London

My uncle Dave has taken me on holiday several times while I was a poor student and now I’m earning (yay!) I thought I’d try and repay him, so I took him to London for his birthday. We went to the British Museum and the Proms. I had a great time and I think (I hope) Dave did too.

We went to the Hadrian exhibition which was fantastic. It went through Hadrian’s life showing statues, models and various other artefacts. They had some Vindolanda tablets which are some of the earliest examples of cursive script. They’re really just everyday notes – lists, bills, short notes – and show the everyday life of people up at Hadrian’s Wall. It’s strange how the everyday, throwaway things really connect you to people who lived almost 2,000 years ago much more than the big monuments that they left behind. It makes them more real somehow.

After we saw the exhibition we had a look around the Assyrian, ancient Greek and Roman stuff. The Assyrian section began with wall panels from a palace at Ninevah which was apparently the capital city. The panels were incredible. They were originally painted and small sections still have some colour.

There was a game made around 2,600 BC called the Royal Game of Ur. It was played for about 3,000 years and has been found in the graves of six royals. It’s amazing to think that a game can be popular for so long.


Although I really wanted to see the Sutton Hoo grave-goods but we were a bit museum-ed out so headed to the hotel for a brief respite before heading to the proms.

The proms were incredible. I’d never seen classical music played live before and didn’t really understand why you’d want to as everyone sits down to play – it’s not really a show in the same way a rock concert is. Now I understand. The music was fantastic and seeing (and hearing) an entire orchestra playing together perfectly in time was beautiful.


On Saturday we went to Hyde Park and saw the summer pavilion. It was designed by Frank Gehry and I loved it! It was an open building but the way the roof panels was designed meant that inside stayed dry when it rained.

After a bit of shopping on Oxford Street (after getting us lost for about ¾ hour!) we had some lunch then headed home. A busy but entertaining trip.

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