5/24 Museum of London

While not as large or as famous as the British Museum, the Museum of London is one of my favorite places in London, so it was the place I went to first today, after I took a nap to catch up on some of the sleep I missed in the last couple of days.  

This museum covers the city of London long before it was a city.  In fact, it goes back to this area before the dinosaurs, and then covers the pre-Roman period, the Roman period, Dark Ages, Medieval London, and up to modern London.   

I headed down the street from my hotel, just half a block to the St. James Park underground entrance.  (Tip: When you make reservations for London, the closer your hotel is to an underground station, the easier it will be to get around and the happier you will be at the end of a long day when you do not have to walk very far!)

Most underground stations have more than one entrance, so it helps to remember the name of the street where you entered so you can choose the right exit when you come back at the end of the day.  This is the Broadway St entrance. 

Ah, nothing else in the world like the London Underground--grimy, noisy, and of course, you have to "mind the gap."

You also have to go up and down a ton of stairs in almost every station because only a very few have "lifts" for the handicapped or escalators. 

There are several sections of the old Roman London wall near the museum, so ask about it, and they will give you a map and directions on how to see several sections.  Here is one section, below:

 

The entrance to the Museum of London is a little tricky to get to because it is located on a circular walkway that is above street level, but there are signs to help you. 

The museum is free, by the way.

I mostly only took photos of the earliest and Roman London, but there is a lot more to see here, so plan on at least 2-3 hours and some extra time to visit the gift shop. 

Roman London was called "Londinium," but the Brits who took over after the Romans left changed the name to the one below.  

This was probably a good change, however, the bad thing they did is take the well-organized grid of roads that the Romans built and changed them into  the crazy mess of roadways that exist there now. 

It had been a long day after a long sleepless night, so I did not get much further into taking photos today.  I will no doubt come back at the end of my UK trip and do more exploring when I am not to tired. 

By the way, I have brought my tiny Fitbit Zip on this trip and have been recording my steps and distance traveled.  Tonight, it showed I had walked 4.7 miles and took about 15,000 steps.  A lot of those would have been in Heathrow Airport and getting to my hotel, not just getting to and from this museum.  Will be interesting to see how much I walk on this trip!!