Our time in London was suddenly running short, but conveniently many of the remaining essential London sites we wanted to see were quite close together.
Our first stop on the Westminster side of the river was Downing Street. Due to understandable security concerns, the street is gated from Whitehall and heavily guarded. The Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing is barely visible through the bars.
Nearby, we saw some democracy in action, in the form of a loud protest on Whitehall.
I could not make out what the protestors were chanting — I don’t think it was in English. I searched the news later but there was no mention, I imagine this is a common spot for protests.
On the way to St. James Park, we passed a memorial to the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings.
On the eastern edge of St. James Park is the Duck Island Cottage, described as a “Swiss Chalet for a British Bird-Keeper”. Surrounding the pond are countless types of ducks and other fowl.
I looked it up: a group of pelicans is called a “pod”. So here is a photo of a pod of pelicans in the St. James Park pond.
We took a nice walk along the pond in St. James Park, starting at Horse Guards Road in the east. Here is the view across the pond towards Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial.
Next up was the the Victoria & Albert museum, which is as vast and ornate as we expected. We wandered it for several hours, impressed by all the Very Old Things displayed within it, as well as the building itself. Out of sheer coincidence we visited on Canada’s Victoria Day weekend, something that doesn’t exist in Britain.
Somewhere inside the V & A we came across the Great Bed of Ware, carved around 1590 and now on display with new draperies re-created from original descriptions of the fabrics and colours. The bed is enormous and was quite famous in its time, used at various inns and associated with various famous people and places.
Then it was time for the British Museum, founded in 1753. It has 8 million items in its permanent collection making it the biggest in the world. And it’s free to visit.
Entering into the British Museum takes you into the vast Great Court. Previously an outdoor area, it re-opened in 2000 with a 2-acre glass roof creating the largest covered public square in Europe.
The Great Hall is far too large to capture in one photo. It contains the information desks, cafe, gift shop, and a spiraling tower of staircases to special exhibitions.
A highlight at the museum was seeing Hoa Hakananai’a (“lost or stolen friend”). This 1000-year-old Moai statue was removed from Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in 1868 by a British expedition, brought back to England, and gifted to Queen Victoria. Many on Rapa Nui consider the statue stolen and want it returned.
We also said hello to the Younger Memnon, an ancient Egyptian statue of Pharoah Ramesses II, carved circa 1270 BC. A French expedition lead by Napoleon first tried to plunder the 7.25-ton statue in 1798, but failed. The British later succeeded and it was acquired by the British Museum in 1821. The Europeans are responsible for the hole drilled near his right armpit.
Arguably the most famous item at the British Museum is the Rosetta Stone, which has been on display there since 1802. Photographing it is very difficult due to the crowds, which you can see in the reflection on the protective glass, but I was very excited to see this significant artifact in person.
Carved around 196 BC and rediscovered by Napoleon’s campaign in 1799, the stone became the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, which could no longer be read at the time. Because the stone contains the same text in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Ancient Greek, which is more commonly understood, translators were able to reverse engineer the structure of the hieroglyphs and unlock the history of ancient Egypt.
We still had a bit of energy left in our legs, so we quickly passed through Trafalgar Square on our way into the National Gallery.
From the steps of the National Gallery we could turn around and see Nelson’s Column in the square. Big Ben is in the distance for extra London points.
Once in the National Gallery we went straight to one painting: the Arnolfini Portrait, completed in 1434 by Jan van Eyck. It’s still hanging in the same place in the National Gallery as it was when I stumbled across it by mistake in 2003.
I remember studying this painting in high school art class for all the symbolism of the various elements contained in it. I’ve always found it intriguing due to the incredible detail, the reflections in the mirrors and chandelier, and the vague creepiness of the people.