Museophilia

There really is a lot to do in London. It’s not that I disbelieved that when people told me, and it feels kind of trite to say it, but it’s true.

Forgetting for a moment the allures of theatre, pubs, clubs, restaurants, live music, shopping, and all the other lovely things London offers; solely focusing on the museums, there’s enough to keep you occupied for months. I’ve been to the British Museum three times thus far (and seen the Rosetta stone all three times) and I’ve only seen a fraction of what’s in there. I still have no clue what’s in the circular thing in the middle of the building. If they allowed you to sleep there, you could spend a solid week living there, and you might be able to see everything and pay good attention to all of it.

It’s free too, as are the National Gallery, the National Portrait gallery, the Tate Modern, and the Tate Britain. I’ve managed to get to each of them once (except the Tate Britain, which I got lost trying to find, and ended up leaving to go see Jim Carrey light the Christmas lights on Oxford St), and I believe each could take up a solid day if you really paid attention to them.

Then there are the legions of smaller museums, ranging from the Freud house to the Brahmah coffee and tea museum to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, all of which seem fascinating, but many of which I’m not going to get to go to, or don’t want to pay to get into.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I think the size of London is overwhelming, in the best possible way.