(Disclaimer: the elevated-vantage-point picture for the British Museum and the external shots of the Tate & National Gallery are from Google. None of ours quite captured these--probably because I complained about taking too many pictures)
- British Museum – a giant venue full of archaeological artifacts from the Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, and Roman Empires. Most notable are the Rosetta Stone and a collection of marble sculptures that used to adorn the Parthenon. There’s some controversy here because Britain basically stole everything in the building. Greece, for example, would really like the rest of its Parthenon back. For a while, the British argued that Greece didn’t have any museum space in which to properly show these sculptures. Over the past few years, Greece actually built such a space, so…Britain changed its argument. Now, they claim that these artifacts are so connected to the history of Western architecture and art that, really, they belong to all of us now.
- Tate Modern – a former power plant, this really cool building was emptied out and converted into a place where you can debate about what counts as art and what doesn’t. Walking through all the exhibitions, I kept thinking of an essay that reviewed a “modern” novel, saying something along the lines of “it should never take more effort to understand a piece than it does to make it”. There were a few things here that violated this rule. Some exhibits were really cool, though.
- National Gallery – Britain’s biggest collection of paintings, they’ve got over 2,300 works covering a span of about 800 years. This is also a popular place for afternoon tea, with a tea room/café that overlooks Trafalgar Square. Pictured is our "cream tea": lighter (and $15 cheaper per person) than a full afternoon tea, it comes with just tea, a scone, jam, and clotted cream. The scone in the picture looks a bit ho-hum, but was amazingly delicious with the cream & jam. Possibly my favorite thing we ate all week.
- Victoria and Albert Museum – technically a museum of “decorative arts and design”, this seems to be where you store anything really old but not so ancient/historic that it belongs in the British Museum. Victorian dresses, Islamic rugs, Asian swords, and more! One highlight here was listening to a pair of little girls walk around the museum, reminding me of home movies of Amy and Emily. The older would lead the way, narrating her findings, “I found….some people lying down!” (effigy casts of Henry II and family), “I found…a castle!” (casts of gothic spires), etc., followed by the younger echoing her enthusiasm: “some people!”, “castle!”. In the center of the museum is also a really pretty courtyard and fountain, very popular among London’s still-in-diapers crowd. Pictured below are the courtyard and Leonardo da Vinci's notebook, followed by replicas of Medieval tunics and a knight's gauntlet that you could try on.
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