Friday 14/1/11

Today was yet another fun filled day of walking! First we had another wonderful full English breakfast.  After breakfast we had another group meeting and discussed what are plans were for today.  After our brief meeting, we all walked to the British Museum. Once we got there, we took a couple group photos and ventured in.  The actual exhibits did not open until 10:00 so we had some time to spare and walk around the outskirts of the exhibit rooms.  There were gift shops and places to eat (cafe) The kinds of places that draw in money (pounds) for the museum. At ten, we walked into one of the exhibits that had ancient Egyptian things in it.  Our first presentation of the day was of the Rosetta Stone. This stone is actually very big. It measures 3 feet 9 inches long and 2 feet four and a half inches wide. It has two different languages on it (Egyptian and Greek) but three different scripts. (hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek) 

After the Rosetta Stone we had a second presentation of the Colossal Bust of Ramses II.  This huge bust is made from a two-tone block of granite, (dark gray and rose pink) It weighs about 14,500 pounds and is about 8.2 feet from the top of the headdress to the base!
After the bust we went to to see the Elgin Marbles from the top of the Pantheon. They are in a very controversial place because Greece wants to have them back but Britain wants to keep them. After this exhibit, we went to see the mummies and the lion reliefs.  All of these exhibits were beautiful and very informative.
I wish we stayed longer in the museum but after those exhibits, we went to lunch and then we wanted to go to the Tower of London.  And with my awesome direction skills, I got us on the wrong line for the tube and got us off at the wrong place.  So, to make a long story short, we walked for about 2 miles and then put our minds together and thought about taking the tube instead of walking. So we picked up the tube at Mansion House and  got off at Tower Hill.  Then we went to the Tower of London and had a grand old time! We saw where Ann Boleyn got her head chopped off and also saw the torture chamber of where the prisoners were tortured.  It was...interesting in a very creepy way. After we stayed there a couple hours, we got on the tube and went back to Russell Square.  Then we ate dinner at "Pizza Express" and had a very good pizza and I had real raspberry lemonade. Then we came back to our hotel and chilled.  It was a fun day but very exhausting. Tomorrow is some more museums!! :) I can't wait! Until then, I'm outta here!

Cheerio!

Question of the Day: After seeing the Elgin Marbles, do you feel they should go back to Greece or not?
I think they should stay in Britain because they would get ruined if they were moved and placed back in Greece.  Then a part of history would be lost.

Was your museum plan helpful?
In a way my museum plan was helpful.  It reminded me of things I wanted to see in the museums.  But at the same time, it kind of limited me to the things I could see in the time limit we had.  I felt that I had to find the things on my plans instead of just finding them by strolling around.  Instead I traveled around the museum to finding them without looking at anything else on my way.  But, The Rosetta Stone was on my museum plan and I got to see it today! (partially because we had a presentation on it) It was so much bigger than I originally thought.  Not just the height but the thickness as well! It was huge!