Parts of the Wholes

We both had frustrating days dealing with a few of the bureaucracies and miscommunications that seem to come along with life in London, but luckily we had already planned an evening of free wandering through two venerable London institutions--the perfect antidote to the multitude of quotidian realities that were on our minds. Destination number one was the National Gallery, with its picture-perfect setting on Trafalgar Square. Here's a view from the front of the gallery, just before we went inside:

And here's a view of the gallery, after we emerged:
Since photos aren't allowed in the gallery itself, I don't have any visuals to share with you, but the Manet to Picasso exhibit was wonderful. Judging by the crowd that had gathered around, Van Gogh's Sunflowers was probably the most popular of the exhibit, but many of the other paintings were equally (more?) mesmerising in both content and execution. After seeing that exhibit, we randomly visited a few of the other rooms, and I was lucky enough to happen upon the only Pierre Bonnard painting in the collection--as with all his work, I found myself standing there for quite some time, fascinated. Having only seen the smallest fraction of the collection and resolving to return for more, we decided to head to our second destination, the British Museum. We learned that the museum's Great Court, an expansive space enclosed by a glass, Pei-like roof, is the largest covered public square in Europe--definitely worth a return visit on a sunny day.
As with our time at the National Gallery, we decided to walk through one small section of the British Museum. In this case, we chose the rooms that focussed on ancient Egypt. Since photos are allowed at the British Museum, I can show you a bit of what we saw! As has happened many times on our travels, it was surreal to come across something that we had heard about so many times, but really never expected to see--the Rosetta Stone:

After a hard day of teaching, Bob contemplated if getting maimed by this tomb guardian would be a good enough reason to call in sick tomorrow, but I rescued him at the last minute.
Part of the exhibit dealt with death rituals, including mummification and other methods of preservation. We didn't expect actual people to be part of this exhibit, and the degree of preservation was simultaneously intriguing and disturbing. On our way out, we walked around the Great Court and realized that the dome at its centre contained a reading room--a gasp-inducing sight that really stretches your expectations of the word "room":