Despite Nathan having to come in and wake Abbey and I at 8am, we still managed to catch a bus to Tottenham Court Road just after nine. From here it was a quick walk to the British Museum which was founded in 1753 and was the first publicly-owned museum in the world. According to the guidebook “The power of the British Empire meant that traders, explorers, scientists, generals and admirals brought to the Museum all sorts of objects for scholars to study.” A cynical person might say the Museum was brought to you by the British who took ‘pilfering’ to a new level. Whether you agree with how objects came to be displayed here (and some controversially still not returned despite frequent requests) the Museum is a simply amazing place to visit. Zac even thought it was better than the Vatican Museum and he is eight and knows everything!
It is hard to even begin listing the highlights of our visit but for Nathan they included the Rosetta Stone (dated around 196 BC) without which we might never have been ale to understand the writing of the ancient Egyptians and the Sutton Hoo helmet.
The Sutton Hoo helmet
Sutton Hoo Helmet - The helmet is from the boat burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk in eastern England. It was found shattered into more than 500 pieces. It was made in the late sixth or early seventh centuries AD and buried at some point between about AD 595 and 640.
Zac was most taken by Hoa Hakananai’a, a stone statue from Rapa Nui (Easter Isand) which was carved between AD 1000 and AD 1600. It came to the Museum in 1868 when a British navy ship visited Rapa Nui and had it taken aboard. When they offered it to Queen Victoria she told them to give it to the Museum (akin to sending it straight to the pool room?) He was also pleased to see the legendary crystal skull which, for a long time, was thought to be a sacred religious object from the ancient Aztec culture. He was not at all put off by the fact that it has since been determined that it was actually carved using a European jeweller’s wheel probably in the nineteenth century.
Abbey’s highlight was the fact that we let her do lots of colouring in whilst we looked around and she got a strawberry smoothie and chocolate cake at the café. She was also impressed by the gift shop – it takes all sorts!
After a lunch of sushi on Drury Lane we took a walk around Covent Gardens – imagine Darling Harbour without the harbour. From here it was a trip on the tube to visit St Paul’s.
St Paul’s, what do you say? I am probably going against popular opinion here but I would sum it up as being incredibly expensive to enter, disappointing in that no photographs (even without a flash!) were allowed, and amazing that the café downstairs actually encroaches on the crypt. I will whole heartedly agree that the Dome itself is absolutely amazing. We walked the hundreds of steps up to each level to the very top (with Abbey loudly questioning why they couldn’t have built an escalator). Despite the very stormy weather and lack of visibility we braved the outdoor lookouts at the top of the Dome – not for those afraid of heights! I think my issue with the Cathedral itself is that, the Dome aside, the rest of the building felt a bit impersonal. Nathan thinks it is just that I prefer the gothic grandeur evident in France and that may well be the case. I think he was just pleased to be able to visit Nelson’s tomb – Zac and I walked away as he took the photo! Zac amused us all by pointing out that Nelson was there representing the Navy and Wellington for the Army so who was representing the Airforce?
After an exhausting day walking around we caught the tube (one station apparently being 15 floors down) back to the hotel for a rest before it was time to head out for the evening. We had arranged to catch up with ‘Aunty Anna’ for dinner as she works close to Oxford Circus. For us it was a quick bus ride to Selfridges on Oxford Street to meet with her. We had a lovely dinner at a nearby Pizza Express – had to keep the tired children happy! As she doesn’t get to see her niece and nephew very often (living in Australia) we topped her up with a bit of Zac and Abbey time before it was definitely well past their time for bed.
Still want to see St Paul's. Looks like the museum is a must. Think I will skip the Indian Buffet!!!
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