Adventures in Europe, Day 18: London
I had planned to make an early start and go to the British Museum at the crack of dawn today, but laziness conspired otherwise. Ended up leaving around 11:30 after spending most of the morning on zee Internetz. Fine by me, really. I'm feeling quite lethargic these days. Alda, however, was feeling even more lethargic and was having a bad headache, so she opted to stay behind.
The British Museum was really, really cool. The fact that it's completely free contributes to its coolness in many ways, not least of which is the fact that you can just waltz right in and then wander back out when you're feeling over-museumed, grab something to eat, and then return to wherever you left without any hassle. The Egyptian collection was really fun, especially because I discovered that I can still read some basic Classical Egyptian funerary offering formulas from the "good old days" in Writing Systems of Ancient Egypt. (Thanks, Joe Manning.) I also enjoyed the special exhibit on the Enlightenment and the founding of the BM - it was really interesting to see how antiquities were collected, studied, and restored in that period.
After the BM, I headed down to Charing Cross Road and explored Foyles' for a bit. There seems to be some pan-Londonian 3-for-2 deal on Oxford University Press' Very Short Introductions, a few of which I've paged through and liked, so I'm tempted to purchase a few on topics where I feel especially ignorant. I don't think I'll do it at Foyles', though, as they have them scattered throughout the store by general subject area - the philosophical ones in one place, econ and politics in another, literature and religion in a third. Not very accessible. I prefer them all to be in one place, preferably ordered by number. (Am I obsessive-compulsive or what?) I also found a really interesting book called Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer, about the neurology of music. I read the first chapter or two, and it looks really interesting. I may buy it when it comes out in paperback - hardcovers are far too expensive, especially on the pound.
Back at home, we had a most delicious dinner (if I may say so myself) consisting of my signature fried salmon with pecans, rice, and an improvised version of the spinach grapefruit walnut craisin goat cheese salad - the walnuts weren't candied, and the goat cheese we bought was so hard and bizarre that we decided to leave it out. It all turned out quite well nonetheless. We had planned to watch To Have and Have Not after dinner, but as it's rather late and we are moving Alda in tomorrow morning, we're foregoing that pleasure and heading straight to bed.
The British Museum was really, really cool. The fact that it's completely free contributes to its coolness in many ways, not least of which is the fact that you can just waltz right in and then wander back out when you're feeling over-museumed, grab something to eat, and then return to wherever you left without any hassle. The Egyptian collection was really fun, especially because I discovered that I can still read some basic Classical Egyptian funerary offering formulas from the "good old days" in Writing Systems of Ancient Egypt. (Thanks, Joe Manning.) I also enjoyed the special exhibit on the Enlightenment and the founding of the BM - it was really interesting to see how antiquities were collected, studied, and restored in that period.
After the BM, I headed down to Charing Cross Road and explored Foyles' for a bit. There seems to be some pan-Londonian 3-for-2 deal on Oxford University Press' Very Short Introductions, a few of which I've paged through and liked, so I'm tempted to purchase a few on topics where I feel especially ignorant. I don't think I'll do it at Foyles', though, as they have them scattered throughout the store by general subject area - the philosophical ones in one place, econ and politics in another, literature and religion in a third. Not very accessible. I prefer them all to be in one place, preferably ordered by number. (Am I obsessive-compulsive or what?) I also found a really interesting book called Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer, about the neurology of music. I read the first chapter or two, and it looks really interesting. I may buy it when it comes out in paperback - hardcovers are far too expensive, especially on the pound.
Back at home, we had a most delicious dinner (if I may say so myself) consisting of my signature fried salmon with pecans, rice, and an improvised version of the spinach grapefruit walnut craisin goat cheese salad - the walnuts weren't candied, and the goat cheese we bought was so hard and bizarre that we decided to leave it out. It all turned out quite well nonetheless. We had planned to watch To Have and Have Not after dinner, but as it's rather late and we are moving Alda in tomorrow morning, we're foregoing that pleasure and heading straight to bed.