The morning was feeling a lot like winter despite being on the cusp of summer but here comes the sun in the early evening, so we have hope! Luke has a nasty cold and the rest of us are trying to fend it off.
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| Glass music in our kitchen here in London. |
School
this morning had a science bent about sound and vibration. We had to
make some music with different levels of water in glasses. The problem
is that there are not many matching glasses in this property so it was
hard to get an octave together! It was fun and we managed without
spills! Tim even managed to nearly play the Star Wars theme on the
glasses!
We
had just finished school when the door bell rang! It was the postie
with a parcel for Luke from his friend Liam! Oh the excitement! Three
dragons and a bit of new Lego - what could be better?! So lovely,
especially when he is feeling a bit sick with his cold.
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| The parcel from Liam arrives |
One of the museums we have wanted to visit is the British Museum, famous
for its Egyptian mummies and other relics. We took the tube to Oxford
Circus and enjoyed the crowds and shops of Oxford Street before arriving
at the museum. It is a stately building with huge columns.
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| The British Museum |
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| Impressive columns |
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| Can't resist a good statue pose! |
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| Thalia - muse of comedy - 2nd century AD |
The first area we moved around was the
Anglo-Saxons and Romans in Britain area which had an amazing and clearly
set out collection of relics. One point of interest was the Sutton Hoo, a
burial boat from 600 AD found in Suffolk in 1939 which contained lots
of Anglo-Saxon artifacts but no body!
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| Anglo-Saxon - astronome |
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| Mask from the Sutton Hoo |
I
am always eager to stop at "touch and learn" talks at museums as the
guides are a wealth of knowledge. Today was no exception. Luke and I
were able to hold a 6000 year old flint stone found in a field in East
Anglia which was apparently from the time when nomadic tribes were
settling down to grow crops rather than moving all the time. There was
also a replica of a silver platter on display which depicted Pan and
other gods thought to have been imported from modern Italy region. Also
there was a turquoise coloured glass bead which was made from the
collection of scraps leftover from glass making.
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| Luke touching a special 6000 year old Roman god |
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| 6000 year old flint stone |
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| Roman mosaic from 4 AD, from St Marys, Hinton |
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| From the palace at Persepolis |
A quick tour through Ancient Iran was fascinating. What a rich
country with rich heritage it was. Now, I doubt there is much tourism
which is a shame. Gold dripping everywhere! Persepolis, the heart of the Persian Empire was a thriving city between 518 and 339 BC.
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| Glazed Brick Guardsman from 521 BC |
Then through to the Egyptian section! I remember queuing and paying
extra for the Tutankhamun Exhibition at the Melbourne Museum to see the
one mummy and a bit more, but in the British Museum, which costs
nothing, there were many mummies and caskets and artifacts. An
excellent display!
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| Fantastic display of mummies. |
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| Mummy with buried treasures |
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| These mummies were really tall. |
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| Cleopatra - a mummy of a young woman 17 years old. |
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| And there were the mummified cats.. |
We
had a brief look through the Japanese section which went from early
history to the present. It enabled Annika to gather information for her
next assignment so that was excellent. I remarked to Karl, that it was
amazing just how many international school groups we have seen in and
through London's museums. We wondered if they appreciate their
experiences!
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| Japanese Samurai Warrior costume |
Heading toward the exit, we came across a terrific set of cartoons caricaturing Napoleon Bonaparte which caught our eyes having just been in France. There was clearly no love lost between France and England at that time!
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| Bonne Farte raising a Southerly Wind! - part of a series of anti Napoleon cartoons. Quite ribald in places. |
That was enough of the museum for us given Luke was not well, Annika came reluctantly and Tim, who would have liked to come, was trying to complete assignments and it was late afternoon.
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| Outside the British Museum |
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| Old buildings of note have plaques on them! |
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| At one stage I could see 4 London buses and 4 London Taxis - as we were walking the Monopoly board back to the station.. |
We joined the swell of commuters and were swept down to the tube for our journey home - ah, the smell of the London Underground!
My recollection of the London underground is smelly armpits- is that what you were referring to?
ReplyDeleteI missed book group tonight as on my way, via the city to drop my niece at a work function,my car broke down and had to be towed home! It was my night to lead too!!
I had to laugh...no not the smelly pits, Gillian, but that sort of old oily breezy gush of air that hits the nostrils as the trains come! That is the smell I meant! Shame about missing bookgroup - how disappointing.
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