Trip to the British Museum

I took my two boys to the Street Eats event organised by Halal Gems last weekend.  We only stayed for about two hours, so Harlequin Sister suggested I make the most of the afternoon and take them to the British Museum.  I haven't been since Little Lady was born, although the older children have been with their school.

After a short train ride to Tottenham Court Road and a walk led by Google maps through back roads, we found the British Museum fairly easily.  There were queues to get in, these were fast moving, but still took about ten minutes to get in due to bag checks.

                             

It is an enormous museum, we spent about two hours flitting from one exhibit to another and still only managed to see a small part of it.  Different sections have different styles and character to them, with the rocks and minerals housed in a part that felt like a beautiful old library.  There was artwork displayed individually like at a gallery and ancient relics displayed in themed rooms.

Some of the key exhibits include the famous Rosetta stone and the mummies which we didn’t even get round to seeing.  We did spend time in the ancient Greek, the America’s and the Mesopotamian.  You forget what a privilege it is to have free access to probably the best collection of antiquities in the world.  It also made me think about how the world was pillaged by Europe at one point and the treasures brought here. 

The boys were impressed by how big some of the guns were, they were also very curious about this tiny little sword, until I pointed out the description label which explained it was a tooth and ear pick with a case:

I had to drag them away from this staircase because they were busy making noises at the people below.

The covered courtyard sits in the middle of the building and is the largest covered courtyard in Europe.  You come upon it unexpectedly as you walk through the building and it is quite awe-inspiring.  It’s one of my favourite spaces in London, serene, relaxed but with lots going on.

The time we spent there was a good use of our time.  I would take the kids back, but allocate a lot more time, or pick one bit and focus on that section, particularly if it related to their work at school that term or if it is a special interest for one of them.  The shop is full of gorgeous things, but very expensive, so only window shopping for me. A fun, interesting, educational afternoon.