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So on our 3rd day in London, we had a bus ticket to Cambridge ready to leave around mid-afternoon. Our plan was to go to the British museum in the morning, but when when we got there, it wasn't going to open for a couple hours. Our new plan was to head over to the British National Library. It happens to be a horridly ugly building...and was also not open yet. We wandered down the street and stumbled upon this enormous gothic-esque building that turned out to be the Pancras Hotel. It was a little initimidating to go inside, so we took photos and then headed back to the library to wait in line for it to open. A middle-aged, friendly guy was in line next to us, and we ended up having a great conversation about the Pancras Hotel, it's history, the history of this section of London, middle-class English life, and kids (he had 5 from our kids' ages up to college).
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Too bad we didn't sneak inside, because this is the grand staircase... (Photo from the hotel website)
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| (more photos from the site...) |
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| Doesn't this look like a Wes Anderson set? I wish I had gone in... |
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| In the courtyard in front of the British National Libary |
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| This is the British Library -- It's not exactly hideous, but, really, in the midst of so much beautiful architecture from so many eras... |
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| When we got in, we found out we could go into any of the reading rooms or have access to any books unless we had a library card. We almost left, but found a "treasures" room open to the public and free. We saw a note Michelangelo wrote to his dad telling him he had finished the Sistine Chapel's ceiling and was happy with it; Handel's "Messiah" written in his own hand; Bach's hand-written "Well-Tempered Clavier" manuscript; Jane Austen's writing desk where she wrote all of her novels as well her hand-written Persuasion novel; Shakespeare's first folio; Codex Sinaiticus -- the earliest complete copy of the New Testament; The Lindisfarne Gospels; Gutenberg's Bible of 1455; Diamond Sutra - the world's earliest dated printed book; A note that Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn wrote to their cardinal asking for the King's divorce to get hurried along...in their own handwriting; The handwritten lyrics to "A Hard's Days' Night" written by John Lennon on the back of his son's birthday card; Leonardo da Vinci's notebook...and more. It was kind of mind-blowing. |
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| Then we made it to the British Library. We decided to go to the British/Roman treasures found in Britain and the jewelry and clocks rooms. |
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| Many things from Lincoln, England... |
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| The dots are places where all these treasures were found... |
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| 1st/2nd Century Jewelry |
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| Jewelry from a young child's grave, 1st Century |
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| Londesborough Brooch, AD750-850; Popular type in Ireland, used to fasten a cloak. |
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| Ring brooches from Ireland under Viking influence |
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| Necklace from the Baltic Sea Region; influenced by Scandinavian Viking women's fashion |
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| Early to mid-19th century, German |
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| Gothic-style earrings, maybe made in Berlin around 1820 |
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| Diamond oak-leaf tiara from English, Hunt, & Roskell of London, 1855 |
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| A really fun clock run by weights on pulleys...fascinating to follow all the interplay happening to make it perpetually run... |
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| A clearer photo with no people obscuring it...from a blog called Morgan Bakies |
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| Ceiling of the British Museum opening room |
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| British Museum entrance...it was about 4 times as wide as this... |
