Solo Adventures in London, Part One

As some of you know, I've been writing a novel and trying to make it something that more than just a handful of people would enjoy reading. In that vein I've taken a few online courses and attended a weekend long conference back in September. The same group that put together the weekend-long conference held a one-day event down in London last month, and I gathered my courage and headed down to attend. 

On the train again...

It was the first time I went down to London to do something by myself and I was a bit nervous. I shouldn't have been, though, I've visited London enough times now that taking the tube and navigating the London streets solo wasn't really as scary as I had envisioned. I arrived early on Friday afternoon and, after checking in to my hotel,  made my way out to Covent Garden, a fancy-pants shopping area. First on the agenda was finding the new Charlotte Tilburry flagship store (a famous make-up artist who has created her own line of make-up and skin care). It was dead easy to find - I exited the tube at Covent Garden, walked up the stairs, and bam! it was right across the street! 

Inside Charlotte Tilburry's boutique

After spending more money than I had anticipated at CT's I walked around and window shopped. A lot of the stores in Covent Garden are luxury shops anyway (think Marc Jacobs, Burbury, etc.), and I wouldn't buy at those exorbitant prices even if I could! At one point I stopped and watched a string quartet busking outside one of the shops… and the pay-to-pee loo. 

Buskers outside the loo

After window shopping, I walked about a half mile to the British Museum. I had been there once before, but only to  pop in and see the Rosetta Stone before going to do other sightseeing in London. This time I wanted to see the Asian and Viking pieces, so I bee-lined it to those two sections.

I got to see statues of Tara from Sri Lanka:

8th century statue of Tara, the greatest of the Buddhist goddesses.

Statues of Ganesha:

2nd century Ganesha stature

A later statue of Ganesha

A shiva/vishnu statue:

Shiva, the Hindu god

And a bust of Buddha.

Buddha

There were also quite a number of weapons on display from ancient Asia. I saw a rather intricately carved ivory sword hilt from (if I remember correctly) 800AD or so.

Ivory sword hilt from China.

Going back even farther, there was a set of bronze Chinese knives that date back to 1100 BC. And they looked nasty! Especially the one on the left - look at the hook on the end and the serrations… gives me shivers just thinking about what that knife was used for….

Seriously scary and old knivery

There were life sized gaurdian statues that were *only* 800 years old or so. 

A guardian statue

On my way out of the Asian wing I stopped by a trinity of buddha statues and a similarly-motifed tapestry behind it. I forgot to read what these statues depicted or when/where they were created, but I liked the photo. I wish the young guy on the right hadn't popped into frame right as I took the picture, though. 

Three buddha statues and a trinity buddha tapestry

En route to the loo I found the statue below and thought it was compelling. You can't tell, but the head was at least as tall as I am. Not that I'm tall, but it was pretty impressive. It was originally created for Amenhotep III, but 100 years later it was re-chisled to resemble Ramesses II. Big cheater, that 2nd Ramesses! 

Amenhotep III / Ramesses II, circa 1300 BC

I finally made my way up to the Viking section of the museum. It seems like this is the only part of the museum that featured materials found in England.. The first item I fell in love with was a female necklace / bejeweled chest thingy that looked like a golden, bejeweled cross-your-heart bra. Only two of the stones were still in the centerpiece. Not bad for something over a 1,000 years old! (I don't remember the exact date of the Viking pieces, but they ruled England from 800 - 1066AD.)

Gilded Viking chest jewelry

The museum also had quite a few finds from a Viking ship that had been unearth inland near London. The ship's hull had been upturned and buried upside down, where it remained for nearly a thousand years. In the 1800s, the young female landowner suggested to an archeologist that he should dig up the last untouched hillock on her land, and low and behold - an entire Viking ship with tons of cool stuff inside, including the chest jewelry above and the intact full helmet below. 

Viking helmet

The last items I searched out in the British Museum were the Isle of Lewis chess pieces. Each chess piece is individually carved from walrus ivory and is of Scandinavian descent. Several not-quite-complete sets were found in a cave on the Isle of Lewis, an island off the northwest corner of Scotland. Not much more is known about them, but I found them incredibly interesting! 

Some of the chess pieces

Two kings with bishops and knights behind them

Two bishop pieces

A set of chess pieces, complete with peg pawns

Knights, bishops, and I'm guessing rook pieces

Detail of the backs of several pieces

I ate a quick dinner at the British Museum before walking back to my hotel. Once at the hotel, I went to the bar to buy a pint of beer to enjoy in my room. I saw they had Doom Bar, a cornish beer favored by Cormoran Strike, the detective and main character in Robert Gailbredth's (JK Rowling's) mystery books. I ordered one, and the hotel bar was hosting a 2-for-1 happy hour, so I got a second massive bottle for free! Sadly, the beer was not very good and I didn't even finish the first bottle. (I saved the second bottle for the next night, but didn't even crack it open the next night. I ended up leaving it with the tip in the hotel room.)

Corcoran Strike's favorite beer!

I went to sleep early, as the next morning I had to be up and at my writing workshop bright and early. More on that in my next post… stay tuned!