England-Scotland Day 21 (Last Day) – Trafalgar Square, National Gallery and British Museum

23 April 2010

This was our last day of our England Scotland vacation. Our flight from Heathrow London was at 10 PM, so there was still time to spend the day in London. We planned to visit the National Gallery and British Museum.

The National Gallery is located at Trafalgar Square where we visited a couple of days ago in the evening. This time, it was quite different, experiencing a visit to Trafalgar Square under the bright morning sun.

Nelson Column at Trafalgar Square.

At Trafalgar Square with National Gallery in back.

Entrance to the National Gallery’s permanent exhibits is free of charge. The National Galley features mostly oil paintings. The free floorplan available from the Information Desks has thumbnail images of 30 paintings considered to be the most well-known of the paintings on permanent display. These include Sunflower (Van Gogh), Madonna of the Pinks (Raphael), Virgin on the Rocks (Leonardo da Vinci), self portrait (Rembrandt) and so on. No photography allowed inside.

After the National Gallery, we decided we have just just enough time to visit the British Museum before making our way back to our apartment in Wood Green to collect our luggage and get to the airport by taxi.

It was good that we did not missed the British Museum. I found it more interesting that the National Gallery. The museum is fairly large and we did not enough time to see it all. So we went to the specific sections that showed the "must-not-miss" items and themes that we want to see.

The "must-not-miss" items in our list are:

a. Crystal Skull - saw this in an Indiana Jones movie and was amazed to see that there is such an object in real life. In fact, there were about 3 such crystal skulls. One in London (this one), one in Paris and one in private collection. Which is real and which are fakes? Nobody knows. Another work of ancient aliens or hoax from the past?

Crystal Skull - inspiration for an Indiana Jones movie. Real or a hoax from the past.

b. Rosetta Stone - Rosetta Stone with carved text made up of three translations of a single passage. it contributed greatly to the deciphering of the principles of hieroglyphic writing (top of stone). I wonder if this stone also implies that 3 different cultures are co-living together at the same place in time. If not, why have 3 different languages on a single rock (or document).

Rosetta Stone with carved text made up of three translations of a single passage. It contributed greatly to the deciphering of the principles of hieroglyphic writing (located top of stone).

c. Elgin Marbles - these were originally part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens.

Elgin Marbles - a room is dedicated to these stones that are lined up and displayed as it would have been on top of the Parthenon.

The section displaying the Eqyptian mummies never fail to fascinate us, although we have seen similar exhibits in the Lourve Museum, Paris. This museum includes mummified cats.

Eqyptian mummies. Eerie and half expecting one to come alive while we watched.

Sarcophagus.

Mummified cats.

Other sections are Ancient Greece and Rome, Middle East Assyria, and Asia.

The Nereid Monument - resembles a Greek Temple. Took its name from the Nereids (sea nymphs whose statues were placed between the columns of the tomb). Dated about 400 BC.

Section on Ancient Eqypt.

There were many other exhibits that were fascinating.

Easter Island figurine.

Baboon statue.

This Winged Lion sculpture (above) is meant to be viewed from the front or side only. Else, you will see 5 legs! This is one of a pair of guardian figures that flanked one of the entrances into the throne room of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC).

 

Venus de Milo with arms? I believe this is a replica as the real famous statue of Venus is at Lourve Museum and without her arms.

One of the two Japanese suits of armour offered by the Japanese Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada to John Saris for King James I in 1613. This is the second suit. There is one displayed in the White Tower of the Tower of London .

I believe the exhibits on displayed are slowly changed over time. So, we may not get to see some of the items on our next visit. This museum will be in my list of places to visit when I come to London again.

There are so many interesting museums, attractions and landmarks to see in London.  With our 3 days in London for this vacation, we have only seen a small portion of London. We will be back.