arrived in torrential rain day before yesterday and am enjoying a few days of relative relaxation in London
although i swore to myself that i would do absolute NO walking or standing on hard marble floors after going through palace boot camp in St. P., i did of course wind up going to the British Museum for a fascinating exhibit on relics and reliquaries from the middle ages (including a piece of Jesus' umbilical cord and a piece of Mary's bed)
then i had a very unexpectedly interesting and enjoyable visit to the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the university of london - it was billed as covering the golden temple of amritsar - there were volunteers giving tours and explaining the religious and historical background of many of the pieces - these guides were fantastic at engaging each of the group (most were sikhs who had been to amritsar but the guides were able to give even them information about history etc. that were completely unknown to them)
i came out of the gallery completely knackered but felt that the afternoon had been well spent
in the morning i went to the local police station to bring in a 'counterfeit' 10 pound note - the constable (a young woman who had just been dealing with an ipad and phone stolen at macdonald's, and a bloodied young man who'd apparently been knowingly knocked off his bike by a bus) was very cross at my bringing it in (even though the internet said that was the proper thing to do), but her colleagues saved the day by telling both of us that the note was in fact not fake but simply a bit old - and sure enough i was able to spend it at sainsbury's with only a few thorough looks to make sure it was real
