Oct Week 2
10-10 Mon (Lazy day)
Lazy day. I’ve been enjoying a second playthrough of Disco Elysium during evening downtimes with my good budy and traveling companion, brown trout.
BOOP!
10-11 Tue (Portobello Road)
Some cuties in the morning:
In the afternoon I took a nice loop to check out Portobello Market to the northeast - a long strip of road open to pedestrians, lined with stalls of all sorts. It was a weekday so I wasn’t expecting too much craziness - I just wanted to scope out the area and get some fresh air.
On the way I stopped to check out a number of big green areas I could see in google maps, which of course turned out to be private gardens reserved for the wealthy residents of the area. My curiosity got the best of me while walking past the first park I happened across, arriving just as someone was leaving. They were happy to hold the gate for me, and despite the fact that they had to badge out to open the gate and the very explicit notices just inside about watching for piggybackers . . . no alarm bells went off in my head till I was well inside and realized I was stuck. After several laps, scoping which gate I wanted to scale, I was able to (oh so graciously) help a woman with a stroller by holding the gate for her (and me).
The rest of the way to Portobello was thankfully uneventful, and the markets were pretty quiet as expected. No photos here for now, but we’ll be back!
I did spot a fun halloween cat on the way home, though.
10-12 Wed (British Museum)
Off to check out another of London’s wonderful free museums!
We found a fox in a box just outside the museum with some rather colorful advertisements (not for the little ones or the weak of heart).
On our way in!
We were immediately sucked into the first few halls about Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece in the Bronze Age. Seeing such extraordinarily old items and reading about how the histories of the different ages intertwined was pretty awesome . . . but I will spare you the bulk of my pictures of little trinkets that don’t really come across in images.
The Knossos Palace on Crete was just a tiny little place.
And on to a slightly younger Ancient Greece!
These little squatting men cracked me up.
This Gorgon is making a funny face at you!
A double walled wine vase to keep it cool. No one likes hot wine.
I did a double take when I read that this was Dionysos. The info plaque reads, “Earlier images show the god as mature, bearded, and clothed, while later images show him as youthful, naked, and slightly androgynous.” Pretty interesting to see a depiction that doesn’t involve naked people, grapes, and overflowing glasses of wine.
The “Living and Dying” room.
I didn’t catch the info sign for this mobile, but the themes seem to speak for themselves.
A pretty poignant piece, ‘Cradle to Grave’. Each side contains 14,000 drugs, the “. . . estimated average prescribed to every person in Britain in their lifetime . . .”
I took a video of the entire length, as photos simply didn’t do it justice.
(Please forgive the non-stabilized video)
The Piranesi Vase, a reconstruction of a huge vase from ancient Rome by, well, Piranesi.
On to Egypt.
This head was massive! Particularly interesting that Ramesses II updated it with his own features - “This is my head now!” Not pictured is the giant hand that looked oh-so fist bumpable.
Some guard lions.
Seriously epic.
The Assyrian lion hunting exhibit was also extraordinary.
Walls upon walls of stone reliefs depicting the act of rounding up and hunting lions in an arena as a means of displaying the awe inspiring power of the king at the time. If you’re interested in reading more, I found a particularly excellent write up at: https://etc.worldhistory.org/photos/assyrian-lion-hunting-british-museum/
You can also visit the official museum page including a virtual google maps tour at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/assyria-lion-hunts
or if you’re only interested in the virtual tour, click here for a direct link
On a lighter note, a cool book wheel in the gift shop!
And back to a darker yet hope filled note, there was a tiny one room exhibit covering the massive explosion that rocked Beirut on Aug 4, 2020. More specifically, it covered the reconstruction effort of 74 glass vessels which shattered on the floor from the blast. Eight pieces were on display.
The full blog post linked below is an interesting read, and I quite like how they end it:
“This ongoing project gives us great courage that, even in the wake of such destruction, there is hope… there is always hope.”
https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/conserving-beiruts-shattered-glass
K also captured the short film they were showing. I thought the video being cast over multiple fabrics was a neat choice - a possible nod to a “fragmented but whole” theme.
Pictures of the stunning courtyard thanks to K.
An even better picture can be found on their website - worth a click if only for the image at the very top: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/architecture/great-court
Only other little anecdote I can think of was that the Rosetta stone had been moved temporarily, but its pedestal and information signage was still in place. I got some big chuckles at how many people were taking pictures and intently inspecting the empty display case (though I’ll admit I was fooled at first, too).
And the perfect end to a long day - Nando’s!!
10-13 Thu (Natural History Museum)
In the morning Mr. Handsome could sense we were planning a second museum day and did his darndest to convince us to stay in.
Just barely able to pull ourselves away from the cuteness, we set off to go find some big ol’ dinosaur bones at the National History Museum. I led us into the science museum at first (dinosaurs are kinda science-y, no?), but quickly realized my mistake after wading through swarm upon swarm of small children in the main lobby area suspiciously devoid of anything remotely dinosaur-y.
We found the right spot just another block down the road, where they set the tone right away with an awesome entry room.
Now this is more like it!
Our first stop was to go check out Dippy the Diplodocus. We used to be neighbors with this fella!
Difficult to properly capture in dim light, but Dippy’s tail just kept going! The stark contrast of something so tiny attached to such a behemoth torso was pretty mind boggling.
Another of my favorites from the bird halls. The amount of information compressed into such a small space is astounding. The fact that it’s over 100 years old is even more amazing: “This case is arranged exactly as it was when it was first displayed in the Central Hall of this Museum in 1881.”
I wish each of the labels were readable 😔 but . . . I still recommend giving a few a click so you can really zoom in. The amount of detail is staggering.
Not to discount Dippy, but this blue whale skeleton absolutely floored me. It looks alien!
Some highlights from the same hall pictured above ^
A small snippet of the support columns in the dinosaur hall. Little details like these always catch my eye.
The dino exhibit was very neat and highly informative. Pictures don’t really do it justice, so instead here’s a video of a real live T-rex 😮😮😮
And a bonus dorkasaurus:
Quite a beautiful building.
On the way to the grocery, we stopped in at The Builders Arms for a pint and a sit. I spotted a very handsome fellow walk by, then sure enough they popped out onto our patio! After some not so subtle staring, we had a lovely chat with Ruffus’s owner who was nice enough to allow a mini photoshoot. Turns out Ruffus is famous - check out his instagram here!
Such a handsome man.
10-14 Fri (Jazzy Night Out)
But our little dorks are very cute too. Jim Jam is all tucked in!
Some of my very favorite pictures of Miss Vivian. It is so difficult to get a good picture of her heterochromia.
Bathtime!
My wonderful K spotted a concert ad for an improv-heavy jazz trio, “Ill Considered.” This is not her preferred musical realm but she knew it checked all my boxes. I was a little weary at first as these things can either be very cool or very . . . not cool, but if I’ve learned anything from the almost 8(!!) years we’ve been together it’s that she’s usually right 👼 So we decided to take the chance, and it turned out to be a stellar experience.
The opener was decent but still pretty fun, but the main act totally blew me away. The saxophonist even busted out a flute for a song or two - who doesn’t love some jazz flute?? We both came home buzzing from a much needed late night out of live music. It’s so dang fun to watch artists who you can tell are comfortable in their element and are able to jam the heck out.
The show was a few metro stops away in a new part of town which was fun to explore and the venue itself was very beautiful, originally built in 1904.
10-15 Sat (Lazy Day)
Lazy day in after big partyin’ last night.
K finished a book!
The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Hemingway Library Collector’s Edition
10-16 Sun (Kitty Picnic)
The kitties met their first squirrels, and did not like it one bit! They act all big and bad at home when there’s a window in the way. Apparently the real deal was not what they expected. To be fair, there is a LOT going on at the park - dogs running everywhere, squirrels abound, and the constant squawk of birds overhead.
Do not want.
High alert.
Did you hear that?!
We had a lovely little sit near the pond reading our books, trying to coax the cats out of their carriers, and taking turns feeding the ducks. The starlings (tiny tiny little birds) were out in force today - I noticed that they were catching the food in mid flight (awesome), and even spotted someone feeding them out of their hand!
K feeds her new found friend. Love that tail whippin’ around 🤗
Another (much) longer video, not as action packed but thought I’d include it for any squirrel super fans out there. The cats are completely oblivious to being a few feet from a little critter, or perhaps they are hoping if they don’t acknowledge it it isn’t real. The video also shows the squirrel hiding it’s bounty for later - the last few pats to the grass really get me good 😆
After dropping the fuzzballs off at home we headed over to our local sports pub of choice to catch the Manchester City vs Liverpool match. The place was packed but K somehow managed to catch us a perfect tiny table in the corner. The match was excellently close and each team’s fans were super vocal, taunting each other back and forth. While I’m thrilled that K had such a good time, I can’t help but chuckle at how high the bar has been set for future matches she watches with me.
Back at home, K prepared one of my favorites - a broken pasta “risotto” with spinach, chicken breast, broiled tomatoes, and ample parmesan (of course). It was deeeeeelicious!
Both cats were absolutely spent after their big adventure. So dramatic.
If you’re still here, thanks for reading!
If you have a spare moment and feel so compelled, I would love some feedback the post format, namely:
- Is this one big lump post just too long?
- Is the previous week’s strategy of “Week X: Part Y” break it up enough?
- Or does that still feel too impersonal? Should I revert to individual posts per event / day / theme?
Until next time 🤗
Jump to:
- 10-10 Mon (Lazy day)
- 10-11 Tue (Portobello Road)
- 10-12 Wed (British Museum)
- 10-13 Thu (Natural History Museum)
- 10-14 Fri (Jazzy Night Out)
- 10-15 Sat (Lazy Day)
- 10-16 Sun (Kitty Picnic)