Travel to the past

My heart went "thumpity-thump" looking at the number of Egyptian Mummies and the Sarcophagus covering the entire hall. My husband simply giggled when I hurried to move out of the area. He was taking pictures of 'them' , with my 5 year old son commenting about the skeletons and skulls seen around.

I gave a sigh of relief when we entered Asia. Oh goodness! Did I tell you we were in the British Musuem?

British Museum is one of the most popular 'must see' place in London. The British Museum displays a wealth of antiques and collections from various parts of the world acquired by Britain mostly during colonial era. The exhibits are arranged geographically which gives a sense of visiting the whole world region by region.

Apart from 'Mummies', Egypt houses lots of statues and sculptures that dates back as far as 5000 BC. Many of them are the Gods and Goddesses worshiped by the ancient Egyptians.

Rosetta Stone

Another significant masterpiece is the 'Rosetta stone' . The stone is more than 2,200 years old and stands one meter high and has inscriptions of the pictorial script of Egyptians,the Hieroglyphics. It's not just the Hieroglyphics that make it significant, but the presence of various other inscriptions in other forms/languages that helped historians to decrypt the Hieroglyphics. Yes, it is a keystone, a dictionary to the Egyptians past.

Assyrian sculptures portraying wars and customs of those days are sure an evidence of architectural richness of the past. Admiring them, I could reckon the Ellora sculptures seen in India.

Asia is again primarily statues of Gods and Goddess. There are less exhibits from India. I found most of the valuables and precious stones from India are mainly spread in Queen's gallery and Windsor castle.

It is impossible to miss the tall statue of Buddha covering 2 floors outside the Japan gallery. Japanese gallery houses various forms of Buddha apart from a few art collections. One can understand the scarcity of artifacts from Japan from the context that it was not under colonial rule.

Weapons and Pottery covered most of African exhibits. Some of the modern art exhibits portrayed the never ending African civil wars. One of the exhibits that caught our eyes at the end of the African gallery were the bronze sculptures from Benin which was under French rule in the colonial era.


By that time , we (especially my kid) needed a break. So we went down to have our packed sandwiches.

Post lunch, we continued to Greece and Rome. We were delighted to see the head statues of young Alexander and that of philosophers like Socrates. Most of the statues are made of white marble which added to their charm.

Nereid Monument

The next big thing that awed us was the exhibit of an entire monument dating back to 390 BC standing up live. It is the Nereid Monument, named after the statues of daughters of Greek sea god Nereus, standing between the huge pillars of this monument. It is indeed a tomb built for Arbinas (also spelled Erbinna), ruler of Lycian Xanthos. I wonder how they managed to transport such huge pillars !

The next thing that took our breath was the Parthenon temple of Greece (also known as Elgin Marbles). It seems that this massive temple got destroyed in a fire accident in 1600s. The remains were brought from Greece and arranged here to re-create the effect of how it existed. Plan to visit this in the beginning in case you run out of time ....

Finally it was Modern Europe. Huge mechanical clocks and other inventions of the early 19th century occupied the entire area. By the time we finished Europe, my son's patience reached its limits and we had to return home.

How to go to the Museum?
5 minutes walk from Holborn underground station. Also close to Covent garden station.

The Museum History
The Museum was established by Act of Parliament in 1753 when the government acquired the private collection of Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753), who was a successful physician by profession but a naturalist and antiquarian by inclination; it consisted of ‘books, manuscripts, prints, drawings, pictures, medals, coins, seals, cameos and natural curiosities’. In 1759 the museum opened in Montagu House, a large 17th-century mansion in Bloomsbury. Initially it was not freely accessible to the public; for nearly 50 years it was necessary to make formal application for admission. With the acquisition of Sir William Hamilton's collection of classical vases and antiquities (1772), a plethora of Egyptian antiquities (including the Rosetta Stone donated by George III) at the turn of the century, the Elgin Marbles (1816), the magnificent library of George III (1823), and many other bequests and purchases, the Museum became established as one of the world's greatest treasure houses.. There have subsequently been various other additions to the building.


Apart from tourists, the museum attracts lot of students.

Duration to plan
You will need atleast 3 hours to atleast have a look at all the key exhibits. Surely, not recommended with little kids :-)

My first trip in London

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and my husband suddenly said we shall go around London city. As it was just 2 weeks for me in London, I was very much excited about the trip.

We started around 2 pm and I topped up my Oyster card with £10. Oyster card is a pre-paid card for using public transportation in London, using which one can add money to it and use it like a train cum bus pass which has to be swiped in the bus and in the train station entrance. The advantage is it, that it has a per day ceiling amount. Even if we travel many times per day ,the maximum we will be charged in the card would be 3.9£ in bus and 6.3£ in train. As travel is very expensive in London, everyone goes for Oyster card as it provides easy access to train/bus without having to buy a ticket and with a reduced price. But watch out , when you use the Oyster in trains. The card has to be swiped in and out properly. Otherwise , it charges a maximum amount of 9.5£. It is safe to take a day travel card for travelling in train.

It was my first train journey in London and I was really excited travelling in the underground tube. I was initially confused with the different lines (district line/circle line/picadilly line etc) that goes to different directions but could differentiate it later with the color coding used. One can use a tube map to go anywhere without having to ask anyone. But the major problem is random train cancellations (this is because of the various renovations happening in London as a preparation for the 2012 Olympics in London). So , we have to really watch out for the active lines before boarding train. All routes are interconnected. So, one can easily reach their destination, even if they take a longer route.
We crossed Stratford, where the stadium for the Olympics is getting constructed. Massive construction..It would be a lifetime experience if we get a chance to watch Olympics..

We alighted in Aldgate East to take a district line for Tower hill and reached tower hill to see the Tower of London and the Tower bridge (There is a misconception that Tower bridge is the London bridge but it is not true. London bridge is a old bridge opposite to tower bridge and it is a normal bridge). It was a huge bridge above Thames river and tourists throng the place. There was a big queue for the river cruise. But the water was not clear. (One shocking thing for me about London is the cleanliness. People do not hesitate to litter in the streets. But there are lot of greenery's everywhere with lot of parks and gardens). Tower of London is riverside fortress , usually remembered as a place of imprisonment. Many princes and queens were imprisoned here and later murdered.

As it was a hot summer day which is most awaited in a cold country , people had dressed up so freely. We took lot of snaps and enjoyed river Thames relishing the cone ice creams that we bought for 2£ (6 pounds - 420 Rs. is really expensive for ice cream.. isn't it.?. Sorry! as it is just 2 weeks for me in London, cannot avoid currency conversion).

We took another train to reach Westminster (most of the main attractions in London are close by.. with just few trains and of course lot of walking we can cover all important attractions.). We came out of Westminster station to see a tall building .. oh. yeah it is the Big Ben,one of the main attractions of London. Big Ben is the huge clock tower and is part of the Houses of parliament. Looking at the building, we can understand how well it is maintained as it looks really new, though it is built 1000 yrs ago.

Walking along Big Ben to the left in the opposite is the 'London eye'. As i said, we had a separate plan for visiting these places, we did not go inside but just had a glimpse from outside. 'London eye' is the giant observation wheel and is the second highest in the world and offers fascinating views over the whole of London.

If you walk to the right of Westminster, you will reach the Westminster Abbey. This is a old church and it serves as a place of Royal ceremonials. Princess Diana's funeral was held here.

A few minutes walk from there will take you to the royal palace of Buckingham, which is the the Queen's residence. It is a huge palace with complete security protection. 'Guards change' is an event here, in which the palace guards, in their red tunics and tall bearskin hats, are changed at 11am each morning. We were almost exhausted by that moment and wanted to relax. So, we went to James park close to Buckingham palace. There are several parks and gardens around the palace. We had a good time there.

After few minutes rest, we continued to Trafalgar square. This houses the huge monuments of Nelson and other warriors , who fought and won the battle of Trafalgar against Napoleon.The main structure worth seeing at Trafalgar square is the tall Nelson's column, which is a tower over which Admiral Nelson stands.

Another 10 mins walk, we reached Picadily circus. It is a shopping place and there are lot of clubs and bars everywhere. It seems, day never ends here. We can see Britain's richness here.
Suddenly, bell rang in our bellies.. oops.. It is 8.30 pm. As day is long in summer, one can hardly realize the time. So, we hunted for a food place and reached Pizza hut. It was 9.30 pm by the time we finished dinner and took the trains to reach home @ 10.30 pm. Overall, it was a wonderful day !