In which we start the day with a heist, visit a prominent museum, and finish the day with a heist at a prominent museum. We also wander a market and enjoy a moment of utter civility in the form of traditional afternoon tea.

We enjoyed our time at Enigma Quests so much on Wednesday that we’d made arrangements to come back and try our hand at the other escape room type thingy at that particular location today. This one was the Million Pound Heist. Our mission, having chosen to accept it, was to infiltrate the headquarters of a notorious quartet of art thieves, retrieve an item, and clean ‘em out. Your final “score” is the amount of money you leave with, assuming you retrieve the item. It was another great room, which we finished without clues once again. This seems to have particularly impressed the three staff members that we’ve spoken with, so we’re making that a particular point of pride. We did miss a couple of things, and made a silly mistake on the money front, but we apparently finished above average for most groups, and well above for those with no clues. A good time was had by all, and we’re looking forward to getting the check, which we’re assured is in the mail.

Our next stop was Camden Market, which is a market. In Camden. Not really painting the picture that I’d like to there. We grabbed a bite to eat, wandered through the stalls, where the wean bought herself a great Totoro themed day bag, she and I bought some beautifully bound journals, and we did not buy any artwork. It’s a fun place to just wander and look at the wares. You’ve gotta know how to say no, but no-one was pushy, so it was a great way to kill an hour or so.

Next up was the British Museum. The visit was prompted by our next appointment, but we were early enough to enjoy some time in one of the exhibit halls: Ancient Egypt. You walk in and the first thing that you see is the Rosetta Stone, which is just a remarkable thing to behold. And then, you’re surrounded by so much old and intricate beauty. I love experiencing anything this old. I’m European, so we’re used to old things. I’ve visited buildings that are many centuries old and still in active use. But when the artifacts reach millennia, I just smile to myself as I utterly fail to grasp that kind of time scale. So there I am, crouched over and examining sarcophagi and statues that someone was crouched over and carving 3,500 years ago. It’s amazing.

I spent a long time looking at and comparing hieroglyphs, and noticed something I hadn’t caught before: while the symbols are consistent (remarkably so, at times), they sometimes face the opposite way. I’d never really been in a position to compare artifacts before, and the variance is most prominent when comparing two pieces.

That said, it really stood out on the sarcophagus of Ankhnesneferibre (yes, I had to look that up). The hieroglyphs on the lid and the body of the sarcophagus were mirror images of each other, most notably in the writing of her name (surrounded by an oval to indicate royalty or other high station).

So I did some checking and learned that, traditionally, hieroglyphs are written and read right-to-left BUT they can be written and read left-to-right, if the mood of the writer suits. In either case, all the faces will point the same way, so you know which direction to read by always reading towards the faces. I promptly tried to imagine writing English like this and esnes lufgninaem yna ni deliaf.

Something else that is just fascinating is how small and intricate the language can be written, and so tiny. The carving skills must have been outstanding, and it all reads far better than my handwriting.

The appointment that brought us here today was Afternoon Tea at the Great Court restaurant. I have no idea why, but I just love afternoon tea. I consider it the height of civility and one of the few things that I’ll give the English credit for openly. Afternoon Tea is distinct from High Tea, which typically includes more and different foods, and is really more of an early supper. Afternoon Tea centers around a good tea served with a lighter fare: finger sandwiches, petit fours, and often scones with clotted cream and jam. The fare at the British Museum was not disappointing, though even I will say that two scones per person seemed like an overindulgence. The half-cup scoop of clotted cream that accompanied them was, well, no more by the time the four of us were done. My afternoon tea of choice is always Earl Gray, though I prefer it without lemon, which is considered mildly offensive in certain circles. Of course, had I added milk to the tea, said circles would have appeared around me and stoned me to death, so it’s all about knowing the line to tread. The whole thing, setting and all, was pleasantly relaxing, and really rather filling. No dinner needed tonight!

We had a few minutes left before we had to leave, so we made a quick stop in the Mesopotamia exhibit, where I gazed upon the oldest known set of game rules (177BC) for the Royal Game of Ur. This is a two-player, strategy game originating about, well, 4,500 years ago. I might have to give it a try some time. In the same case as the carved rules were the game board, players’ tokens, and dice. A full set, ready to play. Maybe next time…

We then headed out to our final stop of the night, the cinema to watch Ocean’s 8. We’re big fans of the series – well, 11 and 13 at least – and had watched them in December when we all went to Vegas. So we were all looking forward to a bit of fun and entertainment, particularly as it fitted so well with the themes of the day. We weren’t disappointed either: a thoroughly entertaining heist film it was too.

After another long day, we headed on back home with a quick stop for some supplies for the morrow. This is our last night in London, at the end of yet another wonderful visit with Mark.