Wednesday, August 24, 2016

London Magic

Back to London, England -- Day 4


Well, we’re back in London again. It was sad saying goodbye to Mike, Ely, and little dude, Cole this morning. They were great traveling partners, and we are incredibly grateful they were willing to make the effort to see us.
Having learned our lesson on the trip to Paris, we left the apartment at 7:40 for our 9:15 a.m. train. Good thing too; the half hour trip took a bit longer than expected since 1) our three day Metro passes had expired (so we had to buy new tickets), and 2) it took us a while to actually find the Eurostar train platforms once at the huge Gare du Nord station.


Growing collection of animals
Conveniently, Meg had booked a room at the Maida Vale Marriott back in London, so we made our way there to drop off backpacks, now pros at navigating the Underground and bus lines. The woman on duty was awesome, giving us water, hand wipes and directions to a nearby Thai food restaurant.
Ever since the first night we’d spent in London, when Mike had suggested visiting the British Museum, it’d been in the back of my mind. Since we never actually made it there, we decided to visit after lunch. The museum is gigantic and jam packed with ancient artifacts from all over the world, which was aided by the once global expanse of the British Empire. The giant central courtyard is impressive in its own right, covered by a huge glass roof stretching between the different wings of the museum. If you're ever in London, I highly recommend it -- and it's free!

For an hour and a half or so, we jumped around from room to room searching out different items from the family guide. Clearly, my museum stamina was superior to the rest of the families, so Meg and the kids headed back to the hotel, while I rented an audio guide and made a bee line for the Egyptian room.  


Arguably, the most famous items in the entire museum is the Rosetta Stone. I'm embarrassed to say I probably wouldn't have recognized it if it hadn't been in a giant glass case with a sign. The stone was inscribed in Egypt in 196 BC and is a decree establishing the rule of king Ptolemy V. It's importance, however, comes from the fact that it was written in hieroglyphics at the top, Demotic script in the middle, and Ancient Greek at the bottom. As a result, it became the key to deciphering all Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was actually discovered by Napoleon's army in 1799. However, it fell under the control of the British soon after with the French defeat in 1801 and was then moved to London. Interestingly, the hieroglyphic pictures are actually phonetic and represent sounds, not complete words.
The Rosetta Stone
The stone statues that fill the rest of the hall are absolutely incredible. Not only are they thousands of years old but weigh thousands of pounds as well.  Upstairs were the mummy cases, larger stone sarcophagi, and, in fact, quite a few actual cloth-wrapped mummies including one 5000 year old desiccated body still completely intact. I found it incredibly interesting and resolved to pitch another museum visit to the family for tomorrow.



The evening commute was in full swing on the way to the hotel, so I arrived just in time for the next item on the agenda -- a West End magic show called Impossible. Meg had seen advertisements for Aladdin, but, once again, our lack of advanced planning made that...well, impossible.


Our frugal nature put us in the balcony, but with a clear view. The kids loved it -- card tricks, straight jacket escape, bed of nails -- but, by far, the favorite act was a dorky performer who seemingly picked audience members at random and proceeded to recite their friends names, hometown, favorite foods etc.

For those among us that still believe in the tooth fairy, it was... truly magic.







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