Marbles, Mummies, and the Mausoleum

A Bank Holiday weekend here in London, meaning today many people had off from work and a handful of places were closed. Regardless of the day off, Justine, Beriah and myself demonstrated the CUA motto: “Not a day off, but a day on."

The three of us explored Covent Garden, and Holbourn. Covent Garden will always be one of my favorite boroughs of London. It’s just so darn cute. There are many fantastic restaurants, shops, and a wide variety of pubs as well. There is a little open market underneath the Apple Market of people selling vintage jewelry, paintings, dolls, and other antique items. 

Piazza of Covent Square

Apple Market

Stumbled upon this ad :)

Holbourn was another interesting area of Central London. From time to time you will recognize a more dated building wedged in between more modern day buildings. Stumbling upon the Maughan Library was fascinating. I would have never guessed that this incredible building was smack in the middle of Holbourn. Very intriguing.

Maughan Library

Chicago playing at the Cambridge Theatre

After exploring these parts of London for a while, we ventured to an important (instructive) attraction of London, the British Museum. The British Museum houses a world collection of art and relics from ancient and living cultures, spanning two million years of history. The artifacts in the museum represent every history period with examples of pottery, jewelry, paintings, sculptures, tableware, military gear, and many more.

As we all know, museums, and huge ones like these especially, can be quite overwhelming. If you wanted to thoroughly explore the BM, I think it would take months. Looking at the schedule of London Walks offered today I spotted that there was a British Museum walk offered that serves as a great guide for the highlights of the museum. Entry into the BM is free so it was a great use of our notes.

Approaching the British Museum is in itself a fascinating site. From there, the architecture of the galleries and portals inside is captivating. The first are we walked into is called the Great Court. From seeing all the people walking around this interior space of the museum, it is evident that the Great Court transformed the inner courtyard into one of Europe’s largest covered public squares. It is a two-acre space enclosed by a spectacular glass roof. The center of the Great Court is used for special exhibitions, providing more space for permanent displays throughout the museum. I was in complete amazement walking into the Great Court; I felt like I was in a little city inside a glass ball.

From the start of our tour we learned about the foundation of the BM. A notable Ulster-Scot physician collector, Sir Hans Sloane, bequeathed his entire collection to King George II for the British nation, of course in return for payment of £20,000 to his heirs. Parliament accepted the gift and on 7 June 1753 an Act of Parliament establishing the British Museum received the royal asset. Therefore, Sloane’s collection became the foundation of the British Museum.

Some of the highlights that we covered on our British Museum venture: Rosetta Stone, Enlightenment Gallery, Parthenon Sculptures ('Elgin Marbles'), Ancient Greece: Athens, Egyptian Mummies, Mausoleum of Hallkarnassos, Sutton Hoo and Mildenhall treasures.

The gems one can find at this museum are astounding. I enjoyed having a tour led by a London Walks guide. It was useful having someone narrow down the vast amount of collections to specific ones, teach us about their significance and have us focus in on them. I never used to be a big museum buff. However since I have come to London, on what is such a unique experience, I have become increasingly willing to spend more at the museums here. Other ones I want to check out are the Natural History Museum, Imperial War Museum, and the Museum of London. 

Back to interning tomorrow. I'm really excited to see what this week brings!

Cheers!