Friday, March 20, 2009

A quick peek at the British Museum


You may recall that at the end of last month my friend Lucy and I went to see the Byzantium Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and then popped into the British Museum (if truth be told, to use the loo - those of you who know London well enough to be thinking, that's a long way to be going just to use the loo, the reason is we were heading to Tottenham Court Road for some gadget (window) shopping).

OK back to the British Museum. The toilets were cramped and busy and nothing to speak of, but the exhibits were certainly impressive. We wandered round for half an hour or so, as it seemed a shame not to, and took some photos. The British Museum is the most visited museum in London, and that's hardly surprising, as it has some very impressive collections from all over the world. This is just a sample of what you'd see if you only had a quick look on the way to the loos:

GREEK

Limestone female figure
Neolithic, about 4500-3200 BC
From the island of Kárpathos, Aegean Sea

EGYPTIAN

Granodiorite seated statue of Amenhotep III
From his mortuary temple, Thebes, Egypt
18th Dynasty, about 1350 BC

ASSYRIAN

Pair of colossal statues of winged lions from the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II
Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Iraq
Neo-Assyrian, about 883-859 BC


3.5 centuries in front of your eyes just in the time it takes to walk from the main entrance to the loos and back. Not bad, eh?


At the time, there were two major temporary exhibitions: Babylon: Myth and Reality (now closed) and Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran, which is going strong till mid June. The two banners hanging on the walls of the Reading Room direct visitors. Not sure what the red statue represents...


Another view of the Great Court and the Reading Room (the curved building on the right). The glass roof is amazing, and has tranformed the Museum's inner courtyard into the largest covered public square in Europe.


At the information desk, there are guides in several languages, including French, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.


Soon it was time to go as we needed to cross London before the evening rush hour started. This is the view from the museum entrance as we were leaving.

Hope you've enjoyed this quick tour of (part of) the ground floor at the British Museum. Let me know if you'd like to see more of it - you never know, I might be looking for a toilet in that part of London again soon.

14 comments:

Maria Verivaki said...

that toilet episode turned out to be quite an adventure!

Mandi said...

Thanks for stopping by and saying again...I think those statues are amazing tho I have to admit they feel a little creepy to me...take care

Unknown said...

Uh, I have been there.

Tinsie said...

@ Mediterranean Kiwi: Tell me about it haha :-)

@ Mandi: Well, most of them were discovered in or near graves...

@ Ropi: Did you like it?

Betty Carlson said...

I went back to The British for the first time in years a year or so ago and was totally amazed. Usually I'm more into painting galleries, but the set-up is brilliant. I prefer it to the cavernous-feeling Louvre.

Tinsie said...

Totally agree. The indoor piazza in particular has totally transformed the British Museum. I felt a bit claustophobic in the Louvre.

Unknown said...

Great coverage of the British Museum! I miss it! Your shots are fantastic!

Fifi Flowers said...

Thanks for the peek! I haven't been to a museum in so long... I think I will plan a trip!

Tinsie said...

Thanks, guys! Glad you liked it :-)

stromsjo said...

How fortunate to have a daring toilet correspondent ready to got! ;)

Did you find any gadgets at Tottenham Court Road?

Tinsie said...

Lots - but sadly nothing I could afford or justify buying at the mo...

palmtreefanatic said...

wow! great post!

Kate said...

Probably the best museum I've ever been to. That and the Louvre. I must have spent 4 hours in the British museum and zoomed through. Wish I had more time to appreciate the artifacts better. Amazing exhibits. Wish I had see the terracota soldiers when they were there.

Tinsie said...

@ Palmtreefanatic: Thank you :-)

@ Kate: You've got to come back, there's no way around it ;-)