A G: London Day 3 by Aaron, Buckingham Palace, British Museum, King Cross Station

London Day 3, Buckingham Palace, British Museum, King Cross Station

~ Aaron

Beautiful morning at Buckingham Palace

the crowds waiting for guard changing ceremony

Buckingham Palace

The world famous Rosetta Stone at the British Museum

Horse of Selene
This is the head of a horse from the chariot
of the moon-goddess Selene from the Parthenon
British Museum

The 3rd day at London was very exciting. We saw another guard changing ceremony at the Buckingham Palace, where the Queen of England resides at most of the time. The British Museum was full of many priceless artifacts, including the Rosetta Stone! We also visited King’s Cross Station and saw Platform 9 and 3 Quarters. This definitely was an amazing day.

Hyde Park

Arc of Hyde Park corner

A statue at the arc close by
Hyde Park corner

Arc of Hyde Park corner

through the arc,

we arrived at Buckingham Palace

Crowds waiting for the guard changing ceremony

Buckingham Palace

A corner of Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace closer look

Buckingham Palace

Outside of Buckingham Palace

Queen Victoria Memorial
in front of Buckingham Palace

Queen Victoria Memorial

Queen Victoria Memorial
and Buckingham Palace

Queen Victoria Memorial
in front of Buckingham Palace

St James Park entrance

St James Park, a royal park

beside Buckingham Palace

A gate of St James Park

Front door of

Buckingham Palace

At the gate of

Buckingham Palace

The Buckingham Palace is a wonderful sight. Buckingham Palace finally became the main royal residence in 1837, when Queen Victoria became the queen, and was the first monarch to reside there. By 1847, the couple (Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert) had found the palace too small, so, a new part of the palace was built. The large East Front is the side of Buckingham Palace that everyone can see now (through the fence of gate), and contains the balcony from which the royal family appears to the crowds. The guard changing ceremony is full of many beautiful songs and majestic marching guards. There was a huge crowd in front of the palace half an hour before the ceremony even started! Guards on horses rode past the palace, marking the beginning of the guard changing ceremony. A band with many players marched into the huge central gate, followed by a group of guards. The band started playing while the soldiers marched around.

Royal guards start off the guard changing ceremony

Royal guards

Guard changing ceremony

A guard at Buckingham

Buckingham guard changing ceremony with band

Guard at Buckingham

Entrance of British Museum

Glass roof top of British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum was established in 1753, mostly made of the collections of Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on January 15, 1759, in Montagu House. After the defeat of the French campaign in the Battle of the Nile, in 1801, the British Museum got many Egyptian sculptures and, in 1802, King George III presented the Rosetta Stone. Gifts from a British general in Egypt began the collection of Egyptian Monumental Sculpture exhibit. Many Greek sculptures came afterwards and the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1806, Thomas Bruce removed the large collection of marble sculptures from the Parthenon, on the Acropolis in Athens and transferred them to the UK. In 1816 these masterpieces of western art were acquired by The British Museum by an Act of Parliament and put in the museum thereafter. The Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities.

Front of Rosetta Stone

Side of Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone top part

Rosetta Stone bottom part

Back of Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is a very famous item in the British Museum. It is due to this stone that we can understand the hieroglyphs. There are 3 texts written on the stone; 3 different languages, but the same decree in all 3 languages. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic script and Demotic script, respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The Ancient Greek language could be read, and it stated that all 3 texts were the same decree. This meant that using the readable text, scientists could finally decipher the mysterious hieroglyphs. Within half a century, the hieroglyphs could finally be read.

A famous collection of sculptures from the Parthenon

A hallway of sculptures from the Parthenon

Horse of Selene
This is the head of a horse from the chariot
of the moon-goddess Selene
from the Parthenon

Part of a statue of Poseiden
from the Parthenon

Part of the Parthenon

Once was part of the Parthenon

The Elgin Marbles, or the Parthenon Marbles, are a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of the architect and sculptor Phidias and his assistants. They were once part of the temple of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens. In 1801, Thomas Bruce obtained a permit from the Sublime Porte, which then ruled Greece. From 1801 to 1812, his agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon, as well as sculptures from the nearby Propylaea and Erechtheum. The statues were transported by sea to Britain, later bought by the British government, and passed to the British Museum.

Once was part of the Parthenon

Ancient Acropolis Temples, British Museum

A Greece temple

Head of a statue of Amenhotep III
18th Dynasty, Amenhotep III
about 1390-1352 BC

Stela of Simotu
12th dynasty, year 3 of the reign of Amenemhat II
about 1919 BC
from Abydos, Limestone

A false door and architrave of Ptahshepses
5th Dynasty, about 2400 BC

King Amenhotep III as a lion
18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III
about 1390-1352 BC

Khorsabad, The Palace of Sargon
This area mainly contains sculptures
from the city and palace of Khorsabad
built for the Assyrian king Sargon II
721-705 BC
The pair of human-headed winged bulls
were guardians against misfortune

A human-headed winged bull
guardian against misfortune

Painted wooden coffin and
mummy of Djedhor
about 250 BC

Hypocephali
These inscribed discs, usually plastered linen
and less frequently of papyrus or bronze,
were placed beneath the heads of mummies
during the late period of Ptolemaic era

Ram sphinx of King Taharqo

The Gayer-Anderson Cat
Bronze with silver plaque and gold jewelry
about 600 BC from Saqqara

Basalt statue
known as Hoa Hakananala
Living & Dying
AD 1000-1200
Chile, South Pacific

Turquoise mosaic of a double-headed serpent
Mexico Aztec, AD 1400-1521

The British Museum also has many other collections. An Easter Island obelisk stands in one of the numerous exhibits in the museum. In the Mexico exhibition, a beautiful two-headed serpent lies in a glass case. There is also an exhibition on the Middle East featuring many different countries' statues and artifacts. A Roman exhibition shows many Roman-style sculptures, many of them including Aphrodite. These are just some of the things being shown at the marvelous British Museum

St Pancras hotel

link to

St Pancras train terminal

St Pancras hotel link to St Pancras train terminal

Closer look at St Pancras hotel

St Pancras hotel

Entrance to St Pancras train terminal

A statue inside St Pancras train terminal

St. Pancras railway station, also known as London St. Pancras or St. Pancras International, is a railway station. Known for its Victorian style architecture, the station stands between the British Library and King's Cross railway station. It shares a London Underground station with King's Cross. It was opened in 1868 by the Midland Railway as the southern end of its main line, which connected London with a few other cities.

St. Pancras Eurostar Train Terminal, London

King Cross train terminal, right beside St Pancras train terminal

Inside King Cross train terminal

Platform 9¾ at King Cross

King Cross train terminal

The King’s Cross Station was opened in 1852 by a railway company in the King’s Cross area to hold the East Coast Main Line. It began to work for other train lines and was expanded several times in the 1800s. It came under ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923, who introduced many new trains and ways of powering the trains. The station design was redeveloped in the 1970s, which simplified the layout and provided some electric services. The station became well known due to the Harry Potter books and films, particularly for the fictional Platform 9¾. I visited the shop at Platform 9¾ and also saw a model of a cart going into the wall.

The Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9¾

This day was full of many breath-taking things. The Buckingham Palace is full of many interesting facts. The British Museum is packed with many historical artifacts, including some very important things. The King’s Cross Station is very glamorous with tall hallways and Platform 9¾. This was one of the best days I have ever had!