The British Museum

I almost can't quite believe that I've lived in London for well over 10 years now and had never stepped foot inside the British Museum until last week.  I suppose it's a case of 'it'll-always-be-there-itis'.

So, to rectify this, I popped along to see what I could see.  The Museum is located close to both Tottenham Court Road and Holborn stations.  The first thing you notice is the sheer size of the place.  Massive.  And a bit overwhelming.  We weren't particularly time-limited, but you know how it can be as you shuffle along in museums with hoards of other people... it's tiring.  So the first thing we did was to pick up a map from the stunning main room - the Great Court.

Thankfully, I had taken with me someone who was competent to read the map.  We decided that since we weren't sure how long we would last, we would follow the suggested 1 hour route with items A-K marked on the map, to see the main pieces that were suggested by the museum and this takes you through a large number of the rooms.  Along with being distracted by other things in there, I think we probably spent around 2 and a half hours comfortably pottering around, but I would recommend it as a good route to follow if you've never visited before.  It was busy, but never felt claustrophobic.

Overall, it was definitely worth the visit, some very interesting pieces, and I discovered a particular fondness for Shields, Mosaics and also the Japanese rooms (rooms 92-94, don't miss them, they are all the way up at the top!), but there really is something to interest everyone.

If you can't get to London to visit the museum in person, do take a look around their website, where a large number of the main objects are photographed and catalogued.

A selection of my favourite pieces from the museum, the ones that stood out to me:

1. Bronze Mirror: Perseus observing the severed head of Medusa while Hermes and Athena look on:

 2. Panels from the Royal Lion Hunt showing the sporting exploits of the last Assyrian King, Ashurbanipal.  These were huge carvings filling massive rooms... very impressive!

 3. A reconstruction of the Nereid Monument

 4. Enormous Mosaic of Oceanus

5. The Portland Vase, made of Cameo glass.  Said to be the Roman inspiration for Wedgwood, and although it looks black, the glass is actually dark blue.

6. Royal Game of Ur.  Even with the instructions written there next to it, just too hard to figure out! Bonus points for my favourite name of an object in the museum.

7. Samurai items in a large case.

8. A beautiful shield

 9. Iron age shield, again, really beautiful craftsmanship.

10.  Bronze Shield

Old Operating Theatre Museum

As far as creepy and strange things go, I usually try to stay far away from them.

But for some reason, once I found the website for the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, I wanted to visit.

As with the Museum of Brands, my National Trust Card also allowed me half price entry here.  Be warned, entry to this museum is up a steep and narrow spiral staircase, so not suitable if you can't manage this.

At the top of the stairs is a small shop, packed with general kids toys and also books etc for adults relating to the theme of the museum.  Up to the next floor and you come to the herb garret, which is packed full of herbs, and jars of body parts, along with explanations of how the herbs might have been used to cure ailments.  This also contains some devices which I can only say look like instruments of torture.  If you follow this trail around, you see some of the surgical equipment that used to be used (truly horrendous looking, some of it) and books and explanatory pamphlets about how certain procedures would be carried out.  Yes, it was pretty gruesome.

Finally you reach the Old Operating Theatre itself.  A photo probably best shows what this is like.

I stood there and imagined how horrible it must have been to lie on a tiny wooden operating table without today's modern anaesthetic, surrounded by students watching what was happening.  I'm sure you can picture the scene also.  It would be quite interesting for school trips also and they do run educational sessions if you wanted to get even more of a feel for things.

Overall, something a bit different, but very definitely wanted a drink afterwards.  The place is not that big though, so don't expect to spend more than about 45 mins to 1 hour there unless you are attending one of the organised sessions or talks.

Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising

Since I live here in London, I like to look for things which are perhaps off the standard tourist trail.  For two reasons really - firstly, because there is so much here to be discovered and secondly because the more obscure, the more I hope it won't be full of people and I'll be able to enjoy it more.

So, after a day of hunting for things I could go and do with a friend in tow, we decided to visit the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising, which is situated within walking distance of Notting Hill.  This museum has been built up over many many years by Robert Opie, who started collecting age 16.

Although the website looks really interesting, I wasn't sure what to expect, or if we'd be in and out of there within half an hour.  One of the important things to note is that if you are a member of the National Trust, they have a promotion at the moment for half price entry, and having visited I thought it was actually worth the full price of £6.50.  Sadly, no photography allowed and so this post can't really show you all the interesting things in there.

The website also seems to be geared a little towards school groups, with a number of worksheets provided.  This being the case, we decided to arrive shortly after opening at 10am, and only came across one smallish school group.

The museum was much larger than I expected, with all the items separated into different rooms from different eras, from Victorian and Edwardian through to present day.  Since we weren't on a time limit, we pottered slowly and took time to talk about how it must have been to live with what people had in the different ages.  In all we were there over 2 hours and had a fascinating time.

I'd have to say my favourite thing in the whole place and one to look out for because it's easy to miss, was in the first room, in a case in the middle of the room - from one side it looked like a concertina box, but from front on there was just a hole.  When you peeked through, there were layers of papercuttings, making up some really wonderful scenes.

I think what also fascinated me was how people managed to entertain themselves before the days of the high tech that we have today.  When we started to reach the things that I recognised and remembered from seeing my parents or grandparents using them (co-op stamps, anyone?) that was wonderful.  It was also interesting to see how brands have changed (or not) through to today.  The things we have now seemed quite tacky and gaudy in comparison to some of the older items.

Although the teenagers on their school trip raced through and looked pretty bored, we found everything in this place truly interesting and thought it was well worth a visit.  I'd like to go again with my parents and to see which things they remember.  I'd say it's definitely aimed at adults and also for schools and learning, and probably more so for the Brits, since they are most likely to recognise the things in there and to know some of the history.