British things, museums, and the British Museum

I spent two days in London hanging around, going to museums, and drinking beer.  I spent most of my first day at the British Museum with a brief trip to the Cartoon Museum at the end of the day to clear my head.

Explanatory note at the Cartoon Museum

 The outside of the British Museum

 

 

The first thing I went to see at the museum

 

One of the most exciting parts of going to British Museum was definitely getting to see the Rosetta Stone.  The script on it is much smaller than I expected--small enough that I'm very impressed with the people who carved it.  Speaking of which, hieroglyphics do not look like they would be easy to carve, especially repeatedly.   Check out how elegant the curves are on the birds on this stela:

Carved in stone

This bird is also elegant, but rather wall-eyed

Next I went upstairs to check out the mummies.

Unwrapped mummy

Well-wrapped mummy

Small crocodile mummies (?!)

By the time I had gone back downstairs to look at the Elgin Marbles and gone through several centuries of British history, I was rather footsore and all of the coins were starting to look the same.  Fortunately for me I found the "Clocks and Watches" exhibit, and I proceeded to lose track of time in those rooms.

My favorite clock by far was the one which used a ball rolling down a zigzag course to set the interval between ticks.  Every 30 seconds the ball reaches the end of the track and flips a switch, and the track tilts to make the ball roll the other way.

 



Tick.........tock.........

On my way back to King's Cross I found this place and spent a very pleasant hour drinking down a pint of very dark beer and reading.

I was tempted to try it

My second day in London I spent much more time outside, wandering around.  I went to a winter carnival at Hyde Park, watched the Guardsmen walking crisply to and fro at Buckingham Palace, went to Westminster Cathedral and looked at the outside of Westminster Abbey, and listened to Big Ben chime the quarter hours.  I kicked autumn leaves in the park and looked up at the London Eye then hurried on to the Tate Modern, where I was baffled by the exhibit that included a mirror on one wall and a very large black square on the other.

I also found the Kirkaldy Testing Works.

FACTS NOT OPINIONS

And finally, I got a picture at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross!

I was stunned and disappointed to learn that train lines 9 and 10 don't actually have a platform between them, but I'm glad they have something there to commemorate Harry Potter.

Tomorrow I'm going to Spain!  I'll be leaving bright and early for Stanstead and I'll be in Madrid in time for lunch.  Can't wait!