Asian art and artifacts. It is a great collection. But, you only have two to three hours.
We are "mummy" shopping. As we search, I am aware of how little I know about the great ancient civilizations. Like the Etrusican display at the Vatican Museum, Western Historians pay so little attention to civilizations. We assume that the Egyptians and Greeks blossomed in a void. The winner gets to write the history books. Walk through the British Museum, you see that stealing on a grand scale is an ancient sport.
We find the Egyptian mummies. Come on admit in, you are thinking about the movie "Night in the Museum" Sequel 3 or something like that. You go to the British Museum to see mummies.
You will be disappoint. Go see them. They are a must. But, as I have often said, "you see one mummy, you have seen them all". Betty, who visited the Museum in the 1970's, mentions that the mummies exhibit is smaller. Makes sense.
When you travel Europe you soon realize how much of an attraction Da Vinci and Michelangelo are. It is a point of great pride for a museum to have a portion of the life production of these two men. The British Museum has a number of exhibits.
We hunt down Michelangelo's cartoon, the Epifania. It is not easy to find since it is right and then left from the mummies. And, yes, I said cartoon. I was not expecting Woody Woodpecker. But the word "cartoon" is difficult to visualize as a Michelangelo. A "cartoon" is the final preparatory work done by the artist prior to beginning the actual painting.
The Epifania cartoon is black chalk drawing on 26 sheets of paper. It is about 80 inches in height. The actual subject of the drawing is unknown. The painting was not started.
We return at the predetermined time to the large circular vestibule which is the gateway to the wings of the museum exhibits themselves. It always surprises me how we actually find each other. The trick is to hover around the souvenir shops or to find me - the café.
It is afternoon. We start for the British Library. The Library has been on everyone's list. But, we are attempting to do it last. Part of the reason is that Library is slightly out of the flow of museums and attractions. It is by itself as an attraction. You cannot walk there. It is a newer building.
You have to go. There is only one room. It is a working research museum so access is by appointment. That does not matter. It is the exhibit room to the left of the escalator that holds the best reason to visit London.
The room is dark with lighted display cases. Very well done. As you move from the handwritten lyrics of the Beatles, Carroll's original manuscript, Magna Carta and Shakespeare sonnets, History is more real. It is that it is that moment when thought is put to paper and the action will follow. Did the author realize what greatness had begun. These were strong willed men and women. But, did they really realize.
The exhibit takes about 30-45 minutes which is great since the library is closing as we leave the building.
The kids discovered on Tuesday a small restaurant within a short walk of the apartment. The American Hamburger has been discovered in Europe. Well, the gourmet cheeseburger has been discovered. This is a chain in London called "Honest Burgers". I am sure the kids found on the restaurant on YELP. Betty had mentioned that the Onion Rings they brought home on Tuesday were the best she has had.
We are going to dinner at Honest Burger. We leave the apartment about 20:00 (8 PM). With John and Angela in the lead and Caroline and I as the rear guard. In London, streets are not straight. They change names frequently. A place you found easily on Tuesday is not easily located on Friday.
The difference is that you try a more direct route. Seriously, in London, you cannot guess on short cuts. John and Angela are confident until after about twenty minutes of walking they realize that we are walking in the wrong direction. It is fine with me. I am seeing great little bars and restaurants.
Logically, they guide us back to a starting point that they are confident of and arrive with 10 minutes.
It is about 19:00 (9PM) on a Friday night. I am concerned and hungry. But there is a table for four on the lower level (basement).
We have cheeseburgers, fries (honest, the fries in Europe are so much better), onion rings and beers.
One other thing about Europe and Hamburgers, when you say medium rare. You get medium rare. They cook the food to your order.
The food is delicious. Later on, I learn that there is an over production of meat in the UK. Farmers are complaining about the prices paid.
Tonight, I am happy to take advantage of this economic anomaly.
Tomorrow will leave London for Paris on the Eurostar.
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