"Please Mind the Gap between Station and Train"

It is Wednesday.
We have been looking forward to our next tour of the British Museum. An intelligent person or people like me, must have the British Museum on their bucket list.

We are up early. The weather is not bad, a little cooler and breezy. This morning I got up early to get a cup of coffee and a biscuit.

I note in my travels that there are more and more coffee shops. Small business people - usually, young - opening their concept of the prefect shop. You do not see tea shops. London, the whole of the UK and Ireland have returned to Boswellian times. Only Starbucks has brewed coffee guaranteed. It is called filtered and only skimmed or partial skimmed milk.

In Italy during our first adventure, I found that the closest to brewed coffee was Americano. Now I find that I have to order Americano with milk. Obviously, it is more expensive. In Italy, "caffe" (expresso) price is set by the government. In the UK and Ireland, you are paying latte prices for a shoot of expresso and hot water. Starbucks works for me.

A note for travelers and investors in Costa (large coffee shop chain in UK) avoid and only as last resort. It is expensive: their internet is open and,therefore, unsecure) and open at 8 AM. The only consistent coffee shop open at 7 AM is Starbucks.
Actually, the common opening time for all business is 9 AM. There are exceptions - Tesco Express (small grocery) & Gregg's (small sandwich shop). Try to find a cup of coffee before 7AM - walk.
Another issue is I now understand  and the price of coffee beans and its volatility.

Every day hundreds of millions cups of coffee. And more each year. Coffee is raised in only a few places in the world. I also think about chocolate. Makes you think - plastic coffee bean.

We take the Piccadilly Underground to the Station a station near the Museum. Last time, we came via the District Line - different station. I have now learnt that like streets - it is easy to get disoriented in London. The walk looks different. Actually, this is a good thing. Same trip - just different.
The museum looks the same. It is free and immense. There is no queue.

We pass James Smith & Sons Umbrellas. Some day, I am going to order a basic black James Smith & Sons Umbrella.

We stop for lunch at a museum cafe and an orientation. It is agreed to meet again in two and half hours at the Museum's pizzeria.

I am myself. I thought I knew the Museum. I do not. I am lost almost immediately. I am stuck in the ancient world and cannot get out. Last time, I could not find the mummies. Now, I am starting to give them nicknames as a pass the same ones again and again. Next time, no ego - take a free map.
It is interesting. I begin to understand how large of a collection the British Museum has. What they display is a small exhibit of the collections. The British Museum remains a working museum. New collections - research - is going on at all times.

I spend time in the Levant exhibit. How little we know of the Middle East and its past. How much we assume. I realize that Egyptian cultural is totally separate from the rest of what we now lump together as the Middle East. The Egyptian did not look like his neighbor the Arab. His language was different.

We separate cultures. Yet, great - the Sumerians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians - all existed within the framework of the Old and New Kingdoms. We are not taught the Canaanites included tribes of Phoenician, Hebrew, Ammonite, Moabite and Edomites. These small nomadic and settled tribes shared a language, culture and land.

I remember that there is no historical proof for David or Solomon. There is no historical record of Moses or the Exodus.

These tribal battles are still unresolved. They have expanded. We still are fighting over a piece of land in Caanan which by myth has become a battle of good and evil and the End of the World. One tribe's belief in salvation is rewarded by the total destruction of all life by a God who, a few chapter before, is described as merciful.

I am lost in a Museum and I am so happy. I am lost in my thoughts. I wonder the floors looking at exhibits and people. My interest vary.

I decide I have two objectives - the Rosetta Stone and the remains from the Parthenon. I start to work my way logically through the ages- I start at 3,500 BC and keep moving. Left corridor. Then, the right. Oops, been there. Let's try right then left.

I find the Rosetta Stone first. It is not large. It is a dark stone. There are always cameras with people attached. I find the Rosetta Stone reassuring. Science will defeat ignorance - just takes a long time.

I love the Parthenon that Lord Elgin borrowed. I am glad he did. He undoubtedly saved the pieces. Still, he did steal them.

I am back in the center Pavilion. I am early. I see Betty and Caroline walk by. I am confident they will come back. Thirty-five minutes later I am beginning to think they are lost. At forty-five minutes I try to call and text. How can they do this to me?

Answer. I am in the wrong place. I did not listen to the instruction to meet at the Museum Pizzeria. I am flustered. I am embarrassed. Betty, Caroline and Bill are generous. The Pizzeria has closed. But, they have takeaway for me.

It is 4 PM and just enough time to catch a black cab to The British Library. The Library is very much a working library. Only the exhibit room on the second floor is open to the public. That is more than enough. You view Gutenberg Bible (the Chinese developed moveable type about the same time and maybe like pasta - Gutenberg may have taken an idea and made it better), the Beatles, Alice, Schubert, Audubon, Shakespeare and so much more. I am always comforted when I visit.

The Library closes at 6 PM and we take the underground to Barons Court. We want London Curry. There is a recommended Indian restaurant around the corner. That corner is a quarter of a mile away.
The restaurant is remarkable small. Three or four tables inside and two outside. The inside tables are taken. We sit down outside. They ask if we want the heaters on.

I have to run to the Sainsbury Limited across the street. When I return we order. The waiter is friendly and helpful with ordering. There is not as much curry on the menu as I hoped. The menu is interesting. The waiter guides us to our taste and tolerance to spicy and very hot.

Inside table is available and we share a very small table. The food arrives. It is very good. I plan to try Indian food in States for more comparison.
Tomorrow is travel day to Dublin.