Our lodgings are right around the corner from the British Museum, and since there was nothing specific for any of the courses, I just allotted an hour visit. I can already hear the booing and the hissing. The British Museum is considered by many to be "the" museum with the Rosetta Stone and Elgins Marbles (http://www.britishmuseum.org/), and it has too many things in it for anyone to actually have a decent visit unless he/she is prepared to spend the whole day. However, I thought it was also a place that, with our free day tomorrow and the close vicinity to our apartments, that anyone from the group could actually go back later in the day or anytime tomorrow.
Because we were starting off so close by, we actually had a fairly leisurely morning. I went to my favorite patisserie and got croissants for breakfast.
I will definitely be going back tomorrow night to get my favorite cakes for my last night dessert. We are planning to go back to that pub to get another one of those pies for our farewell to London dinner. It is on the same block, so I took a picture of the outside of the pub this morning.
And because I was starting to feel nostalgic because we have only one more day in London, I took pictures of the outside of our apartment building as well.
After I finished breakfast--otherwise known as "what is the difference between a chocolate croissant and a pain au chocolate--eating both to see" or "how much clotted cream can Jane put on one croissant?"--we met and walked over to the British Museum. Another magnificent building, but despite its beauty and the fact that I have been seeing lots of impressive buildings lately, I was not expecting the open expanse of the inside.
So here is the outside . . .
And then here is the inside in what is called the Great Court (with my students and Jane looking at maps) . . .
. . . and more of the gleaming, white inside
Because this visit was not connected with a class, the group split up, finding individual interests. I wanted to see the room sponsored by the Korea Foundation. I also went to the clock and watches exhibit.
I actually met two students here. I was surprised; I'd thought they'd all be off for the Parthenon rooms.
We then met out front for a group picture.
And then we were off to the National Portrait Gallery (http://www.npg.org.uk/about/history.php) The National Gallery is the bigger, fancier sister, but I think the Portrait Gallery is nearer my heart. I love looking at the portraits; I wish they had more postcards of more of my favorites in the store, so I can take them home to pass around to students. Despite companies like Norton having online companion sites to their textbooks, most students don't utilize authors, which I think important as well as the kinds of clothes they wear. Also, it is kind of nice having the pictures right in class to show people even if they have looked at them before (without having to spend time to bring them up on screen in class).
I had decided to have my students do two theme "tours": The Victorians and the one on family ( http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/explore/tours.php), but this was actually much more complicated even if it was a good way to force people to explore the museum more. The "themes" are just groups of 12 portraits put together according to some theme or period. When I come again, I will just have students go into the rooms that are covered by the British Literature survey course I teach. My Brit Lit II students would have been really interested because the "Portrait of the Day" was the one of Wilmot, Earl of Rochester:
The Portrait of the Day includes a lecture about the person in the portrait, so I listened to a great half hour lecture on the Earl of Rochester. I teach my students some of his background in the survey course and about how often he was banished from court for licentious behavior (really if Charles II is "schooling" you on behavior, you must be a bad lot), but I did not know about his inclination to push disabled people into the river for a laugh, for example. I took lots of notes to add to my lecture notes later.
I spent so much time in the National Portrait gallery that I did not have time to get lunch before we were to meet in front of one of the lions in Trafalgar Square to take the tube to the V&A. However, remember that I had both a chocolate croissant AND a pain au chocolate for breakfast, so I was all set :)
Cathy was nice enough to take a picture of me in front of the V&A. That's little me with the blue National Portrait Gallery bag in front of the entrance.
The museum was initially called the Museum of Manufactures, and I think that is an important thing to remember because the focus is really on applied art and design. It is the world's largest collection of decorative art, and one walk through the jewelry exhibit is proof of that.
At the V&A, a group of us went through the Arts and Crafts exhibit (http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/a/arts-and-crafts/). I really love this movement and William Morris especially, so I really enjoyed the section. It was also the section right next to rooms on the Victorian period.
The following is a scale model of the Crystal Palace. The original was built of plate glass and cast iron for the Great Exhibition of 1851 to showcase the latest technology.
After we finished with this section, some of the remaining group went to the Natural History Museum while Jane and I stayed to go through the fashion exhibit and to do the theatre and design exhibit--both reason enough to put this on the trip itinerary for when I come back in 2018 with my students and students from the Fashion department.
After we finished at the V&A, Jane and I headed back to the apartment. I made dinner (tortellini, spinach, cream sauce, chicken satay, and parmesan). Each, except for the cheese, was only pound, so I thought we did really well for the both of us. I then attempted to rest since this was also the night of Matilda.
Part two:
I will try to post about Matilda tomorrow or this weekend, and that will be the last post. I am now finishing this up on Thursday, January 15---our last day. It was a free day and I forgot my camera, so I do not have any pictures. We met with people from the study abroad office in the London School of Fashion Design and went to Oxford Street and Bond Street to go shopping (I bought shoes at Clarkes!) and to Selfridges where we had lunch.
We did go to the pub for dinner, but the bakery was out of my favorite cake for dessert. Wise Jane reminded me that we did were not leaving until 1:30, so I would have time to go tomorrow and have that cake for lunch. Really, this is the kind of person with whom everyone should travel.
I am feeling very tired but also very sad about leaving here. I know much of it is because I am so behind on work I need to do for school and for my TEFL and for my upcoming presentations. However, much of it is because I really love London. I think this is the place I would live if I won the lottery. I'd live here and spend four months year in South Korea. Powerball, make it happen!
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