An afternoon at the British Museum

With Merrilyn & James returning home tomorrow, and faced with a rather gray dull kind of day, I can think of nothing better than visiting the British Museum in London. I'm sure Merrilyn would be interested but know that a visit would probably be limited by James attention span!

It's easy to get to - just a short walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station. Being in West End the walk to the Museum takes you past theatres such as the Dominion - currently playing Ben Elton's "We will rock you".

Visiting the British Museum is definitely an experience. The architecture of the building and rooms are as much as part of the exhibition as the antiquities themselves. For example, the Parthenon Room in which you can admire Greek sculptures.

I think for me the most impressive piece was the Rosetta Stone. Containing a message repeated in three languages (and crucially hieroglyphic and Greek) it provided the key to deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs. A remarkable piece of history.

I also enjoyed the huge Egyptian statues - particularly of Ramesses II from Thebes.

But I was also impressed with the sculptures from the Parthenon depicting battles between a human Lapith and a Centaur. These had such drama and vigour. And I couldn't help but think of Narelle when admiring the muscular torsos and composition. To finish off my tour I visited the Etruscan gallery where you can see the influence of Greece in both the pottery and in war fighting helmets.

I left my camera at home so no photos to share. Sorry.