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Fulham Thursday 1st September, woke up thinking it was only 4am, was in fact 7am and I was late for my early cappuccino at the Mimosa Street Starbucks. They truly do a very ordinary coffee but are a hotspot for free wireless internet access!

An afternoon at the British Museum

Chris Jack
2006-02-28 19:24:54

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Fulham Thursday 1st September, woke up thinking it was only 4am, was in fact 7am and I was late for my early cappuccino at the Mimosa Street Starbucks. They truly do a very ordinary coffee but are a hotspot for free wireless internet access!

Ordered a grande café latte and proceeded to write yesterday’s journal about our time at the Millennium Dome, I then scoured the smh.com.au to discover that John Brogden had attempted suicide so I quickly switched back to London time zone and started to think about the day ahead.

Today (Thursday 1st September) is my last day in Fulham for a about a week. Tomorrow morning I’m flying to the Republic of Ireland for a week of relaxation (I hope) and to spend some time with the Irish side of the family.

So what did happen today? I spent about 90 minutes drinking one coffee at Starbucks and probably downloading a couple of hundred mb of data courtesy of someone’s unsecured wireless network, it was then down to the Fulham dry cleaners to drop of my dirty laundry (riveting stuff so far I know).

It was a lazy morning spent reading the local papers, attempting a couple of sudoku puzzles (I can’t believe I’m doing them) and searching for cheap flights to Spain and Italy.

It was then time to head out again with fellow tourist Bel. We decided today was the day to visit the British Museum and we chose to get there on a good old’ fashion London double-decker.

Now if you are in a hurry, the bus is not the best way to move around this city but it makes a change from the hectic tube environment and I do recommend it at least once during your London stay - but only if you are not in a hurry!

The first thing that strikes you about the British Museum (apart from the pleasing fact that it is free) is the grand entrance, which used to be the staff car park. Now it’s an incredible hall with a ceiling that seems to defy gravity.

There is no doubt that the British Museum is one of the finest museums in the world. It was founded in 1753 to “…promote universal understanding through the arts, natural history and science in a public museum… and I guess to show how far and wide the British Empire extended.

It was visited by nearly 5 million visitors last year and continues to be on of the most popular attractions in London.

Some of the key exhibits worth visiting (and probably not all in one visit) include the Rosetta stone, the Lindisfarne Gospels, Egyptian Hall, the Tomb of Payava, the Elgin Marbles & the Sutton Hoo treasure (British Museum).

Make sure you buy an official museum guide so that you decide which parts of the museum you wish to see. Free entry means you could make a couple of trips which is a much better option than trying to see every major exhibit in one hit.

The British Museum was one the highlights of my trip to London and will be one of the first places I visit when I return