Culture and Guinness

Been a little too busy to add anything here recently. Felt utterly vile all day Sunday, thanks to a very enjoyable Saturday night in Soho (one of those evenings where spoken communication with the barman becomes unnecessary — a mere 5 degree movement of the head being all that was required to indicate that more Guinness was needed).

Jon came up to stay on Monday, and by 5.30pm we were having ‘a pint or two’ in the East Dulwich Tavern. At 8.30pm I was about to suggest going somewhere else for a change, but then I realised it was in fact 10.40pm and time for last orders. Very odd — clearly we had become stuck in a weird time-vortex that elongated three hours drinking into five. Needless to say we both bought kebabs on the way back.

Got up far too early on Tuesday morning so Jon could go to the Chinese embassy (something about defecting with state Airtours secrets). After a dose of coffee and celeb-spotting (Martin Clunes) in Soho, we decided the weather was far too yukky to trundle round looking for new hard drives, so I had the brilliant idea of going to the British Museum.

I’ve been meaning to go to the British Museum for ages (I was about two feet tall on my last visit), especially now Norman Foster’s glazed roof over the Great Court has been completed. It really is a spectacular addition to the building, and worth a visit on its own. Anyway, on our arrival we were greeted by a 1929 carriage from the Orient Express, which we were able to wander through, gazing in awe at the beautiful design and luxurious attention to detail. That really was travelling in style. I decided against murdering anybody on the train though, despite the high number of foreign tourists with us.

There’s just far too much to take in in one visit, so Jon and I concentrated on the Egyptian section. It really is quite humbling to see these giant, beautiful sculptures, some created as long as 4500 years ago (even if they were plundered in the days of the British Empire!).

Of course, after such a heavy dose of art and culture, we were forced to go to the pub for lunch. And then the Crown & Greyhound that evening. Sadly, we didn’t go to Brown’s.

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