British Museum and Brick Lane
After visiting Westminster Palace, some of my friends and I ventured to the British Museum. I think this is one of the most astounding museums I have ever been to! We walked in the wrong way and didn't get the full glory of the mix of modern and greek style architecture until we walked through the whole museum to figure out our meeting point. The size of the museum makes it impossible to do in under an hour, but luckily, for two pounds visitors can purchase a detailed map of where all the famous pieces of work lie, as well as the top ten things to see in case you are in a hurry. In roughly two hours I rushed through the museum and only did about half of it. I'm going to try and go back in order to see more.
Much of the museum is of ancient peoples. The exhibits that I hit up were Assyrian, Egyptian, Roman, and Greek. I also saw a hall that walked visitors through the renaissance and rediscovery era of Europe, specifically England. It feels almost like a library, but with a lot more artefacts than books. This wing was a particularly interesting section of the museum. It was laid out in different ways early scientific, anthropologic, psychologic, and other areas were first studied. Looking and reading about how so many of the areas of academia first started.
There are over 8 million items held both on display and in the archives of the British Museum. At one point both the British Library and Museum were one in the same, but then the library became too large. A good amount of the collections came from the era of the British Empire when the UK's power was far spread. They conquered at least some part of nearly every continent and then took the spoils home to show off. Because of the riches of that era, we have the opportunity to see history preserved. It's both a sort of good and bad thing I guess. I would say that this is a definite must to see, especially because entrance to the museum is free (like many of the museums in London).
Once we'd had our fill of history, we decided to venture off to Camden (one of the boroughs here). We had plans to meet one our friends there to grab Indian food. After a bit of a mix up with public transit and communication, we ended up finding the famous Brick Lane. Camden is a very hipster part of town, and Brick Lane is the centre of that. The food though is delightful. We ate at a place called Aladin though it's original name was Cinnamon. We thought that the fellow who beckoned us in was actually trying to take our business from another restaurant, but after a bit of googling we found out that he had told us the truth that they had expanded and renamed their establishment. For those who are a fan of Indian food, I highly suggest discovering this area, but honestly the food we had was about on par with what I had had back in the US as wasn't up to the hype that I'd heard about Indian food in London.
I find it fascinating how much cultural food there is here. In the morning you could eat a traditional English breakfast, then go get Asian food (I found a really great Thai place), then middle eastern, then perhaps central European. You could find a restaurant for each within a mile radius. London is a city with thousands of years of history, yet it seems to be at a crossroads with trying to assimilate with other cultures. This clash of identity is becoming more and more apparent as some areas find a balance really well, but others really are struggling.
Much of the museum is of ancient peoples. The exhibits that I hit up were Assyrian, Egyptian, Roman, and Greek. I also saw a hall that walked visitors through the renaissance and rediscovery era of Europe, specifically England. It feels almost like a library, but with a lot more artefacts than books. This wing was a particularly interesting section of the museum. It was laid out in different ways early scientific, anthropologic, psychologic, and other areas were first studied. Looking and reading about how so many of the areas of academia first started.
There are over 8 million items held both on display and in the archives of the British Museum. At one point both the British Library and Museum were one in the same, but then the library became too large. A good amount of the collections came from the era of the British Empire when the UK's power was far spread. They conquered at least some part of nearly every continent and then took the spoils home to show off. Because of the riches of that era, we have the opportunity to see history preserved. It's both a sort of good and bad thing I guess. I would say that this is a definite must to see, especially because entrance to the museum is free (like many of the museums in London).
Once we'd had our fill of history, we decided to venture off to Camden (one of the boroughs here). We had plans to meet one our friends there to grab Indian food. After a bit of a mix up with public transit and communication, we ended up finding the famous Brick Lane. Camden is a very hipster part of town, and Brick Lane is the centre of that. The food though is delightful. We ate at a place called Aladin though it's original name was Cinnamon. We thought that the fellow who beckoned us in was actually trying to take our business from another restaurant, but after a bit of googling we found out that he had told us the truth that they had expanded and renamed their establishment. For those who are a fan of Indian food, I highly suggest discovering this area, but honestly the food we had was about on par with what I had had back in the US as wasn't up to the hype that I'd heard about Indian food in London.
I find it fascinating how much cultural food there is here. In the morning you could eat a traditional English breakfast, then go get Asian food (I found a really great Thai place), then middle eastern, then perhaps central European. You could find a restaurant for each within a mile radius. London is a city with thousands of years of history, yet it seems to be at a crossroads with trying to assimilate with other cultures. This clash of identity is becoming more and more apparent as some areas find a balance really well, but others really are struggling.
The entrance to the British Museum I think is a nod to how much influence other cultures have had on what we think is British
The main hall of the museum is amazing. It's centred around this giant pillar to the right of the picture. I don't know its purpose though, but it looks cool.
The picture above is of the hall I mentioned that takes visitors through the beginning of modern academia.
Part of the Greek exhibit makes it feel like you are walking through ancient greece.
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