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| Big Ben |
I have been to London many times and I never tire of it. This was my husband's 2nd visit to London so we began with a Thames River Sightseeing boat ride to Greenwich. This is a lovely way to see many of the iconic landmarks. Plus it's highlighted by an entertaining guide from the East-end of London with lots of amusing banter!
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| Palace of Westminster / Houses of Parliament |
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| Tower Bridge |
Greenwich is full of many treasures and is an easy day trip from London. Our primary objective on this visit was to go to the Royal Observatory.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich was founded in 1675 by King Charles II for maritime purposes. In order to provide accurate navigational information it was necessary to study astronomy. John Flamsteed was appointed as the first Astronomer Royal so the gracious apartments designed by Sir Christopher Wren became known as Flamsteed House. The house and Observatory complex sits at the top of a steep hill within Greenwich Park.
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| View of Royal Observatory |
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| Royal Observatory Greenwich |
This is also the home of Greenwich Mean Time. Since the late 19th century, the Prime Meridian at Greenwich has divided the eastern and western hemispheres of the Earth. So we stood over the Prime Meridian Line with one foot in each of the hemispheres!
Check out this view with Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs in the background!
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| View from Royal Observatory overlooking the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum |
Our return boat ride provided us with stunning night views!
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| Tower Bridge |
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| Big Ben |
In one of my previous visits to London a friend and I visited Sir John Soane's Museum. There was so much to see that I wanted to return.
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| Sir John Soane's Museum |
Sir John Soane was a great English architect from the 1780s-1832. He specialized in the Neo-Classical style and is best known for his work
on the Bank of England. The museum was a house he built and lived in until his death in 1837. It has been kept as it was at the time and displays his vast collection of antiquities, furniture, sculptures, architectural models and paintings.
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| Sir John Soane's Museum |
This is truly a hidden gem. Soane collected many works of art including paintings that he purposefully displayed in a Picture Room for easy viewing. He designed the room so that all works could hang by incorporating multiple door panels behind the walls! To see these, you should plan a full day for this museum. We arrived early in the morning so that we could get on the list for a free tour later in the day. So after lunch we went back to the museum for a "Drawing Office Tour".
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| The Drawing Office, Sir John Soane's Museum |
The Drawing Office was the creative heart of Soane’s home. Since there was no formal education for architecture when Soane began, it was important to him to teach basic architectural styles and concepts to young people. In this office his pupils would work on architectural projects and could be inspired by his collection. The office includes the original tools and casts as well as furniture.
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| Autumn 🍂 is here! Lincoln's Inn Fields |
And decorations for the holidays are already on show!
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| Selfridges Christmas storefront |
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| Selfridges Christmas storefront |
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| Christmas lights |
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| Hamleys toy store |
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| Hamleys toy store |
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| Paddington Bears |
The Victoria and Albert Museum, a museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient history to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.
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| Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington |
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| Chihuly glass installation, Victoria and Albert Museum |
I especially enjoyed their collection of jewelry. Prince Albert designed this coronet for his wife, Queen Victoria. It was one of the most important jewels worn by the young queen.
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| Queen Victoria's Sapphire and Diamond Coronet |
After Albert's death in 1861, Queen Victoria was grief-stricken and for years could not face the public ordeal of the ceremonial Opening of Parliament. But in 1866 she attended the event wearing this diamond & sapphire coronet. It remains an enduring symbol of their love.
Check-out this gorgeous display of rings!
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| Ring display at Victoria and Albert Museum |
This extraordinary Helmet shell was probably carved in Naples, Italy.
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| Carved Shell of Diana at the Hunt, about 1850 |
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| British Museum |
We are finding that some of the largest museums are providing online "routes" or "trails" that offer self-guided tours virtually or on-site. These "trails" help to lead one through the museum by highlighting popular objects.
There's no way I can capture all of the amazing items we saw. So, as a retired librarian and for my librarian friends, I have selected the following favorite to share:
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| Ashurbanipal's library (partial) |
Ashurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king, reigned from 668 BC to about 630 BC. He wanted access to all knowledge in his palace, so he collected thousands of tablets of literary works written in Mesopotamia, writings on divination, astrology, medicine and mathematics. Basically, he created the world's first library!
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| Close up of some of the tablets from Ashurbanipal's library |
Sadly, Ashurbanipal's library was destroyed in 612 BC. Only about 20,000 clay tablets survived the destruction. Librarians in the British Library are currently working on translations and cataloging of the remaining tablets.
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| Examples of cataloged tablets from Ashurbanipal's library |
Our current adventure ends here in London. It's time to return home so we can plan our next adventures!
Thank you for joining us this year. We're always looking for fun things to see, even at home. So check back here from time to time to see what else we've been doing.
Ciao, αντίο and cheerio for now! 👋
