Travel
New York, Ireland and the UK:
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Treasures in stone at the BM
Scooters and motorcycles parked
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The 2007 Artpoints Tour of the United Kingdom continued
Artponts arrives in London and heads for the British Museum
 The British Museum
June 26, 2007
London at last - our final destination before returning home. After a short Aerlingus flight, we arrived at Heathrow airport. Our first ride on the London Underground for about $9 each had us within a few blocks of our hotel in an hour. Our hotel, Astor Court on Hallam Street was well situated near the Oxford Circus "Tube" station in a lively neighborhood with many restaurants and shops.
Our room, on the fourth floor at the back of the building is comfortable, relatively quiet and has a tea kettle, a hair dryer and a large bathtub. What luxury! Dinner at a local Chinese restaurant was restorative, with duck mu - shu and stir fried vegetables. London days are long in late June, sunset is not until after 10PM, and sunrise is about 4:30 AM.
 Atrium, The British Museum
A short walk of under a mile took us to the British Museum, the legendary repository of Britain's archeological treasures. The BM has lots and lots of stone. We saw the Rosetta Stone, The "Elgin Marbles" - the incomparably beautiful marble statues and friezes removed from the Parthenon in Athens by Lord Elgin in 1816. The Egyptian and Babylonian stone statues and friezes are awe-inspiring. You will see things here that you will never find in any North American museum. Flash photography without a tripod is allowed, so I happily shot a number of photos.
 The Elgin Marbles
Footsore, we adjourned to a nearby Thai restaurant for a lunch of chicken curry and rice. Another few hours in the BM reduced us to exhaustion, so we limped back to our hotel for some rest before dinner.
London is a booming city, among the most expensive in the world. It offers a huge variety of places to dine ranging from the humble fish and chip shop to the world's finest restaurants. We were dining in between those extremes and found plenty to choose from. For our second night in London, we walked a few blocks to an Italian bistro and had an excellent dinner of cannelloni (Jim) and grilled salmon for me.
London has dealt with its traffic problems by instituting congestion pricing in the central city. This means that any vehicle entering the city during weekdays pays a hefty toll. New York is considering a similar plan. We noticed many more bicycles, Vespas and motorcycles than in Dublin. Much of the traffic on the streets seems to be taxis, delivery trucks and busses. Private autos are small by USA standards - no surprise with gas at about $8 per gallon.
 
Neals Yard
Around mid-day, we headed to Covent Garden, which also houses the London Transport Museum, (unfortunately closed for our visit). After walking through Covent Garden Market, we proceeded down Neal Street in search of the Neals Yard for an organic, vegetarian lunch at an outdoor café. The skies were temporarily blue and the sun was shining, so it was lovely to sit outside. I had a salad with a fresh-baked roll and hot tea and Jim indulged in a vege-burger. Both were excellent. We enjoyed the bright ambiance of the courtyard and felt fortified for another round of museums. |
