There are not a lot of places in the neighborhood open early for coffee in the neighborhood – but I did find a Cafe Nero a short walk over on Ladbroke that will do, and I got some grounds to make a French press so that will help.

Not too worse for the wear, we headed to Ladbroke Station to visit the Granddaddy of all museums, the British Museum. I learned the museum had a metamorphosis 25 years ago not unlike what the Louvre went through in the 1980s. The entrance was cramped and difficult to move people through, so they torn the old place down and enclosed the space.

Here is the Great Court with the Reading Room in the middle before reconstruction:

And after:

The enclosed space is over 6000 sq meters or 1 1/2 acres, the largest in Europe.

The reading room reimagined is still a grand space.

I think all of the school children of London were visiting, it was a teeming mass of humanity everywhere we went, teeming!

And much like the Louvre leads with its best, putting the Winged Victory of Samothrace at the top of the Dura Staircase, the first thing you see when you enter the Egyptian Gallery is the Rosetta Stone.

While my photo skills are lacking, this rock still represents the single greatest archeological find. Imagine all those poor archeologists who went to their grave never knowing what the ancient Egyptians were writing about, and they wrote a lot! Then somebody decides to create a cheat sheet – talk about smart – that explains exactly how to convert from ancient Egyptian to Ancient Greek, and then the rest is, as they say, is history.

Jean-François Champollion worked like a dog to figure out the translation scheme – overshadowing the earlier work by Brit Thomas Young, he is credited with being the founder of Egyptology.

Their Egypt wing is the largest outside of Cairo – they took a lot of antiquities back in the day, filled ships with their plunder. Here is the great Ramses II.

Here is a 30-ton Asseryain door statue from Nimrud – they had to be cut in half to take it to England, the patchwork of the repair is meager at best.

But I think the hardest thing to understand about this place is the Elgin Marbles. There is a big sign in the room where these pieces – literally cut off of the Pantheon in Athens -declaring them as a “gift” to Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. at the beginning of the 19th century. And he didn’t just take one or two as a keepsake – he took all of them, all of the figures from the pediment, and all of the frieze that lined the entire Pantheon.

Capturing the human form in motion like only the Greeks could, they are magnificent works.

While the Brits argue that they have been good caretakers of these works – which is true – I don’t think there is any good argument that they should remain in England. Give them back Charles, do it!

Famished, we walked down to Covent Garden to see what that was all about. It turns out not much.

But we did find an Honest Burger – Traci told us they were good – and she is right. And their rosemary chips are to die for. Now reenergized, we decided we had enough in the tank to take on another big museum, the National Gallery. I wanted to go ostensibly to see the three Caravaggio’s, and they did not disapoint.

Here is Supper at Emmaus, when the resurrected Jesus blesses the food at the dinner he was invited to by his disciples, capturing the moment they realize who he is.

I love the worn out jacket.

And the hand in the background larger than the one in the foreground; Caravaggio certainly understood perspective, so he purposely did this to convey emotional intensity.

And then there is the forlorn Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist

The story of the death of John the Baptist is related in the Gospel of Mark. John had criticized King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias, and she sought revenge. At Herod’s birthday feast, Herodias’s daughter Salome so delighted the King by her dancing that he promised her anything she wanted. Encouraged by her mother, she asked for the Baptist’s head, and the King had John executed. Salome clearly regrets her decision.

And finally the whimsical Boy Bitten by a Lizard

Oh Ruby, don’t be so jealous – it doesn’t become you.

This museum has a world class collection from every art era, and we wandered the rooms finding stunning piece after stunning piece, like this JMM Turner seascape:

Or this lovely Van Gogh Landscape with Ploughman

Or the iconic Rembrandt self portrait

The crowds here were decidedly more mature – hardly any kids.

We found a cafe overlooking Trafalgar Square and got a much needed coffee. One-armed Lord Admiral Nelson looked down approvingly on us

Encouraged by the caffeine, we decided to walk the Mall and go to Buckingham Palace. It’s a nice house.

From here we headed for the neighborhood of Mayfair, we had a date.

Mayfair is a beautiful village with handsome homes and inviting green space.

Just as we arrived at our destination so too did my colleagues Charlotte (right) and Emer who flew in from Shannon that morning.

At the Marriott Mayfair the doorman in top hat and tails took us to this door and did a “secret” knock, and then we waited.

Soon a young waiter opened the window and said “Welcome”. He led us down to a very quaint but fancy pub, their version of a modern day speakeasy.

The cocktails were inventive and beautifully presented – and delicious.

After a few of these we teetered over to Mercato Mayfair, a former church converted to a food market. It was a hopping place. On the way we passed Grosvenor Square and when I mentioned I thought I recognized a statute of Eisenhauer, a man passing by confirmed it and explained the building next to it was once the American Embassy and is now a high-end hotel. Unsolicited history advice on the fly – he didn’t even stop.

I like Ike.

All manner of food was available here, Indian, Chinese, Italian, you name it, you could have it.

We filled ourselves to the brim and realized that our night was complete. The gals wandered back to their hotel and I put a crowbar in my wallet and ordered an Uber. Clearly angels were still present in the church, bestowing on us their halos.

With love,

M&T