Today we went to the British Museum, which is huge and filled with many interesting stolen artifacts. After a quick lunch we saw the pieces of the Parthenon which were removed. The argument is that they would have been destroyed had the British not carted them off, which I think I half believe. Next were the giant man/lion/eagles from Mesopotamia, and then the remnants of the mausoleum of King Mausolus. While there were only a few tiny pieces, it is clear why it was one of the wonders of the ancient world. Each figure was massive and really well crafted. After going through greek sculptures we hit the Egyptian section. The main attraction here was the Rosetta Stone, which is a lot larger and thicker than I expected, and equally magnetic when it comes to attracting tourists. Trying to catch a glimpse of the front, you would be lucky not to be knocked down by a swarm of history-hungry travelers.
Upstairs was the Europe and Britain section. Europe... Probably the most interesting part of the British section was about the Romans. All the trinkets in the pre-Roman era were tiny, ugly, and rather unimpressive. Suddenly the Romans came and there were fancy things like architecture nice jewelry, art and neat Roman stuff. Then Rome fell, the Romans left England for Europe, and the Anglo-Saxon tribes just kinda sacked everything, used the ruins to make huts and leantoos, and reverted back to the state they were in before the Romans even showed up (if not worse). I just don’t understand why they didn’t hang the door back up on its hinges and try to restore the Roman buildings.... oh well.
We got tired after awhile and decided to flee the city. According to the map we were on the main road, but it really didn’t seem like it. Cars were parked on this tiny street in such a way that in order to continue, we were forced completely into oncoming traffic. Driving is pretty weird here. If there is any space for your car, you take, regaurdless of direction of traffic, or the color of the stop light. I think its pretty fun, but I get a little freaked out whenever a car is comming, and we are in the left lane. “Its just not natural,” says my Dad. But we are in Hastings now, at the Royal Victoria Hotel, right off the beach. We have two bedrooms, and it is super old and kinda fancy. Hooray for McDonalds, even here, its the only thing open really late.
Check out the pictures here -> http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022043&l=16ec4&id=17700012
Upstairs was the Europe and Britain section. Europe... Probably the most interesting part of the British section was about the Romans. All the trinkets in the pre-Roman era were tiny, ugly, and rather unimpressive. Suddenly the Romans came and there were fancy things like architecture nice jewelry, art and neat Roman stuff. Then Rome fell, the Romans left England for Europe, and the Anglo-Saxon tribes just kinda sacked everything, used the ruins to make huts and leantoos, and reverted back to the state they were in before the Romans even showed up (if not worse). I just don’t understand why they didn’t hang the door back up on its hinges and try to restore the Roman buildings.... oh well.
We got tired after awhile and decided to flee the city. According to the map we were on the main road, but it really didn’t seem like it. Cars were parked on this tiny street in such a way that in order to continue, we were forced completely into oncoming traffic. Driving is pretty weird here. If there is any space for your car, you take, regaurdless of direction of traffic, or the color of the stop light. I think its pretty fun, but I get a little freaked out whenever a car is comming, and we are in the left lane. “Its just not natural,” says my Dad. But we are in Hastings now, at the Royal Victoria Hotel, right off the beach. We have two bedrooms, and it is super old and kinda fancy. Hooray for McDonalds, even here, its the only thing open really late.
Check out the pictures here -> http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022043&l=16ec4&id=17700012
No comments:
Post a Comment