British Museum

I finished all my work last night, so today I was free to go sightseeing with my family all day long. Woohoo! First, we went to Tottenham Court Road and saw the British Museum, reputed as the BEST MUSEUM EVER. But really, it is supposed to be the best museum in the world. We saw the mummy of Cleopatra, and we saw the Rosetta Stone, and we saw oodles of Greek and Roman statues, and tons of other cool things. Like most museums, the sheer volume of cool things to look at made it overwhelming and tiring. We left after two hours, but we saw all the cool things there were to see, so I think we were all pretty satisfied.

After leaving the museum, we went west a little ways to Buckingham Palace. We walked up to it and saw it, and turned around to come back. There’s not really much to see there; it’s surrounded by some nice parks, but the palace itself is a little boring to see, unless you get to see the Changing of the Guard or something. We got something to eat, and then Dad decided he wanted to buy me a nice backpack for my trip coming up, and I graciously obliged. We shopped around a little bit, but didn’t buy anything today. He wants to make sure I’m ready for my cool trip coming up.

Let’s see, were there any cool stories today? Well, we waited at one tube stop for about twenty minutes for a Circle Line train and watched eight District Line trains come and go. It was a curious emotional dynamic, watching all those trains, useless to us, go by. From about three to five, it was frustrating and angrifying (the verb here is angrify, meaning to make angry or upset), but after five, it was actually a little bit funny. It’s always a little amusing when the world conspires against you. Ya, it’s upsetting, but you just have to admire the amazing circumstances which all fall into place to ruin your day. Here’s the kicker: we were on our way to look at one more backpack place when we were accosted by all the District Line trains. We arrived at the store at seven o’clock, having finally caught the train we needed, and we were just in time to watch the shopkeeper lock the door as we walked towards it, five feet away. That type of coincidence is too perfect to make you angry. You just have to shake your head in admiration and walk away with a smile on your face.

I took a bunch of pictures today. I try not to take many pictures when I travel, or when I do something cool, because they lose their significance if there are too many. I try to plan out one or two special, cool pictures of something and leave it at that, but alas, that system fell apart today. There were just too many cool things. There’s one picture here taken through a hole in a modern art piece in the center of the museum, focused on the imitation Greek building behind it, so that the picture is ringed with silvery metal. I think this is a cool picture because the modern part, the sculpture, is an amorphous, natural shape, while the ancient part has form and structure. You would expect it to be the other way around. There’s also a picture of Cleopatra’s mummy, just because she’s so famous, and of the Rosetta Stone. Oh, and a bonus picture of this shell-chalice foot thingy. My mom has pictures of the family on her camera, so I’m afraid I can’t share them here. And I wouldn't anyway, because I don't want the CIA to be able to prove my association with these people. It's for their own safety.