British Museum

Where: London, England

When: June 7, 2003

With: London flatmates

The first morning I ever arrived in London is still so vivid to me. Traveling for the second time ever to Europe and for the first time alone, everything was so new and different. Flying into Gatwick, the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station, the black cab ride where the driver took pleasure in touring me past Buckingham Palace and Big Ben on the way to my flat was all so surreal on that clear, sunny morning.

I was arriving for the start of my one-month study abroad program with FSU. I knew about the major sites of London, obviously, but was ready to dig into the sites I didn't know very much about. Upon arriving to my flat, one of my flatmates was there and after a quick nap and a bite to eat, we decided to venture out down the street to start exploring our new home. 

The FSU Study Centre is pretty amazing. The school actually owns a block of townhouses on Great Russell Street, just down from Tottenham Court Road, making it ideally located in the smack middle of London. Students from tons of other universities actually come to FSU because of the quality and convenience of the program. And if Great Russell Street sounds familiar for another reason, it should. Because about two blocks down from the study centre sits one of the most famous museums in the world: the British Museum. 

Established in 1753, this museum is both amazing and controversial. It is basically a physical representation of all the conquering and colonialism of the British Empire, with several works taken from distant lands to be displayed for English enjoyment. While there are a lot countries with a lot of feelings about that, it sure makes for one heck of a collection, focused on telling the story of human existence through 8 million pieces of art and artifacts. 

I'll be honest, I didn't know much of what to expect when my flatmate and I came across the museum. I was so jetlagged at that point, I can't even remember if we stumbled on the museum or went with intent. I can't even remember if I knew what it was. Either way, it was hard to not be drawn in that day as they were celebrating the 250th anniversary of the museum. As such, they appropriately had a giant bow tied around the facade of the already impressive exterior. 

They additionally had a big party on the front lawn going on. A party of a Scandinavian nature, that is. The demonstrations were paying homage to the Vikings that blew through the British Isles in the Dark Ages and had a huge impact in shaping the England we know today. 

Here's the vikings, battling with wooden swords and shields. 

We watched for a little while before entering the building. I was immediately blown away upon entering The Great Court. It was like they took four separate buildings and made them one by adding a giant glass roof connected by a beauitfully patterned ironwork design. It was so cool! And it made the entry so naturally bright unlike most museums I'd ever ever been in. 

The round building in the direct middle of the court is called the Reading Room. I don't have any photos, but it is basically a giant round library that goes three stories up and feels like something from Hogwarts. It was amazing. 

In the building to the left of the Great Court is where most of the collection lies. Our first aim was to head for the ancient Greek relics. While making our way down the long hall of the building, there is a reconstruction of the Nereid Monument towards the end. Thought to have been built in the 4th century BC, but subsequently destroyed, this recreation incorporates some of the actual ruins into what it was thought to have looked like. And in front of it, a quartet playing music that echoed throughout the museum.

And just past this, in a long hallway that spans the end of the building is one of the most popular and controversial collections: the Elgin Marbles. It really should be the Parthenon Marbles as these are the actual friezes that used to sit atop the Parthenon in Athens. However, in the early 1800s, the 7th Earl of Elgin removed the marbles and had them shipped back to England. While the Greek government would like them back, England said that they didn't want to send them back until a facility was built that could properly preserve them. Well, Greece answered back with a brand new museum opened in the 2009 that is ready to receive them, but so far, they still sit in the British Museum. 

Each side of the Parthenon was lined with friezes that told a different story through its panels. Usually involving men marching off to a well-known war or a famous myth, a complete story is told on each of the four sides. The marbles are arranged by side to tell the story in order through the gallery in the museum. 

I'm not sure I remember much else from my first visit to the museum, but I have visited a few times since then, and saw more of the museum on those visits. In addition to the marbles, there are plenty of other Greek statues around this wing of the museum. Even though half of them are missing heads and I'm not usually very good at interpreting who the statues are of or what they might be, I love classical sculptures. I'm always fascinated by the realistic detail the sculptor was able to create with a hunk of stone. 

The next area to explore are the Middle Eastern artifacts. 

This area had friezes of its own. Though not of the same star power as the Elgin Marbles, these all had similar unbelievable ages attached to them, usually a couple hundred to thousand years BC. 

These reliefs are called The Assyrian Lion Hunt and date back to about mid-600s BC. It was crazy because I could actually follow this story of a bunch of men going out on their chariots to hunt a bunch of lions for sport. 

I can't tell if these guys are going to war or playing music. I guess they had both in a lion hunt?

Spoiler alert: things didn't go very well for the lions. The sculptor captured such incredible detail that I almost found it hard to look at.  

Dave, either enjoying the story or amazed at how old these pieces of stone are. 

Now onto the corridor of Egyptian statues. 

Can't tell if this is tongue and cheek since most of the Egyptian relics were not necessarily "entrusted" as much as "taken" from Egypt by the British?

Now these statues were old. 

One of the most famous relics in the Egyptian area: the colossal granite head of Amenhotep III. It dates from 1370 BC. 

Another famous head in the museum: the Younger Memnon, dating from around 1270 BC. Both of these heads were huge and weigh literally tons. Imagine how big the statues they come from originally must have weighed?

Now here's the stuff I creepily love: the mummies! So morbid, but also fascinating. 

We ended our time in the museum with some old school portraits of some very happy looking people. 

We also saw some jewelry which always amazes me because in reality, jewelry hasn't actually changed that much over the last few thousand years. 

Despite a few visits and several hours exploring, I have barely scratched the surface of all this museum has to offer. In fact, I feel like every time I go to check on a "Top 10" list for the museum, I learn about a new artifact that I've never seen or knew was there. While slightly controversial, this museum is just amazing.