Re-establish the Starbucks Office. Not bad - good coffee, comfortable chairs next to plugs for the computer, and nobody hurrying you. and open on a long weekend when the library isn't.
down to the British Museum. It's holiday crowded so we do our usual - opt for a look at one area we haven't visited before, in this case Assyria, about 8th to 9th century BC. First of all I have to ask J where Assyria was when it was at home - answer, more or less Iraq. there are very Egyptian looking statues, including huge (12 foot high?) lions with human heads that once guarded a palace entrance. Also a large number of elaborately carved stone wall panels that lined palace walls and were inexpertly removed to be taken to another palace some 2700 years ago. They've been amazingly well restored though, and record past battles, domestic life, royal life etc, both in pictures and in extensive writing.
Try to check out the Mary Ward Centre near Russell Square. It's an educational facility, but with a good gallery and café - unfortunately closed for the Easter break. Stop off in Camden town. Then pub supper and home with fat weekend paper to read. We`ve missed the Oxford and Cambridge boat race and it was dramatic. Interrupted by a swimmer protesting elitism. A radio 4 presenter refers to it drily as a "race hate crime."
down to the British Museum. It's holiday crowded so we do our usual - opt for a look at one area we haven't visited before, in this case Assyria, about 8th to 9th century BC. First of all I have to ask J where Assyria was when it was at home - answer, more or less Iraq. there are very Egyptian looking statues, including huge (12 foot high?) lions with human heads that once guarded a palace entrance. Also a large number of elaborately carved stone wall panels that lined palace walls and were inexpertly removed to be taken to another palace some 2700 years ago. They've been amazingly well restored though, and record past battles, domestic life, royal life etc, both in pictures and in extensive writing.
Try to check out the Mary Ward Centre near Russell Square. It's an educational facility, but with a good gallery and café - unfortunately closed for the Easter break. Stop off in Camden town. Then pub supper and home with fat weekend paper to read. We`ve missed the Oxford and Cambridge boat race and it was dramatic. Interrupted by a swimmer protesting elitism. A radio 4 presenter refers to it drily as a "race hate crime."