London's free museums:
The British Museum
In the course of the first millennium BC, animal cults became an increasingly prominent feature of Egyptian religious activity. The Egyptians did not worship the animals themselves; they were regarded as intermediaries for the gods.
The Rosetta Stone carries an inscription in different languages which helped decipher the ancient Egyptians' hieroglyphic script. It is the only surviving fragment of a larger stone slab recording a decree on 27 March 196BC. At the top, the decree was written in hieroglyphs, the traditional script of Egyptians monuments, already 3000 years old. In the middle, the same decree was written in Demotic, the everyday script of literate Egyptians, and at the bottom, in Greek, the language used by the government.
The British Museum is such a glorious anthropology museum! From the moment I stepped in, I couldn't stop gaping at its splendour. We didn't even manage to cover half the place, though we'd spent the entire day there till it closed at 5.30pm. We covered the entire Egyptian section (never seen so many mummies in one exhibit before) and part of the Greek section; the extensiveness of the collections was amazing.
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The National Gallery
The National Gallery is a large art museum that houses paintings by artists like Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Monet (his famous Japanese bridge painting is there), Van Gogh (his famous sunflowers are there), Degas, Rembrandt and other artists I'm not familiar with. I wasn't allowed to take photos but suffice to say it was (as all museums in London seem to be), really grand. And I've always wanted to see Van Gogh's sunflowers in person.
Getting there: (Click on links for detailed directions)
The British Museum
Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road (5min) or Holborn (5min)
National Gallery
Nearest tube: Charing Cross (3min) or Leicester Square (3min)
Photos taken with Sony RX100 ii
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