We Made Our Way From,

Steve and Kai's home,

 we were off to London,

 and arrived at Covent Garden,

 from the tube station we made our way to the main area,

  a panorama of the main building,

 inside,

 there were so many antique stalls,

 the diversity of which,

 almost was beyond description,

 there were just so many items on offer,

 from knifes and forks and spoons,

 to full military uniforms including boots and caps, 

 on to printing,

 there were individual pieces of type and all the way up to plates for printing as well as compositor sticks and type trays,

 we made our way through the halls,

 now arriving at the porcelain stalls,

 with so many cups and saucers,

 on to cigarette or tea cards already mounted, all you have to do is decide which frame to have them in,

 outside we then watched a bit of street theater, 

  

 as part of his show,

 this gentleman showed us how to,

 pass his body through a tennis racket, well he did and fascinating it was too,

 we made our way into the next wing,

 and like Paris,

 we found another couple ready to tie the knot,

 by now we were hungry,

 so we went down to the Punch and Judy,

 for a breakfast,

 it looked,

 as it's name suggested just like a traditional English bar,

 or breakfast arrived, a pork sandwich for Diana, a cheese with Branson pickle for myself,

 we then decided to have a walk around,

 but were stopped in out tracks by this group,

 these were four very accomplished musicians, it was hard to tear ourselves away they were so good,

,

 we continued our walk around Covent Garden,

 past the tobacconist that still seems to be popular,

 into the main square,

 and we were now off to the London Transport Museum,

 tickets purchased and in we went,

 looking down on some of the displays,

 starting upstairs with some of the older methods of going around London,

 Diana had a bit of a jump here, just as I took the picture the auto voice started, did she jump!

 everywhere we looked,

 there were so many different types,

 of vehicles that had served London over past 150 years,

 including one of the first steam underground railway trains,

 which Diana tried for size,

 one of London undergrounds first electric trains,

 a slightly more modern one,

 with 1960s flower power people on board,

 all set for Hammersmith,

 but not in this electric train,

 next trams,

 and omnibuses,

 plus a few boat like vehicles, if you looked at this one from the side,

then a Routetmaster like the one we were in just a few days ago,

 beside it a RT model,

 the fronts of both buses,

 look similar,

 as do the rears,

 with the ease of getting on and off,

 as we left the museum we looked down on some of the other exhibits,

 and made our way,

 back into,

 some of the secondhand goods stalls,

 then a bit of street theater as this statue lent towards us,

 then went back,

 and sat down, how does he do that?

 a few tube stations later,

 and we neared Little Britain,

 and this was where we were going,

 Postmans Park,

 all around us was the noise of traffic and mayhem that is in every big city,

 but here it was all peace and quiet,

 we walked silently,

 past palms,

 to this point in Postmans Park,

 unknown to many, even Londoners, it is a park dedicated to the memory of officials and ordinary people,

 that gave the ultimate sacrifice,

 their lives,

 in many cases,

  to save a total stranger,

 or children of others,

even though they were not in the best of health themselves,

it is humbling,

to think that many,

could do this ultimate act,

and that someone,

could spend so much time, money and effort to commemorate their greatest sacrifice,

these are some of the plaques,

to read them all is humbling indeed,

we made our way out of the garden,

St.Paul's in the distance,

and on to Holborn,

where we were going, if you see this building, you are going in the wrong direction, as we were, to the British Museum

going back we passed this shop,

almost opposite the museum, selling antiquities,

and then,

here we were,

the British Museum,

not as many Egyptian items as the Petrie Museum we visited last week but what is lacks in small items from Egypt,

it more than made up for them in huge pieces and items from other areas of the world,

in we went,

the first thing we saw, the Rosetta Stone,

strangely enough not the 'Key' that many thought it was in solving the mystery of deciphering of the writings of the ancient Egyptians, it was a help, but not as much as is popularly believed, if you have time read the book, The Keys of Egypt, by Lesley Adkins and Roy Adkins, over the years I have, 3 times, it is a great read,

we made our way into the galleries,

so many magnificent statures,

to look at,

I will not do a picture,

by picture post,

you have just got it come here,

to see for yourselves,

the incredible,

sights that await you,

like the Assyrian gateways,

another deity,

whose name escapes me,

now this is what you call a door!

we then looked a some freezes,

a part of this one, a review of prisoners,

there were so many figures I just took a few pictures as I came to them,

Diana was as interested as I was,

this bracelet looking remarkably like one she has,

we continued our way around the Egyptian section,

when we reached the Parthenon section,

absolutely stunning,

is the only way I can describe it, 

it is a credit to all concerned that all of those years ago these few pieces were saved and not used as builders rubble and that we can now look at these great works of art, 

by now it was getting late, so we made our way past the Eagle Pole for Chief Luuya'as Eagle-Beaver Clan of the Nisga's Nation totem pole, 

and the one next to it,

the face at the top,

next upstairs,

lots of them,

where we started to look around the exhibits from Mesopotamia, from 6,000 to 1,500 BC,

but we were soon back with the period we like the best, the Egyptian period,

with so many,

mummy's in their wrappings,

on display and opened,

moving on to other mummified remains the Gebelein Man was on display,

we then continued our walk,

through the Persian Empire,

with similar funeral goods as the Egyptians,

but in this reign glazed tiles were in more use,

we moved into the Iran section, this freeze from the Palace of Darius at Persepolis,

all too soon we were in the British Isles section, lots of coins and other artifacts,

but what amazed me was the amount of glass that was here,

I had never thought that in that time period so much and so intricate glass was being made, but there it is,

our visit over we made our way out,

where I was amused by this sign,

we were a bit hungry and thirsty, so arriving back in Beckenham, into O'Neil's, 

after a pint, a bottle of wine for the meal,

burger and curly chips for Diana a salmon steak, grilled for myself, next a move home to Steve and Kai's, a film, a nightcap, and we were all off to bed.