Today was primarily a day of rest but we ventured out in the afternoon to return to the British Museum and see some of the artifacts we missed. It seems that we were not the only ones to decide to get out on this sunny afternoon. Look at the crowds of shoppers on Oxford Street which is the traditional shopping street similar to Fifth Avenue in New York, Michigan Avenue in Chicago and the Champs d’Elysee in Paris. Sidewalks on both sides of the street were packed with people. These views are from the upper deck of the double decker buses. Since we have a pass that works on all subways (sorry, Underground or Tube here) and buses, we found an excellent way to see the city is from the front seat of the upper deck. Just get on a bus and ride until you run out of interesting things to see, then get on another one. On this day, we changed busses five times!
Back at the British Museum. It has 92 galleries and covers more than 200,000 square feet so it is impossible to see everything in one visit.
Then we came to what I really came to see, the rich collection of sarcophaguses (mummies) from the Valley of the Pharaohs in Egypt. The first ones are the exterior coverings of the mummy.
The next four photos are amazing. We did not expect to find Cleopatra in the museum, but indeed her remains are located in the British Museum! This is one of the more controversial items because Egypt would love to have this one back. But, given the turmoil in present day Egypt and the destruction of anything non-Islamic, it is hard to argue with the museum’s statements that although the items were taken from their original sites, they are assured of perpetual preservation in the museum. By definition, Cleopatra was not a Muslim and we, know what happened to the historic Buddha statues in Afghanistan and the destruction of ancient objects in Timbuktu when the fundamentalists took over.
Even favored animals were mummified.
We also saw exhibits of object from the Roman occupation of England from 66 to 450 A.D.
Below is Little Bay Restaurant in Kilburn, London, England that Elaine found on the internet. This is her post from Facebook and it is absolutely right. Highly recommend this restaurant if you find yourself in London.
What a unique idea - The motto of this restaurant should be for ALL restaurants - "to provide good European food with a French influence at fantastic prices, excellent service and the best atmosphere and value for money this side of the Channel.
Little Bay is pure theatre, like stepping into the Moulin Rouge in its heyday or finding yourself in a 1920s speakeasy, candlelit and avant-garde. You half expect to be surrounded by women wearing fur-trimmed coats and elegantly puffing through their cigarette holders over an aperitif. The decor has the feel of an old theatre bar that's been done-up using the sets of past productions with murals and memorabilia adorning the walls, swathes of turquoise velvet and twisted wire hanging lamps. But for all its showy glamour, the restaurant has no stuffy pretensions; it's the height of chilled-out charm with a merry, buzzing atmosphere. The food is seriously good value too; you won't believe that you can get such mouth watering selections of wonderful meat and fish dishes and generous, tempting desserts, all washed down with some jolly good wine.
Above, elevated loft table seating.
Above, a small appetizer we shared. White crab meat sitting atop a mixture of avocado, tomatoes, cucumber. peas, and a few other items. Cost: $3.95
Needless to say, we will be returning to this pace often. Hard to eat anywhere else when the quality and selection of food offered here is about $1.50 more than the ordinary restaurants in the neighborhood.
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