Brit Fish 'n' Chips

Arriving in London I was sure of two things: I was really tired and I was starving. First stop, the cure-all pub. Across the street from the British Museum and only 2 short blocks from our adorable boutique hotel, Museum Tavern catered to tired tourists (like me!) with deep-fried fish and chips. The unique thing about the fish is it’s one whole cod, you can see where the tail starts to curl, even. While I got the impression from a cabbie later on in London that good fish and chips are defined by the quality of fish and the batter, I must say any opportunity to soak a plate of fried goodness in malt vinegar works for me. I love when the fries are soggy with vinegar then dipped in ketchup. This plate of salty goodness was “rounded out” with mushy reheated peas I couldn’t bring myself to finish off. But the lunch wouldn’t have been complete without a half pint of local cask beer. What is it about luke-warm beer? Maybe it’s absorbed into your bloodstream quicker. In any case, it was a lovely introduction to London if not the recommended start.

Afterwards we made our way across the street to the British Museum to enrich our spirits with glimpses of some of the most important artifacts of human history. I was best prepared to witness the Elgin Marbles, remnants of the Parthenon trucked back to London about 150 years ago. Having seen the Parthenon in person and explored the museum underneath it to see what pieces of the monumental parapet were intact—very little—I somehow assumed the majority of the marbles were in London. While great pieces of it are in fact, in the British Museum, there is still so little left. It makes me wonder how, over the past 2,000 years, such known splendor could have suffered so much. When the great monuments of the 21st century fall into disrepair, will we know better than to raze them and start over? It was really something special to see these sculptures, carved by Athenian hands over 2,000 years ago.

We also stopped by to do some translating of the Rosetta Stone and marvel at the tiny stature of Egyptian mummies. By the time we worked our way through the ancient cultures wings, it was time for a nap.