The plan was: a day at The British Museum. In the past, any trips to London involved my not getting to see some of the galleries or museums I really wanted to (took me over 20 years to finally get to the Tate Modern). As I am invariably the one holding the map, this is in no way the fault of my travel companions – it just seems to happen this way every time. So, finally, after many visits to London, The British Museum.
Atfer a delightful breakfast at Maison Bertaux, I made my way to the Museum, wandering through gardens and stopping to listen to buskers. Got to the museum in time for the first of two tours I had planned on joining: Ancient Greece in the morning, Roman Britain in the afternoon. I was looking forward to seeing the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Sculptures, the Japan displays – lots and lots.
About 16,000 people live on the main island of Orkney. It seems 17,000 people visit The British Museum every day. Every day. And, in spite of the fact that artefacts should be kept in a climate controlled environment (or so I would have thought), the museum is not air conditioned. In fact, the huge glass ceilings, which make the museum beautiful to behold, add to the heat of those 17,000 bodies on a sunny day. One staff member advised me that the temperatures in the museum are a real concern and they hope to have the issue addressed by the end of the decade. Really? That soon?
I don’t like crowds; I don’t like heat. Not exactly a recipe for a fun day out. Oh dear.
Our tour guide of Greek antiquities was very good – we were jammed fairly closely together to be able to hear her and navigate the crowds – and we saw some amazing amphorae and kouros (thanks Miss Mayhew – I knew exactly what she was talking about). But after twenty minutes, I had to step away from the cozy little heat-trapping display nooks that we were visiting and find some air. I headed up and over to Korea, Japan, and east Asia, working on the theory that the farthest displays would be the emptiest and the coolest (they were). But as the morning wore on those rooms heated up too in the 28° sunshine. So I gave up. I couldn’t take the crowds or the heat, so I headed out, after a too-short detour to see the Rosetta Stone and Ramesses the Great over the heads of school children, with no intention of going back in the afternoon.
As I’m pretty sure this was my last visit ever to London, I’ll admit I was disappointed – I really feel that had the circumstances been different, I could have spent a wonderful day immersed in some remarkable history. But, even though the day was cut short, I did get to see some pretty amazing items, in a very beautful setting. That will have to do.