I crammed as many sights into my full day of sightseeing in London so that I could clear my schedule for the British Museum. I expected to spend hours there owing to the fact that enough history resides within those walls to intoxicate any history lover.
Before I arrived I stopped at Picadilly Circus, described as London’s “Time Square”. (I also love the way the tube announcer said “Picadilly”.)
I also stopped to take a picture of the Tottenham Court Road sign.
I still don’t understand why “they” had to change this in the movie. (Harry Potter of course)
I started to get a little worried when the British Museum wasn’t anywhere near the location on my map. I did find it though.
Upon entering I purchased a museum guide, sat down and used my little green scissors to cut it apart to make it more accessible. I used this page first.
Self-guided, exactly how I like it.
Right when I entered the displays I saw it, the thing I most wanted to see.
This stone appeals to everything I love, both history and languages. Without this stone so much Egyptian history would be unknown, present only in indecipherable hieroglyphics. (2020 Jen – Every time I talk about this picture my grandpa pulls out his picture from the time he got to visit in the 90s, before they put the protective glass around it. His picture has no glare!)
From there I went on to discover things like this black obelisk which on the second row shows King Jehu of Israel…
and the reliefs from the Parthenon…(anyone else know that they were stolen from the Parthenon and brought to England)
and the seige of Lachish…
and this portion of an exhibit on money. (Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan.)
I could wax eloquent on the historical significance of everything above (save the HP coin of course) I’ll refrain for the sake of the sanity of the few readers I have. (2020 Jen – From now on I will definitely wax more eloquent to preserve those memories.)
After my first self-guided tour I surveyed the others but couldn’t find anything that interested me all that much. Though I did get a kick out of this picture.
An ancient toilet, apparently
I expected to spend at least most of a day here but ended up spending only a few hours. When I finished, I walked through a cute park on my way to the tube stop. I also happened across a Punch and Judy show.
This guy did an excellent job. Each time I started to leave I kept hearing things that drew me back. I didn’t stay for the whole show though.
With the extra time I had before my train to Warwick, I put my all-day tube pass to use. When I first passed the Baker Street stop I noticed this decoration on the wall.
That’s what it took for me to remember that Sherlock Holmes lived in London. I’m a little slow sometimes.
I got off at the stop and followed the directions. I stayed across the street but snapped this picture. (You’re welcome, Dad.) (2020 Jen – I wonder how this has changed since the release of Sherlock.)
My next stop was Regent’s Park. Beautiful
I thought about walking to the London Zoo but when I consulted a map and saw that the Zoo was on the other side I nixed that idea. 2.5 miles in Hyde Park was enough for me. (2020 Jen – Once again, touring newbie)
I sat on a bench, ate a Cliff bar and then walked back to the Tube stop headed back to the opposite side of Hyde Park. I got out at the Marble Arch.
I still don’t know the significance though. (2020 Jen – A quick Google search revealed that this arch served as the ceremonial entrance to Buckingham palace although it has been moved from its original location.)
I stopped by Speaker’s Corner but wouldn’t have known it was there without this concession stand.
After this I headed to yet another train station and out to Warwick for my 10k the following day.