Friday, September 22, 2006

The Jewel of Bloomsbury

We continued today with the orientation programme, which wasn't exactly riveting stuff. I attended two sessions in the morning - one titled "Study Successfully at UCL," and the other was called "Living in London". One hardly needs to point out which was the more interesting talk...

But this was a good day. My fridge arrived - finally. And I'm certainly aware that I have the good fortune of residing within walking distance of not only UCL, but also splendid attractions such as the august British Museum, the jewel of the Bloomsbury area, the site of humanity's riches, a catalogue of civilization, or, if you come from a more radical perspective, a treasure trove of imperial plunder. On display are fantastic and famous exhibits, such as the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, and more Egyptian mummies than you would care to remember.


The last time I toured the museum, many parts of it were under renovation. As such, it was a delight this time to walk into the new and elegantly-designed forecourt, where the old circular-shaped Reading Room can still be found, the shafts of sunrays peering inwards onto the many volumes held there.



Proceeding up to Galleries 61-66, where the ancient Egyptian exhibits were on display - ie: actual mummies and assorted mummy-related paraphernalia - one does get a creepy feeling at times, tempered fortunately by the presence of other visitors, some equally creeped-out, others wide-eyed and relishing every moment. How many more mummies lie beneath in the crusty basement of the British Museum? This was a civilization that clearly devoted a lot of attention to the art and science of dying. And that's not meant as an inane comment.
But I had entered the museum late, and had time only to bash through a few epochs in time, before the galleries began closing. But never mind. What a place. I shall be back, often.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

congrats on finally getting the fridge o cranky one.
- Lucid

12:33 PM  

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