London: The First Two-ish Weeks

My arrival in London began by saying goodbye to our wonderful tour group, heading through customs, and beginning a hour long ride on the Tube to Russel Square Station. After emerging like a mole from the London Underground and traveling two blocks, I arrived at Tavistock Square to see my new accommodations in Connaught Hall. The room is large enough for one person and is comfortable. Although, my first surprise in London was a sign above my in-room-sink that reads "not drinking water." Luckily, the hall provides an electric kettle for each room so that water can be boiled to safety! Despite the potentially hazardous water, my location could be no better! My internship at the Petrie Museum at UCL is only a five minute walk and, as I am located in central London about two blocks away from the British Museum, I am able to walk virtually anywhere my feet and my brolly (umbrella) will take me.

My Room

That being said my adventures so far have included two weekends of exploring the city. The first weekend, I took a walk around the area in which I live. At the end of my walk I discovered the British Museum and visited the first floor seeing an Easter Island head, the Rosetta Stone, and some fossils found by Mary Anning (She sells sea shells by the seashore!). The next day I wanted to see just how far it would take to get to some of the most iconic sites of London so I went on a long walk that took me through Covent Garden, to Trafalgar Square, along the Victoria Embankment on the Thames, across the Waterloo Bridge to the London Eye, back across the Thames via the Westminster Bridge, near Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and finally, I concluded my walking tour by walking past Leicester Square and Covent Garden again. Phew! On my was back, I stopped for coffee in the Covent Garden Market and entertained some 6 year old British children who were eating inside a small cafe. I was sitting outside of the cafe so they would knock on the glass, hide, and laugh when I tried to find them. When I left the children, I found a quintet playing a few classical pieces and stayed to listen to them until going back to Connaught Hall for the night.

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

My typical work week is Tuesday through Friday, so that first Monday I discovered free lunchtime concerts performed by students from the Royal College of Music at Saint Martin-in-the-Fields. After the concert, I went to an orientation for my internship and concluded my day by walking to St. Pancras and King's Cross Station (Yes, I did see platform 9 3/4).

My first official week of work started at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology last Monday and the experience so far has been wonderful. I have been given some real responsibilities and am getting to know some great people! Up until now I have been working on a few different tasks that include creating a Volunteer Handbook, researching for the curators of both the Petrie Museum and the Grant Museum of Zoology for a project that they want to launch about "Sounds of the Hunter and the Hunted," looking at artifacts and primary source material on African/Egyptian hair combs for an exhibit being developed at the Fitzwilliam Museum. I have also been helping to develop "Pop-Up" sessions, where an author of a book concerning Egypt is brought in to talk to various school groups.

The work has been a lot of fun and I am learning new things everyday about how a museum runs works internally and with the public.


Throughout my first full week in London I joined a local orchestra and went to read in Regent's Park, which had some beautiful flowers! The orchestra which I joined, the Blackfriars Sinfonia, is composed of members of all ages who gather to in Christ Church to practice some sight-reading every Tuesday night. A few symphonic pieces are chosen and the orchestra works on them until 9pm when a few members shuffle a few feet over to the local pub for a few drinks before heading home.

Flowers in Regent's Park

My second weekend was spent visiting a few museums and Hyde Park. Saturday I went out to the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) with a few new friends. Unfortunately, I forgot my SD card, but pictures will be coming soon!! The Natural History Museum was absolutely amazing. Not only was the collection on display vastly diverse and in such wonderful condition, but I have never seen material interpreted in a more engaging way. We spent two hours in the museum before grabbing lunch and only saw three full exhibits. Most exciting, was the Diplotocus showcased in the entryway to the museum, which was a complete cast made from "Dippy the Dinosaur" in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He made me feel right at home! The V&A was also a treat to visit. We were unable to see everything in the V&A, but we did see sculpture from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, a photography exhibition, and an exhibition on the material culture of Asia....There were some pretty awesome katanas, armor, and ceramics!

St. Patrick's

 Sunday morning was spent at Saint Patrick's in Soho, a church where they sing traditional mass parts as well as contemporary music for worship. All in all it was a fairly normal Catholic mass. However, communion was more of a free-for-all! After grocery shopping and some lunch. I walked my way over to Hyde Park to spend a day out in the rare sunshine. I walked all around the Serpentine and found the Albert memorial (it's HUGE!), Royal Albert Hall (where many of the Proms performances will be held), and the Peter Pan sculpture. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!

 More to come on this past week :O) (Hopefully the next entry won't be so long!)

Didactic Squirrel on the Peter Pan Sculpture

Hyde Park