After flying into London Friday morning, we headed to the iconic British Museum that is just a block or so from our hotel. The historian in me revved up (even more than normal if that can be believed). I gazed upon the Rosetta Stone with fascination and awe. So many items that I had studied in my books stood before my eyes. The Assyrian lion kings that once guarded an ancient city peered down at me. The Elgin Marbles stolen from the Parthenon and which are part of an assignment for my world history class stood in their special exhibit hall as a remembrance of British imperialism. They have worked hard to try and justify why they should be in London rather than Athens, even stating that in London they are part of a "world exhibit of diverse cultures while in Athens they would simply be in a national setting"!! Okay so maybe the Crown Jewels should be part of an international jewelry exhibit in Amsterdam museum...thats not going to happen.
The Museum is packed with treasures that astound from around the world. And British school children of all ages traipse through as part of their curriculum. My mind reeled with the sites and sounds of one of the world's great museums.
Then we were off to the unique Victoria & Albert Museum. With eclectic collections from jewelry to tapestries to china and religious art. The exhibitions are outstanding and the objects are beautifully framed. The Museum was open late on Fridays and we strolled through the courtyard at dusk. And of course I spotted the WWI memorial to the fallen employees from the museum.
We finished our evening with a great Italian dinner in a local cafe.
Saturday we set off early as we had a timed entry tour of Parliament!! Again an iconic structure that set my mind reeling. The immense building truly inspires and makes our short American political history seem less important. While we could not take photos of the interior for the most part, I was able to take photos of the WWI and WWII memorials,to the fallen members from Parliament, the latter of which is a wall of stained glass with unit emblems and names. Inside the structure were additional memorials including a unique chest that contained sand from each of the beaches st Normandy! While I could not photograph it at the time, my inquiries led to contact info for the Parliamentary photographer to see if he will provide a photo for my memorial site. The history and decor inside are astounding!
We then headed to Windsor Castle outside of London where the Queen was in residence for the weekend...alas though we did not glimpse her on site. The State Apartments are sumptuous tho not quite as magnificent as Versailles. The St Georges Church is both beautiful and a bedrock of English Royalty and burial site of Henry VIII. The day concluded with a double decker bus ride through the heart of London which with the masses of people on Saturday night rivalled NYC. What a diverse melting pot is London with so many languages heard as you walk down a street.
What a great beginning for this odyssey this year.
