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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: 52.3738, 4.89095
Our last day in London we spent mainly at the British Museum. They had a special exhibition called, Pompeii and Herculaneum, containing many artefacts from both cities. As we had just visited Pompeii and not had a chance to visit the Archaeological Museum in Naples, we thought that this was a great opportunity to expand our understanding of what happened at both places.
We had checked ut availabilty of tickets on Sunday. We arrived at 10-10am and managed to buy two of the 500 tickets released each day as prebookings now are onlu available for June.Our entry time was 11-40am so we had muffins,croissants and scones for breakfast in the Courtyard Cafe on the Ground floor of the Museum. We also used the time to see the Easter Island staue as well as revisit the Parthenon Sculptures and the Assyrian Gates.
The Special Exhibitions are now held in the circular Reading Room in the centre of the Grand Court of the Museum. The place was crowded and the many school excursions didn't help. I know I should be more tolerant, but trying to see the displays while eager Year 5s push in to fill their worksheets does become rather frustrating. Ther
were some fascinating artefacts. The frescoes and mosaics wrre amazing and the statues, magnificent. One very poignant exhibit was a baby's cradle, carbonised but still intact, that was found with the body of its small inhabitant inside. It must have been an horrific death for all who were caught by the eruption.
After that we exited the museum and had lunch at a nearby restaurant, The Thai Garden. We had checked via text message to Melissa that the Museum Tavern in which we had had a beer on Sunday was where Karl Marx had spent a lot of his time.After a nice meal we returned to Lancaster Gate and stopped for a beer at The Swan Hotel. We then wandered back to the hotel for a rest. Fletcher is definitely finding his knees are restricting movement. We had a Greek meal that night in a local restaurant a few streets away. It was packed so obviously popular.
Today was a travelling day. We left the hotel at nine in a taxi for Paddington. Got the Heathrow Express and checked in. Found the BA Lounge and waited for our flight which was an hour late in leaving. Once in Amsterdam, we caught the
train into Amsterdam Central and got a taxi to our the Hotel Carlton. It is 33 years since we have been here and we are staying at the same hotel.
Once we had checked in we went wandering. We are next to the Flower Market where plants and bulbs of every conceivable plant are sold, including Cannabis start up kits!. We had a beer at a cafe where there were fans of rival clubs Chelsea and Benefica in town for a big soccer match tonight. As we had not had lunch we had an early dinner in the Rancho Argentinian Restaurant. We shared a platter of various grilled meats with salad and chips accompanied by a very nice Argentinian Shiraz. We have returned to the hotel for an easy night before savouring the delights of Amsterdam tomorrow.
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