London Day Four: British Museum

Rebecca was much better this morning, so we were all able to participate in today's schedule of activities.

Micaela and James had been disappointed that we didn't see the Egyptian collection at the Vatican Museums in February. We had heard the British Museum was one of the best places to see Egyptian artifacts and on the list it went. It just so happened the museum had recently opened an Aztec exhibit focusing on the reign of Moctezuma II. James had studied the Aztecs extensively last year, so we added that exhibit to the to-do list.

A 100 meter-long mural along the Northern line platforms of the Charing Cross tube station shows scenes from the funeral journey of Eleanor of Castile (the wife of Edward I) from Nottinghamshire to her tomb in Westminster Abbey in 1290.

A huge statue of Freddie Mercury above the entrance to the Dominion Theatre where the musical We Will Rock You has been on a seven-year long run. It sounds like a Mamma Mia! type show with all Queen music.

I took this picture not because it shows an iconic double-decker bus and a London taxi, but because the bus is from the Notting Hill line and I wanted a picture of the sign. I liked the movie Notting Hill. The iconic images were a bonus.

James wanted a picture with his new best buddy, Calvin, outside this comic book store. They even look alike with their striped shirts.

The British Museum, established in 1753, is a museum of human history and culture.

This photo I found on the internet captures the Great Court of the museum better than I could.

My photo of the Great Court

Photography was not allowed in the exhibit.

The British Museum houses the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Museo Egizio in Turin. This lion, a red granite lion from around 1370 BC, is one of a pair that acted as guardian figures before a temple built by Amenhotep III.

The princess Neferure in the arms of her tutor Senenmut, an ancient Egyptian architect and government official, 1480 BC

Details on a false door of High Priest Ptahshepses' tomb, about 2400 BC

Three black granite statues of King Sesostris III, 1850 BC

This red granite fist was almost certainly part of one of the colossal statues that Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC) constructed. We were sure Micaela was not actually touching the fist, as there were signs everywhere reminding people not to touch the artifacts. There were large groups are school children completely disregarding the signs and running their hands along the pieces, and even draping themselves over some of the statues. Their teachers turned a blind eye.

Ramesses II is often regarded as Egypt's greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh. He is commonly thought to be the pharaoh of whom the biblical figure Moses demanded his people be released from slavery. But the pharaoh of the story is not named in the Bible - he is referred to simply as "pharaoh" - and the question of his identity has been the subject of much speculation.

Statues of Sakhmet from 1400 BC. She was originally the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare.

The Rosetta Stone, created in 196 BC is an Ancient Egyptian artifact which was instrumental in advancing modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. It was also the artifact with the biggest crowd gathered around it.

The stone has a carved text made up of three translations of a single passage: two in Egyptian language scripts (hieroglyphic and Demotic) and one in classical Greek.

Upper part of a colossal statue of Ramesses II, around 1270 BC. We had watched the animated Prince of Egypt before our trip in preparation for seeing this section of the British Museum. Could have done better, but better than nothing.

Limestone figure of a Horus-falcon, after 600 BC

There's a resemblance in the eyes

Bronze cat-goddess Bastet from 664-332 BC.

Hieroglyphs from the Black Schist sarcophagus of Ankhnesneferibre, about 530 BC.

Granite statue of the ram god of Amun protecting King Taharqa, 690-664 BC

Black statue of the goddess Sakhmet, 1350 BC

Schist sarcophagus lid of the Vizier Sisebek, around 600 BC

This sphinx, dating from the second century AD, is purely Greek in concept and with its fellow may once have have marked the entrance to the grave of a Greek inhabitant of Egypt.

Quartzite statue of Nakhthorheb, a high official of the reign of Psammetichus II, from around 590 BC, in adoration of the temple god.

Figures of the god Bes, each holding a knife to ward off evil, (300-30 BC)

Fragment of a marsh hunting scene from the tomb-chapel of Neb-Amun, around 1350BC

Neb-Amun commissioned the walls of his tomb-chapel to be painted with scenes depicting his afterlife and the world in which he lived. You have to include naked dancing girls, you know.

Elaborately bandaged mummy of a calf, from around 30 BC. Bulls were sacred to several gods in ancient Egypt.

Striking eyes

The label said these were Cleopatra's necklace and comb. I was shocked. Could they mean the Cleopatra?

An inscription on her coffin states that this Cleopatra was the daughter of an important official at Thebes at the time of the Emperor Trajan (reigned AD 98-117). She died at 17 some 150 years after her famous namesake, Cleopatra VII.

Becca wanted her picture taken with the little hippo figurine.

Wrapped mummy. There were several exposed mummies, but it didn't feel right taking photos of them.

Inner coffin of the priestess Henutmehyt, from around 1250 BC. The excessive use of gold, and the high quality and detail of her coffin indicates that Henutmehyt was a wealthy woman.

Bronze oil lamp

More tomb paintings

Becca saw bones, but didn't believe she had bones herself inside her body. Micaela knocked on James' skull with Bex' hand to prove people have bones.

Leaving the Egyptian section

Leaving the Great Court

Most of the big London museums are free for visitors. The Department of Culture has invested millions - raised by gambling tax and other taxes, to keep Britain's museums free, though a charge may be made for some special exhibitions. Donations, however, are encouraged.

London Day Three: Trafalgar Square

As the sun set, the gang made their way to Trafalgar Square which commemorates the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars. At its center is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson led the the British navy to many victories, but was killed while commanding the British fleet during the Battle of Trafalgar. He remains one of Britain's favorite sons.

The square used to be famous for its feral pigeons, and feeding them was a popular activity with Londoners and tourists. The desirability of the birds' presence has long been contentious: their droppings look ugly on buildings and damage the stonework, and the flock, estimated at its peak to be 35,000, was considered to be a health hazard.

Even Elizabeth Taylor couldn't resist feeding the birds here. Still, in 2000, the sale of bird seed in the square was controversially terminated and other measures were introduced to discourage the pigeons, including the use of trained falcons. Supporters of the birds – including Save the Trafalgar Square Pigeons – as well as some tourists continued to feed the birds, but in 2003 the then-Mayor, Ken Livingstone, enacted byelaws to ban the feeding of pigeons within the square and then later in the surrounding areas. There are now few birds in Trafalgar Square.

The metal used for sculpting the lions at the base of the column is said to have been recycled from the cannon of the French fleet.

The square attracts 15 million visitors a year, many of whom brave climbing up onto one of the lion's back (about 9 feet off the ground). Grandma learned during her tour the other day that these are the world's most sat-upon lions in the world.

The lions' sculptor, Sir Edwin Landseer, had never seen a real lion and so he used his dogs as a model, or so the story goes. Their paws do resemble those of dogs and even the mouth and tongue look more canine than feline.

London Day Three: The London Eye

In front of the Palace of Westminster

The London Eye has become the most popular paid visitor attraction in the UK, visited by over 30 million people since it opened in 2000. It's just a shame, but not a surprise, that the day was so gray.

Dalí Universe is a permanent exhibition located near The London Eye of over 500 art works by the Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí. Here you see Nobility of Time.

Space Elephant

Space Venus

We came to London at the right time. Tourists complain about long line at many of London's attractions, particularly The London Eye. We haven't had to wait for anything so far on our trip. The first sight for the Nylunds as their Eye experience got underway was this dejected-looking Donald Duck hoping for some spare change.

Yet another view of Big Ben

Looking down at the workings of the Eye. Some powerful Londoners have complained that The London Eye dwarfs the Palace of Westminster and suggest it should be moved down river to a more appropriate place near the Tower of London.

The wheel carries 32 sealed and air-conditioned egg-shaped passenger capsules, attached to its external circumference, each capsule representing one of the London Boroughs. Each capsule holds 25 people, who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is provided. It rotates at 0.6mph so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. The wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is slow enough to allow passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level.

Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

In March 2008, four hundred people were trapped on the London Eye when it was stopped for urgent repairs. Sightseers spent an hour suspended in capsules up to 450ft above the ground. Staff spoke to the trapped tourists via intercom, instructing them to open emergency supplies of water, blankets and commodes.

One traumatized passenger described the ordeal as a "horrible experience" and said sightseers panicked when they finally made it back to ground level, creating a stampede.

Buckingham Palace became the principal royal residence of the British monarch in 1837. Prince Andrew stated in an interview, however, that Windsor Castle, located just outside London, was the one place the royal family regarded as home. It has even been speculated that Prince Charles is considering moving the royal court to Windsor Castle from Buckingham Palace when he ascends the throne.

Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, by the way, are owned by the British state and are not the monarch's personal property.

Emilie and the Eye

Another lovely piece of art

With Grandma on one of the Golden Jubilee Bridges. The railway Hungerford Bridge which leads to Charing Cross station is flanked by two cable-stayed pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's foundation piers.