London, Day 1, Evening: Barely Conscious, but Not Giving Up

I do NOT have jet lag, I do NOT have jet lag

That’s what I kept telling myself, but I knew it was a lie. Still, I kept on.

Getting to know the Hotel Russell

The famous Hotel Russell stairwell is not even remotely gigantic. Two people wide, maybe three, tops.

But it’s knock-out bee-you-ti-full.

Marble everywhere. Big chandelier. Really nice rugs.

I paid a whole extra 11 dollars per night for “executive” accommodation and ended up with…a turret!

See? I knew it all along. I am a princess.

I am sure that I am happy that I got an updated room…

…but one does wonder what that turret looked like when the hotel was first built:

(These pics kind of make the room look crappy, but it was a really really nice room, and the colors were much more coherent and, well, executive.)

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Tonight is a night of…some of the night

Not all of the British Museum is open on Friday nights, only some of it, all of it on the ground floor.

 

I had come to see the Staffordshire Horde, so I started following the sign that pointed up stairs and practically crashed through the barrier because it was grey fabric, the staircase grey stone, and there wasn’t any lighting, so everything looked the same color. It would’ve been pleasanter had the security guard said something to me before said crash rather than after. But that’s the good thing about jet lag, you dimly realize you’ve made a fool out of yourself but don’t particularly care.

Because I’m a trooper (and the Museum would be open every day that I was in London), I re-checked out my fine Assyrian fellows, and the Parthenon ______. I mean, you can’t not stop by, right?

 

colossal winged human-headed lions

If the ancients are your thing, then the British Museum on a Friday night is just the ticket—not crowded, relaxed, nice.

The Museum’s Friday night food choices are almost non-existant, unfortunately. I figured I’d look at the Horde, grab a nice bite at the nice restaurant there, and be done with my first day in London.

I ended up having a hummus sandwich that was nowhere near as good as hummus bros—pre-made hummus, red pepper, celery; very, uh, edible, but nothing more. Espresso was decent.

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I was so stiff when I got back to my hotel room that I couldn’t cross my legs to untie my shoes.

Glad I bought that paracetamol at Boots.

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Eight channels at hotel. One of them had some kind of music/video countdown. Lady Gaga. Wow. That’s all. (We’re talking about her “Bad Romance” video.)

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Almost stopped at the hotel bar for a drink. Decided against it; it would probably put me to sleep right there in the bar.

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Spending the rest of the evening in a supine position, i.e., lying in bed watcging tv, is quite restorative. Not moving the muscles that had been moving all day made everything feel better. That, and the two rounds of paracetamol.