Churches & Museums

Today we had the chance to review two of London's many churches and museums: Museum of London (featuring the history of London)

and St. Paul's Cathedral (which you may recognize from Princess Diana's wedding and is also the resting place of Lord Nelson)

Both were wonderful but given my love of museums I was in heaven exploring the Museum of London.  Since studying museums in undergrad I see museums in different ways.  I think a lot about the path I'm prompted to walk (even if it's only subconscious) and how the exhibit is trying to engage its audience.  The museum flowed in a natural chronological way but it was also designed that you could skip around periods of history, which was a tad confusing but overall not a problem (just made me think I had missed something).  What was really interesting to me was how the museum juxtapositioned modern materials next to historical ones (particularly those dating from the Roman period and earlier).  For instance, this Latin curse/prayer that the thief who took their things should die vs. this hate instant message on a tablet.

   

What a creative method for making history understandable in a modern context.  More to come tomorrow.  In the meantime, let me leave you with a picture of me interacting with one of the exhibits.  Consider it an ode to Trail of History.

[PS The staircase on Facebook was used in, among other things, Harry Potter (it leads to the astronomy tower)]