Last week my goal was to visit two museums that you don't find on the main tourist trail. In London there seems to be a museum around every corner, most of them free. Truly, to see them all would take a lifetime.
Visiting an "off the beaten path museum" can be a short visit and one in which there are no crowds. Indeed, both of the museums we visited we practically empty while we were there.
First - the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie
Located in central London on the University campus, this is a horde of Egyptian pillages.
Housing an estimated 80,000 objects, it reminded me of the community museum in the small Midwestern farming town where I grew up. Lots of little objects and bits and pieces on shelves behind glass.
Very old-school. Feels like it's been exactly the same since 1950. I loved that. It even had an old smell to it. The highlight was viewing the oldest garment from Egypt anywhere in the world - a dress from 3000 BC.
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| THE dress |
The kids were drawn to the large table in the center of the main room where there were coloring pages, Egyptian style jewelry and a few clothing items to try on.
They loved writing their names in hieroglyphs and were intrigued by the skeleton in a clay pot.
The museum is made up of just a few rooms, our visit was barely an hour. I wouldn't recommend this visit for small children; probably 6 is the youngest I'd take. It's very quiet and some students come to do research here, as it is part of the University College of London.
Second - The Horniman Museum
http://www.horniman.ac.uk/
"Anthropology, Musical Instruments and Natural History collections displayed in six free galleries, with an acclaimed Aquarium and award-winning Gardens."
We wandered through their Natural History displays of lots of stuffed animals from every species imaginable.
Then on to the African Exhibit:
"African Worlds" - the first permanent exhibition in Britain dedicated to African art and culture - celebrates the continent's diversity, history and creativity.
And an exhibit about clothing - a temporary exhibit displaying clothing people wear throughout London.
And a permanent collection of the history of instruments; The Horniman’s internationally renowned collection of musical instruments is displayed in a dynamic but small gallery.
These collections, albeit lovely, we not incredibly interesting for my children =(
However, I couldn't get them to leave the gardens. They played a new game they've invented called the Hunger Game (vaguely based on the books I think) and passed over an hour enjoying the vast green space surrounding the museum.
The Horniman Museum is located at Forest Hill which requires a trip on the London overground. It took about an hour to reach from our house and provided for a nice day's outing. Apparently there are wonderful activities for families on the weekends and for children during the school breaks.
We may very well never make a second visit to either of these museums, but they were worth a visit for a curious temporary resident of London!!
