Can't resist cute fluffy ducklings. Anyhoo, we made it to the Oceanarium only to find that everyone else had had the same idea and the queue was out of the front doors. We'd booked our tickets online that morning but not knowing where the fast lane was, we didn't really want to push.
We toddled off round the corner instead, away from the sideways rain and wind to find somewhere to have a cuppa while the queue or the weather calmed down. Settled down in a nice little cafe/restaurant called West Beach, just round the corner from the Oceanarium. Amazing deluxe hot chocolate and, at least when we went in, friendly staff.
So far, so good. We blithered about in the cafe for a while before deciding to brave the rain again. Neither weather nor queue had really changed, but we stuck it out and eventually made it into the Oceanarium.
It was RAMMED. Mostly folks with kids who didn't understand the concept of not banging on the glass. Ugh. The actual content of the Oceanarium itself was pretty good, especially considering it's not a very big place. It includes such things as otters...
A new exhibit of penguins, which very few people seemed to have discovered...
A pair of Green Sea Turtles, called Friday and Crusoe...
An assortment of small (out of focus) sharks...
A group of African Dwarf Crocodiles that look like weird garden ornaments, they're that little...
Nautilus, which are super cool, if a little bit dim, photowise...
There's also a pair of Loggerhead Turtles, but I've got no even vaguely decent photos of them. And of course the obligatory tanks of tropical fish, without which no aquarium is complete. Oh, and seahorses. Cute seahorses.
Basically, the Oceanarium is pretty good. You get in cheaper if you book in advance online.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in Wetherspoons with a nice pint of cider while it rained some more outside. And then I had a go at Limbo because Claire thought I should have another go at a video game while I was staying with her. Let's just say I'm not so great with gaming. Limbo's pretty cool though.
The next morning was an early start again to catch the train back to Grimsby. I stopped off in London on the way to break up the otherwise 6 hour train journey. I'd intended to visit the Hunterian Museum so headed off from Waterloo Station on foot, across the Thames, along the Strand and then up Kingsway. Found my way there just fine, only to find that it doesn't open on Mondays, so it'll have to wait for another trip.
Instead I found a bench in Lincoln's Inn Fields, the little park that the museum faces, and ate my breakfast. Saw a rat. Had a quick look on Google Maps for something else nearby that I could check out. Settled on the British Museum, just up the road.
A short walk later, during which someone asked me for directions to the British Museum (do I look like a non-tourist?), I went to dump my bag and coat at the cloakroom. Apparently it's £1.50 per item and given how short I was on change, I opted to just leave my bag and carry my coat. If I'd thought about it, I probably could have fit my coat inside the bag. I'll remember that next time.
I'd intended originally just to spend a couple of hours there and then find another place to check out. I ended up spending all day there. Good thing, really - there's so much to see that you need a good few hours to get the most out of it.
Managed to see quite a big chunk of the collections, which makes a change from previous visits. Some really fascinating objects, like this case full of cuneiform tablets.
Cuneiform is one of the earliest forms of writing, used in the ancient Middle East. It's awesome. And then there's this little tablet from Babylon, which is potentially the oldest map of the world (c. 500BC).
It's hard to tell from this photo, so here's a diagram of it from Wikipedia. The little spikes around the outside are islands of some sort and are partly why it's considered a map of the world and not just of the region around Babylon.
There's also a whole room about pre-Roman Italy, which is really interesting and an area I don't know much about. It includes these funky little figures. Look quite modern to me.
Also these beautiful pieces from the ship burial at Sutton Hoo. All intricate enamel, glass, stones and gold.
For any Time Team fans there's this case full of Samian Ware from Roman era Britain.
These little beads from an ancient burial that look like they belong in Mario Kart.
I also made sure to check out the Assyrian galleries. I hadn't realised how much Assyrian art and sculpture they had before. Things like these iconic gate guardians.
And these enormous gates.
There's also some pieces from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Wonders of the Ancient World. Pretty cool. These two statues are thought to be of Mausolos and his wife Artemisia (also his sister, ew).
There's a temporary exhibition on at the moment about Indigenous Australia. I lived out there for a year, so I figured I'd check it out (£10 entry). Not much that I hadn't already seen similar of in Australia, but interesting nonetheless. Intriguing to see how the Museum justifies its continued possession of Indigenous artefacts that their traditional owners feel should be returned. Even better to see that there was a reasonably large coverage of Tasmania, which sometimes seems to get a bit forgotten. Tasmania is awesome. No photos from this exhibition because of a request from the traditional owners that no photos be taken of the objects.
Aside from all of the above interesting things, there's a great display of Chinese jade that I'd not noticed before, some fascinating cases of Mesoamerican objects and a whole gallery of Egyptian artefacts that I completely bypassed because it's always heaving and I've seen it before. Just had to nip back upstairs when I thought I was almost finished because I'd forgotten to find the Lewis Chessmen. Shame I didn't get a picture of the little berserker pieces biting their shields, but here you go.
If you're heading to the British Museum soon, there's some cool exhibitions coming up - Celts I think? Yup - Celts: Art & Identity, opens 24th September. Only thing to note, and it's probably obvious - food inside the Museum is expensive. Either bring your own or pop out and explore the surrounding streets for better value grub.
Finally left the museum just before 4 in an attempt to avoid rush hour on the Tube. Which I sort of half managed - Russell Square Station was empty but the actual train was busy. Have I mentioned how the Tube freaks me out? Yeah... so the train apparently stalling twice in the few seconds after we pulled away from the platform wasn't fun. Totally thought we were going to be stuck in the tunnel. Then the driver comes over the tannoy: "Can you please keep away from the doors, ladies and gentlemen?" Think the guy next to me was a bit worried by my almost silent mantra of "It's only 1 stop. It's only 1 stop. It's only 1 stop." Sorry, dude.
Basically, I had a great weekend. Really wish I'd managed to get into the Hunterian Museum though...
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