Day 4: John Soane House and the British Museum

John Soane was rather picky about us taking photos so I don't have any but it is the strangest museum that I've ever been two.  John Soane was an avid collector who bought three houses, connected them and displayed his many, many, many curios.  The highlight of the exhibit was a pharaoh's tomb made out of limestone.  Apparently he got in a bidding war with the British Museum for it and won.  He had a huge party that lasted three days when the piece arrived.  We all joked that he probably filled it with ice and booze.

The highlight of the day absolutely without a doubt though was the British Museum.  Stuart and Barry (affectionately referred to as "StuBear") have been teaching us in the classroom but sweet Jane has been our London tour guide.  The things she knows are incredible and being taken on a tour of the British Museum by a woman who hardly needed a map was a fantastic experience.

 

Yup, this is me with an Eastern Island head.  Be jealous.

 Here she blows.   I saw the Rosetta Stone in person.  It was a cool, humbling experience.  But I swear every tourist in the place thinks that they personally must document what's on it.  Peeps, I'm pretty sure they've got it written down somewhere.  Chillax, take your picture, and get out the way!

Say hello to the Elgin Marbles.  These babies used to adorn the upper portion of the Acropolis in Athens until Thomas Bruce, the Earl of Elgin visited and decided that the Greeks couldn't be trusted with these beauties.  In all fairness most of them had fallen from the Acropolis and were being trampled in the street and destroyed.  Good on him for cultural kidnapping/looting.  So he numbered them and brought them back here to England, then sold them to the museum (that seems legit right?) So nowadays there's this huge controversy because Greece wants them back and Britain doesn't share toys very well.  ("You are trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen.")

 A beautiful statue also from the front of the Acropolis.

 I love Greecian statues.  The way that they capture movement of clothing over skin is incredible.

 Here is the ultimate irony.  Pharaohs had their fancy tombs made of gold and servants but this lowly peon has survived thousands of years because the desert was his grave.  The sand in the desert wind dehydrated him so well that we can still make out his features.  Meanwhile the pharaohs are now wrappings and dust.

 

Sweet Jane :) She is telling us about this statue.  Dating to about 2500 BC it is the oldest thing in the museum.  It has been called Ram in A Thicket (descriptive no?)  It is made of gold and lapis lazuli.

 

Look familiar?  It should, its the inspiration for Ron Weasley's Wizard Chess set (Harry Potter Tour coming up in the future.  Don't miss that installment.)

 Britain is stealing a lot of stuff from Greece I feel...  I couldn't quite get an explanation as to why the BRITISH Museum looks like a Greecian temple.

 Mumified Cat.

 I'll take three...

Now is a good time to mention that a good portion of my pictures have been stolen from Claire Margetts.  If you are really fascinated by this blog check out hers Claire's Blog