Disappointment: It’s not like the Louvre

3:33 p.m. British Museum. I was disappointed by the British museum. At least the entry was free. We believed it would be comparable in size and variety to the Louvre,  but we soon discovered that paintings are housed elsewhere,  in the National Gallery. An interesting find was the Rosetta Stone, though it was in a crowded area right near the entrance of the museum. On leaving, we stopped by souvenir shops and took pictures in front of the red telephone booths. We enjoyed the convenient tap- to-pay access for “the tube” compared to the Metro machines in Madrid, though there was a lot of sudden braking and screeching while riding the rail. 

Right before the doors closed, a family of seven entered the crowded Underground car with a stroller, and one of the standing children slapped a sibling. We couldn’t help chuckling in surprise and muttering to ourselves that our parents would have likely slapped us back for such behavior at that age. When we reached our stop, we passed a man with bagpipes at the station, loudly blasting away at a fast pace to the tired-looking  locals.