Museum Report part 2: the British Museum

Part of the problem of waiting 30 years to revisit a place is that nothing is the same as you remember it. Another part is the massive amounts of romanticization that's taken place in your head during the course of those 30 years.

Add to that the recent visit to the Metropolitan Museum with my friend Susan just a couple of months ago (where we spent most of our time in the Egyptian wing), and what I had was a recipe for disappointment.

I spent way too much time comparing artifacts to those I had seen in New York, which was stupid, but there it is. The Elgin Marbles (which aren't called that anymore, they are more properly named the Parthenon, as that's where they were gathered from) were beautiful and awesome as I remember them.

One thing that I didn't remember from my previous visit was the throngs of people and the heat. The building isn't temperature controlled and with so many people in there, it became quite close and stifling hot. Ariel wasn't feeling too well before we got to the museum and by the time we ventured up to the second floor, she became rather ill.

I didn't realize the British Museum had the original print of Hokusai's Great Wave, which is among my favorite pieces of art (the others are at the Tate, more on that later), so I managed to miss the print gallery entirely. We spend a lot of time in Egypt, Messopotamia, Greece and Rome, with a side-jaunt into ancient Britian, and a serendipitous rest in a gallery that was basically an enormous library, with glassed-in shelves of wonderful objects from all over the world (and a copy of the Rosetta Stone that you could touch)

One of the things I found remarkable in the Egyptian wing were the mummified animals. The weave pattern on this cat, for example, is a quilting design known as the Log Cabin.

Museum Report: Part 1, Getting there

"from the bus, to the plane, to the UFO into outer space, baby"  - Is That You, Moe-D, B-52's

Kate arrived in good time and we walked to the bus stop, as it seemed to be the most direct route to the British Museum area. The bus that Google suggested (and has suggested for How to Get Anywhere from Here this entire week), the 188, was slow and not showing up, and another bus (whose number now escapes me, perhaps the 1?), arrived, and it was a double-decker, which Rich wanted to experience. Kate thought briefly and calculated a route using that bus, so we boarded.

Bus selfie: Kate and I

The thing we didn't quite understand about the double-decker bus is that the driver will start out before people are off the stairway to the top part of the bus. This startled us and jostled us just a bit.
As we were tossed around getting to our seats on the upper level of the bus, I was strongly reminded of the Knight Bus from the Harry Potter series, and thought this is probably what Rowling was evoking.
We ended up downtown somewhere, and walked up a deserted office/industrial type block, past a boarded up former night club where Kate had worked many years ago, and eventually came out upon the entrance to the British Museum.

The entrance to the British Museum

Things That Are Different in England (second of a series)

Eggs.  

I suppose one can get free-range fancy-schmancy eggs in the US, but at all of the food emporia that are within walking distance, the available eggs are in cartons of a half-dozen, and are all free-range. There is also a bit about the farmer who keeps the chickens that supply the eggs, and you can visit a web page with additional information about the farmer and his eggs by scanning the QR code.

Which brings me to

QR Codes

These seem to be everywhere here.  I see them on egg cartons, office windows, sinage... Obviously they have been embraced by the UK community, probably because everyone has smart phones that they are engaged with constantly.
I find it rather remarkable that everyone I see who is not accompanied with a companion   (and some that are) are either holding a phone to their ear, speaking into a microphone on an ear bud cord, or looking at their handset (texting or looking something up).

Partly Cloudy, with 100% Chance of Kate

It rained last night, but it's clearing up so we can be out and about without an umbrella.

This is the view out our flat's balcony this morning.

My friend and collaborator-on-tarot-decks whom I've never met face-to-face, Kate, is on her way over to Sherpa us around museums today! There are 5 places I want to see, and I've realized that it might be just slightly too ambitious for one day's touristing. 

Since this is a design blog, I guess I should post this photo of a sign just down the street from us that I quite like.

Check back later for the museum report...

A SIM Card and a Deconstructed Salami Sandwich

Today was spent getting our bearings in the immediate neighborhood, angering a French cook, and getting local phone service.

During my research, I discovered that you can get a prepaid SIM card and avoid the usurious international roaming fees demanded by my US cell phone provider (*cough* Verizon *cough*). This might not work on all cell phones (as we discovered the hard way) and some cell phones might register with the network, but still think deep in their hearts (or operating systems) that they are still in America and append +44 to any UK number when dialed via the contacts list or replied to via a text message. However, my and my daughter's iPhones converted to the O2 network quite happily, and we can call and text our local friends to our heart's delight; also there is a sufficient data plan to see us through the rest of this vacation. So, yay.

After getting our cell phones sorted, I needed to empty my bladder so I had to find a place that was not a telephone booth. The first place I found was a lovely little bistro, and I angered the cook by using his toilet and not buying lunch (I could have managed lunch, but nobody else was hungry)

Then we stumbled across the Borough Market. The place is full of food stalls and food vendors. Many were closed, and I found from my local friend, Kate, that the market days are usually Thursday-Sunday and the market is even more crowded than usual. The smells were incredible and vendors were plying us with samples, so much so we pretty much didn't need to eat an entire meal (I would have actually paid a small amount for some of the samples). Here I found a less grouchy Frenchman, selling cheese and preserved meats (the French name for these things escapes me right now). I didn't know the odd lumpy whitish shapes were actually salami of various exotic animals cured with unusual spices, but he, too plied me with samples, and I ended up  coming back to the flat with 18-month aged Comte cheese,  and wild boar salami. We also picked up some fresh sourdough bread.  So basically, a deconstructed salami sandwich.

Things that are different in England (first of a series)

I can walk into a convenience store and purchase a spinach and goat cheese quiche. We are staying at a rental flat on the south side of the Thames, very near the Tower Bridge. The spouse and daughter are at Marks & Spencer getting more food, and I'm enjoying a French pressed coffee and the convenience store quiche, which is really tasty. Goat cheese is surprisingly mild.

The flat has a balcony. 

The weather today is glorious. The forecast predicts that it won't hold, but I will enjoy it as long as it lasts. It's about 10-15 degrees cooler here than at home.

Another difference is the electric kettle for heating water for tea or coffee.

Our cabbie explained the difference between "subway" and "underground" on the ride from the airport last night. The underground is the subway and the subway is a pedestrian underpass on busy roads.

The fact that it rarely gets hot here means that there is a dearth of air conditioning. Also there aren't screens on any of the windows. That takes a bit of getting used to. Luckily this place isn't plagued with mosquitos.

Cheers!

The Elephant in the Room (WIP)

I'm currently working on this inside my small sketchbook. It's a Zentangle® -inspired artwork. I plan to color it. Maybe do another version with watercolor?