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.
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