What is the best thing to do in London? Well, not going to pub, not having fish&chips, not day-dreaming about Prince William (or Princess Di)...
It's GOING TO MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES!!!
One of the GREATEST things about museums and galleries in London is
that, the admission is
FREE!!!!! And they open until quite late too! (usually the closing time is like 5:30pm, but on Thursdays and Fridays it might be 8:30pm)
There are soooooooooooooo many museums and galleries in London that you just can't miss:
British Museum -- if you're interested in Egyptian mummies but you can't stand the sun and the heat in Cairo (like me), then why don't you enjoy the mummies in a cool place like the British Museum?? It's totally true that there are the most mummies in the British Museum apart from Cairo... It's so true that you would feel: "Oh, okay, so it's a mummy again. And how many have I seen already? Let me get a calculator..."
And while most people are overwhelmed by the mummies, I must give my credits to the excellent collection of the classical collection (the Greek and Roman stuffs...) as well as the pre-historical collection.
But, alas, as one of the greatest museums in the world, the British Museum is just too DEEP to be described in a few words...
National Gallery -- Alright, so the Louvre's got the Mona Lisa, but, the National Gallery in London has the Sunflower! The truth is, with collection spans from 1250 to 1900s, it would be too exhausting to rush the Gallery through within one day.
Dark Ages: paintings about religion;
more portraits; characters usually with dull expressions
Renaissance: paintings about religion, or daily life; emphasis on details (so every single detail COULD mean something); emphasis on distance (one of the characteristics is that the window is never left blank!)
Impressionalism: paintings about natural scene, or daily life; emphasis on color, lighting and contrast; you don't have to comprehend the painting (different from Renaissance's), just feel it!
(N.B. The above is just my personal comment, it might not be true as what you learn in the real art classes...)
Somerset House -- I wouldn't say the Somerset House is just a gallery -- there are also gift shops and restaurants and skating rink...
If you love Degas (like I do), then you shouldn't miss the Somerset House. There are not only his paintings (and some of his unfinished paintings too!), but there are also his sculptures. As I don't usually find Degas's sculptures in other galleries, I find the Somerset House really worth going.
Theatre Museum -- why, Londoners love going to theatre, and Britain has some of the greatest playwrights in the world, so shouldn't you go to the Theatre Museum?
There are costumes, manuscripts, video recordings, posters, etc. to illustrate the life of performers in the past and the present. I must remind you that the Theatre Museum is not only about THEATRE, but rather PERFORMING ARTS, so information about different kinds of performing arts would be included.
Oh, by the way, the workshops in the museum are fun too! [em07]
P.S. I remember during one literature presentation, the presenter asked, "Has everyone heard of Shakespeare before?" And we of course said yes. Then she continued, "Can everyone name three of his plays immediately?" And we all said yes. Then she asked, "Can anyone name three plays of other playwrights?" And we fell silence... Later I thought, well, actually I could name three plays of Oscar Wilde...... (but not immediately of course!)
