The Museum of London explains the history of London for those of us who aren't that in to history

Alternate title: "The Museum of London: a museum so nice I've been there twice (in the last week!)."

As prompted by this article of 101 Free Things to Do in London, I stopped by the Museum of London last week and was thoroughly impressed by how in-depth its displays are. I couldn't wait to get back.

That day I only had about an hour to spend perusing, and I made it through half of the first floor, which is roughly through to the Bronze and Iron ages (right around the turn of BC to AD, even though no one knew that at the time). The Romans hadn't even invaded yet!

These are axe handles, but to me the look like bike seats. So naturally, I took a photo.

And as a special treat (or perhaps a daily occurrence? It was there again today!) there was a table staffed by volunteer experts. I held an oil-pot that was 2,000 years old! It was made 2,000 years ago, sat in the ground for 1,980 years, and then it somehow found itself in my grubby little hand. Too. cool. (They also had a copper ring, complete with ring finger bone, on display. I did *not* hold that.)

Today I found myself in the area again, and with a lot more time on my hands. Starting where I left off, I meandered my way through history. I'm admittedly terrible with dates and history, but this museum really worked for me. I could easily follow where I was in time, and since the location didn't change I found myself filling in several gaps in my mental timeline of world and European history.

For example, I learned...

• after the Roman occupation the area around London (Londinium) was abandoned and fell into ruin. 
• The plague killed one in five people in London, and the remaining people tried to fend off germs with "nice smells" like lavender, since they thought the disease was carried by "bad smells."
• There was a British civil war. 
• The country ousted the monarchy for ten years in the late 1500s. Then they brought it back. 
• The fire of 1666 was devastating. And huge. And burned for five days. Can you even imagine?!
• Also, WWI and WWII were Much Bigger Deals in the UK. The longer I'm here, and travelling within Europe, the more I'm sure that will really set in. 

Along with the history, there are several interactive displays, making the museum excellent for families with kids. You can literally touch, listen, watch, even smell certain parts of history. (The smell is just the lavender, nothing gross!) The movies are good lengths, and don't require very much concentration to follow (one is just clips from the 1920s-40s with music and captions). There are also mini scavenger hunts and some computer games with kid-friendly narrators. 

As I learn more about London, I bet I'll find myself returning to different rooms at the Museum of London, because each room has so much information to take in. Wandering through took at least three hours (for me, that was over two visits), and after a while I wasn't reading much, just scanning headlines and skimming paragraphs that piqued my interest. 

It definitely helped me appreciate more of the history of my adopted city, and I'd recommend it for adults and kids alike! 

Big, plastic boards with items to find around the prehistoric exhibit.

Looped video on the wall in the first exhibit:

Computers with more information:

Comic book-esque history of the Romans in London:

Recreation of housing in the 800s (fully explorable)

"The first map of London"

This cascade of TV screens alternated between synchronized video / text

Reggio Emilia Family-Guided Tour

Don't ever doubt Italian hospitality.

While in Reggio Emilia, my cousins Alessandro and Elisa took us all around the city center, showing us a really rich history of the city. They were so gracious and wonderful, and very sneaky about paying for lunch then acting like they suddenly didn't speak English.

I got a great tour of Reggio's best cappuccinos — I had three of them in a day which is about 2.5 more than I usually have! Coffee is integral to Italian meals. Any time we sat down at a restaurant or with family, we were offered coffee after the meal. I don't think the meal is over until you've had coffee. I've always known coffee either as a superfluous treat (for me) or as daily fuel (for family/coworkers). It was all delicious so I was glad to have a reason to try so much. For science.

Then they showed us a lot of history in Reggio Emilia, such as the gates from the ancient wall surrounding the city, Via Emilia, a road the Romans established, and beautifully painted ceilings in the H&M store. Oh, and uncovered facades on walls in the book store. And a beautiful plaza that you would swear was the inspiration for the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene. Y'know, the usual.

Point of origin of the city of Reggio Emilia, on Via Emilia

Erbazzone, a regional food - basically a pot pie crust and spinach/ricotta/etc. filling. OM NOM NOMS

One of Reggio Emilia's many squares, with tower and church residing over it.

One of the gates in the ancient wall that surrounded Reggio Emilia during Roman times.

Adorable graffiti.

Did I mention they were showing us all this stuff on the rainiest, coldest day ever, and they didn't complain even one time? Italian hospitality. Don't underestimate it!

The afternoon included visits to two cathedrals, a quick look in a museum and the pièce de résistance, Il Museo del Tricolore, a museum dedicated to the history of Italian Flag, which was created in Reggio Emilia! It was really big and had so much memorabilia related to the history of both the flag and the reunification of Italy in the 1850-70s. It was all in Italian, so I only got the gist of most things. But I also had fun translating the Italian using Spanish, and having Elisa help me fill in the blanks. Which makes me want to really learn Italian, then return so I can be immersed in it! A new challenge. (A new start?)

And then, after all of that, we went to an enormous dinner with a whole bunch of Allegris and cousins and in-laws, oh my! I am so. incredibly. happy. And full. This group opened their hearts and made us all Allegris. And even though a whole lot of none of them spoke English, we were able to piece together meaningful exchanges using the tiny amount of Italian I'd picked up, plus lots of pointing and gesturing.

A mere fraction of all the food we ate.

Lovely Elisa!

Romano

Oh, and I have a theory as to why Italians talk so much with their hands. When Italians walk around in a big group it's easy for tourists to get swept up and integrated, never to see their homelands again. And now that a foreigner is part of the family and the Italians have to figure out how to communicate, thus use giant gestures frequently. It's a working theory...

Reggio Emilia Familiga

My heart is so full right now, and so is my stomach!

I’ve just spent the day in Reggio Emilia, Italy, with some relatives from my mom’s Italian side: the patriarch of this family, Romano, is my Grandpa Pat’s cousin. If you work your way up our family trees, eventually we all get to Leandro and Bianca, my great-great-great grandparents.

My great-great grandfather, Primo.
(*I think. There were a lot of new names!)

It’s been so fun to learn who everyone is, and how we all fit together. Even more fun because for the most part no one speaks the same languages! Elisa — who I think is maybe my mom’s second cousin? — speaks excellent English and has been an amazing translator for us! But she is only one person, and there were nine of us at dinner. My in-laws and I know Spanish, and there’s enough overlap that we can almost get the gist of our conversations across. But there have also been several deer-in-the-headlights, “I have no idea what you just said” moments. And so many hand gestures!

What doesn’t need translation is the food, nor the responses to “another serving?” As cliché as it may sound, we were served such delicious food course after course by Nella, Elisa’s mother. And even when we asserted that we were full — which happened soonest for my mother-in-law — she served "just one to try." (It’s like how I’ve heard a vegetarian friend tell tales about travels in Spain: “Oh you don’t eat meat? Okay, you can have fish.”)

We were innocently duped by the first course (lasagna): servings were set out on our plates already as we sat down, and they looked... smallish. Each of us independently thought, 'maybe everything we’d ever heard was wrong?' Maybe this is the only serving we’re getting tonight? Oh, there’s more? Then sure! I’ll have another! 

But then we had soup (broth with handmade cappelletti --“little hat”-- pasta), and then we had pork with lentils (because lentils bring good luck and prosperity for the new year!), and then salad with homemade balsamic vinegar made by another cousin, then some breaded pork scaloppine), AND THEN we started on dessert, which was organic gelato (handmade by another cousin), plus pastries and macarons. We were so full!! 


At the end, Romano served us grappa, a strong liquor. Being both stuffed to the brim and somewhat terrified after the description from Elisa about how strong it is (about 75 proof!), Britton, Dave and I agreed to try a small (“poco, poco, poco!”) amount. This is when Romano very much reminded me of my late Grandpa Pat, always the mischievous one. When we said basta —meaning "enough!"— Romano, with a suspiciously sly grin, continued to pour just a liiiiittle bit more, as if he hadn’t understood our Americanized pronunciations the first time. 


Romano bears a strong resemblance to my grandpa (Romano has what he calls “The Allegri Nose” which is absolutely true) and also has the exact same smile Grandpa Pat would get when would tease and play dumb for the benefit of the grandkids’ entertainment. It was the first time I found myself really missing Grandpa Pat. I made my peace with the circle of life and that he’s no longer in pain or scared or confused. Today, I wanted to call him and tell him how amazing his people are. How much they still welcome and accept him as one of their own by welcoming and accepting me without question and with huge smiles (and with even bigger spatulas). And how much his nose ties him back to Italy. He would’ve gotten the biggest kick out of that I think. 


I’ve heard and read that grief manifests itself in waves, and at strange times, and without warning. This has got to be the happiest grief I think anyone could experience. I’m so, so glad I’m here, con la mia famiglia.

London Transport Museum: Totally Tubular

Do you get it? It's TUBEular. Like the Underground. Okay, yeah, you get it. 

The London Transport Museum is hidden in plain sight in a corner of Covent Garden. While everyone else is paying too much for souvenirs and watching magic shows, take yourself instead to this awesome museum full of everything you could possibly want to know about the history of London's transportation.

It's set up amazingly well, and is laid out beautifully. Sweeping flyover walkways and spiral staircases make the most of the museum's space in an old flower market. The architecture alone is beautiful!

This is one of the most engaging museums I've ever been to. Magnifiers for photos, touch-screen displays with digitized tickets, real restored horse-drawn buses, buttons galore, animated maps, and audible personal stories from the first days of London's transportation. Plus a woman from the early days of commuter rail who was just delightful to chat with.

(Those are my lovely in-laws!)

But perhaps the best thing about this museum is that the ticket is actually an annual pass. Your £13 lasts ALL YEAR and you can go AGAIN and AGAIN. Which is really really great because there is So. Much. Information. By the time we were two-thirds of the way through, I had information overload, even though I was genuinely interested in learning more! I will be returning to find out more about the iconic double-decker buses, the history of the Underground and how London used different vehicles during World Wars I and II.

I know you're thinking, "Buses and trains? Sounds frighteningly dull." But I promise this museum is fascinating. I spent three hours in there, and will be ready for more throughout the year.

They also have a lot of activities geared toward kids — like the stamp card I'm showing off below — and a play zone for the littlest ones, so it's a great family attraction.