One of the best things about travelling is the opportunity to expand and enlighten your mind.
If you're not going to experience new things, learn new things, discover new things... then you may as well just be at home in your sweatpants watching Netflix.
With no disrespect to Netflix of course... because that is 100% what I plan on doing when I finish writing this post.
When you're visiting London, there are plenty of opportunities to learn and explore; but the crowning jewel is the British Museum.
In fact, you can feel a little bit awkward walking around because it raises a lot of questions like "do these artifacts really belong in England". But if you're looking for an all encompassing history lesson of human civilization, it is THE place to go.
Plus, admission is FREE, so there's no excuse not to visit.
While it is free to see the exhibits, Kris and I did opt to spend a bit more money to get some audio guides to help learn more about the artifacts.
They don't cost much, but they greatly enhance the experience and help you see and discover more about some of the museum's pride exhibits like the Parthenon Sculptures, the Rosetta Stone, or the earliest written version of the Flood Story.
Pro Tip! Getting close to the Rosetta Stone is tough, it's the most popular item in the museum, but there's a mold of it in the "Hall Of Enlightenment" which you can get up close and personal with.
With big sweeping staircases, fabulous murals, impressive sculptures and artifacts older than recorded history, it's so easy to spend a whole day wandering the museum. We went "just for the morning" and wound up staying for five hours!
Luckily, there's a charming café in the lobby where you can grab lunch, and another upstairs with an impressive birds eye view of the entry way.
There are so many cool things to see and explore when you travel.
While I'm an advocate for embracing the local restaurants and hang outs, or just wandering the city, I always make sure to stop in at a museum or cultural landmark.
The British Museum is cool because it doesn't focus on art or sculpture, but on the history of human kind.
You never know what you might find! From one of the earliest known dinosaur fossils, to intricate maps of the heavens.
Ultimately, the British Museum is about us. There is no where quite like it to walk the path of human understanding and explore our history. Or certainly no where quite so beautiful.
We may have accidentally spent five hours there, but I feel to really explore it could take days.
I guess we'll just have to go back!
How do you like to expand your mind and experience new things when you travel? Activities? Museums? Food and Wine? Let me know in the comments below!