Well, I kept my promise to myself, and with a friend, we intrepid travellers clothed, provisioned and equipped ourselves and, with archaeological trowels, compasses and maps in hand, set off on an exciting Egyptological expedition and adventure to deepest, darkest London and the Petrie Museum.  Sadly, Dr Alice Stevenson was not available to show us around as she had kindly said she would if free, nevertheless, it was still a great experience!

The museum was not an easy find; the site being buried deeply in an ancient corner of  Malet Place, University College London.  But, using our best exploratory and archaeological skills, once mapped, plotted, excavated and unearthed, and the treasures located, we entered a world of ‘Wonderful Things’.

It is like no other museum I have ever visited: it houses an estimated 80,000 objects, making it –  in its own words – ‘one of the greatest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world’ and ‘The collection is full of ‘firsts’ – and I have to agree.  There are far too many amazing things to list, but it is simply packed with artifacts large and small – and very small – and very, very small – as you would expect from Petrie.  Many of artifacts had tiny, hand written identification labels, which only enhanced the feel of the place. I could just imagine Flinders Petrie painstakingly and patiently labouring over them – in fact, I half expected him to walk  in at any moment.

If you have not been to this museum, then you really should – don’t expect slick and modern, but do expect cornucopia.  And do let me know what you think.

After the Petrie museum, we had time to spare so added to the pleasure of the day, by popping into the British Museum.  I love this place and visit whenever I can; and never tire of the beauty of the Egyptian artefacts held there, not to mention the pleasures of the Member’s Lounge.

What a day!  Yummy!