London (Day 6, last day)

The British Museum is incredible! So many rooms covering so many different cultures! Of course, they had the 'standard' stuff (Egypt - including mummies! - and Greece), but they had excellent pieces and the Museum goes so much further beyond that. There was Assyrian, Cycladean, Cyprian, and wonderfully varied collections from Tibet, India, China, Japan, the Islamic Empire, Persia, etc. etc. etc. The place could be an introductory window into just about any major culture, and I could have spent a week at this museum and not have been satisfied. If you go to London, plan to visit multiple times to be able to drink it all in at a leisurely pace. Truly one of the best museums I have ever been to.

The only downside is the sometimes the uncomfortable feeling that some of this stuff was 'purloined' more than 'acquired'. For example, there were a couple colossal Native American totem poles (see picture) tpurchased from a Western Canadian tribe . However, the offer to buy then was made after diseases introduced by the West decimated the people of the tribe. Purchase or scavenging? It's a fine line. There is also a statue from Easter Island that once resided in a shrine of sorts. Did the people there really just sell it? I suppose it certainly possible. If I knew more, maybe I wouldn't be bothered by this at all.

From the immediate area, there was a wonderful collection of Viking weapons and artifacts. The Vikings fascinate me, maybe because there seems to be so little information about them from before they were Christianized that they have a bit of mystique to them. Maybe I just like the idea of a warrior based culture? There was also plenty of beautiful and unique Celtic artifacts, including helmets and artifacts from the earliest days of England. Some very intricate metalwork on the helmets that is beautiful in a fierce kind of way.

After that we finished the final day with something completely different: antiquing on Portobello Road. Yet another example of how London offered something that captured my interest despite my general disinterest in the topic/area. To me antiquing isn't much more interesting than going to garage sales all day. Nicer knick-knacks, I suppose, but bor-ing! But I had a lot of fun looking in all the different antique shops here. One had nothing but clocks, another all silver, another all boxes. There were some old books to look at here and there. The best part was how interested Jim was in it. I liked watching him browse and eventually buy a silver Edwardian vase. Of course, there were some more examples of that crazy ornate decoration...and I snapped another picture (see to side: is that not something a complete over the top queen would have in their home or what?). I'm obsessed with this, and I don't know why!

After we bought the vase, it was back to the hotel. Bottom line: We loved London! We saw so much, though we truthfully didn't see everything the city had to offer by a long shot. Still, after all the backbreaking walking, I was ready to go home. I hope we'll come back though.

The End!