The British Museum
For Rick's final day in London, the British Museum won out over the Natural History Museum. Good choice. A jaw-dropping collection of art and artifacts from all over the world, gathered in what were once several separate buildings, now united under a geodesic roof that covers the central courtyard. And photography is permitted.
Assyrian figures guard the entrance to a room full of friezes.
An Egyptian (possibly Amenhotep III) head carved in red granite and about 2 meters high, once part of a colossal standing figure in Thebes.
These torsos are just a small part of the Elgin Marbles, recovered from the ruins of the Parthenon. When Rick inquired as to how the museum came into ownership of these, he was politely handed a two-page brief explaining that they had been legally acquired around 1815 by agreement with the then Turkish rulers of Greece, that if they had been left in place they would have deteriorated further, that the display in the museum allows millions of people to see, appreciate and study them, but also that the Greek government is now trying to repatriate them.
There was of course much more -- Viking silver hoards, mummies, African masks, samurai armor, Mayan sculpture, all of it beautiful and beautifully presented. But Rick had to go to the airport, and he had the digital camera.