The British Museum, August 15, 2015

The British Museum, August 15, 2015

So, I took a train from The Lake District back to London and my train back to Paris doesn't leave for several hours so, where is my favorite place to visit in London?  The British Museum!! I think I took at least 150 pictures there. I love it! I think I can share a maximum of about 25 before my system says it is on overload so I will try to give you a pretty good overview of my favorite areas.

These were in the lobby. Some kind of

modern art. Interesting.

I always like the Egyptian mummies. So, here are some of those.  Look at the detail of inside these caskets.

Also, the ornate buriel wrappings.

 

These are actually vials of some sort with lids on them

in the shape of shoes. 

I like this sculpture of a Roman man with whites in his eyes. 

This skull was used to make a reconstruction of

what this man might have looked like.

I also like the ancient Mesopotamia areas

so here they are also. 

 

 

Look at these pointed helmets they wore then. They found that being pointed it deflected arrows and

other objects thrown their way.

On this visit to the museum, I focused somewhat on ancient to medieval England, so here is some of that.  I photographed some of the Crusades items.

 

Doesn't this dude look like he is wearing sun glasses? Cool!

This is a cover for incense.

The new thing that I saw today for the first time was the exhibit on the discoveries of ancient Ur.

I heard several years ago about them digging up something like 26,000 clay tablets but the relics that they found, I suppose along with that dig, I didn't know about. I guess they found a royal burial ground. Here is a photo of that.

Also, 2 ancient lyres from that time period

a gold shawl,

 

 

 

 

and an ornate headdress.

 

 

 

 

My visit to the

British Museum was fabulous -

as usual!

The Cotswolds, August, 2015, Part 2

The Cotswolds, August, 2015, Part 2

So, I have 2 more things to blog about The Cotswolds. I had a tour guide who took me around the countryside and I went to an art gallery with the tour guide which was a pure delight and surprise!  So, here goes!

My tour guide was Don Wright. We drove around about 2 hours for 2 days so that I could "see what I could see". (my motto!)

Don picked me up at Stratford-on-Avon and we just drove around. The Cotswolds is a district of the UK consisting of many villages. The common thread, if you will, is the wool industry, the rolling hills, sheep and, of course, the prevalence of thatched roofs. The "Brits" are known for their beautiful gardens and The Cotswolds is an incredible display of that gift, or craft or as you wish to describe it. I have never seen such a flurry of color and types of flowers in my life!

I listed in my former blog the names of many of the villages that we visited so here I will basically show pictures of what I saw.

There was a Lord Weams' estate that we drove by.

His family was one of the Lords that presided over this area during the massive wool production times. Now the estate consists of many hundreds of acres here and land also in Scotland. On the grounds here there is a fountain that is the highest natural fountain, I believe Don said, in the world. It reminds me of the fountain in Geneva, Switzerland that goes straight up but this fountain was a naturally occurring water force that was redirected to straight up. I think they only turn on the fountain on special occasions and it was running while I was watching. I took a video and as soon as I figure out how to load and run my video program, I have lots of short videos to include in my blogs. Including the running of this fountain.

On the estate there is an outbuilding

that is now used for weddings and events.

They also have a church on the estate grounds. 

There is an outbuilding in the middle of a field. Don explains to me that, I think he said, it was a building for friends to observe or rest during the hockey playing in the fields.

Don pointed out that the "feet" of the building look like upright cement mushrooms. They have a specific name for it but they were used to hold up buildings due to the sometimes "marshy" conditions following the frequent rains.

Don took me to a village, I believe it was Lower Slaughter, which had a water mill with ducks nearby. The watermill is not used professionally any longer but holds a gift shop on the premises.

Don also took me to a lavender field.

Lavender is grown in this area.

 

The countryside is beautiful. Very green and lush!

After several hours of sightseeing Don asked me if I wanted to do something different. I said yes! So, we went to an art gallery. The gallery was called "The Yellow Hat Tribe" art gallery located at Brookfield Farm, Chipping Norton.

Irene was not there but her husband, Vince, showed us her work.

I immediately loved it and bought several of her

greeting cards to pass on as gifts.

Since nature was calling, and there was no toilet in the gallery, Vince took me to the house and look what I discovered there!

Vince went to Zimbabwe to buy ostriches for his farm and found and purchased this incredible patio furniture. The table is massive and very heavy. I love the African touch it adds to Vince and Irene's backyard.

So, after 2 wonderful days of sightseeing here, I am off to yet another adventure, Bath. But before I go, I would like to share with you a few more of my favorite photos of this area.

 

Cheerio!