Notting Hill Carnival.

The biggest carnival in Europe, and this is my first visit having been deterred in the past by reports of serious crime and near riots.

The day starts with a tremendous downfall of rain that has people crowding into any available sheltered doorway, leaving everyone wondering if this was going to be a total washout. For the first time there is also a Caribbean spotlight event staged in Hyde Park being strongly supported by the Mayor, if not wholly by the Carnival organizers, who believe he is trying to move the event there permanently because of the increase in numbers of visitors. He does have a point though because numbers have swelled to over 600,000 and there is a massive police presence here, as well as road closures that affect the local population.

Many people have questioned the validity of holding this event in a neighborhood that has changed vastly since the original concept over 20 years ago. This is a very rich white area with property prices going through the roof in recent years. What is very evident from walking through the closed areas is the amount of private security guarding the apartment blocks, and the shops have nearly all been boarded up in case of a riot.

When the procession starts it is an amazing scene of smiling faces, loud music and dance. The costumes defy belief and all are a credit to the black community's hard work throughout the previous year. The crowds give a warm reception and are well served with endless amounts of food being freshly grilled on the street stalls, as well as having plenty of drink available from pubs that have brought the beer taps out into the open.

It has been a really good day with few arrests for minor crimes, and I say a big thank you to all the people involved for a really good time, including the Mayor, the police, and to all the poor residents for moving their cars away from their homes and coping with the disruption.

This is a remarkable event not just for black people, it is for everyone to enjoy!

Spotlight - Camden Town.

Take a trip back two hundred years and you would have found nothing but open country, a few ale taverns and an area plagued by highway men robbing the coaches of the travelers. The land that the current Underground station now stands on would have been the scene of many thieves drawing their last breath as they were hanged.
Camden Town has always had a high immigrant content stemming from the first rush of the Irish moving here to escape the poverty caused by the potato famine. The growth of the area was accelerated by the building of the canal and the Underground Tube station.

Today we have a fantastic mix of nationality's, and the world famous market places that import goods from around the globe, as well as independent entrepreneurs who sell their own products.
Unless you have been there, you would not believe the variety of weird, curious, and bizarre stuff on sale. From Art Deco, jewelry, candles and furniture, to punk, leather, and army clothing, be prepared to be shocked, amazed and confused.
The best thing here is the people. A real mix of tourists and the local community, some adding to the atmosphere with equally amazing clothes and spiky hair. If you blend the spirit of Glastonbury, Stonehenge, and pagan beliefs with Rock N' Roll, Punk and tropical islands, you would be near enough to the spirit of freedom that is here.
Of course with this amount of people in a small area there are problems too. We still await for the replacement of the Tube station that cannot cope with the amount of users, and has severe restrictions in place. Plans for the station above ground has been, quite correctly, rejected by the Mayor as being inappropriate for the area.
The streets are probably the most policed in London because they attract the low life drug dealers, as well as other crimes, and drunks. Quite hard to take in is the fact that there is also poverty here, I have seen the queues of people waiting to be fed by mobile vans supplied by Hare Krishna. But these problems detract from the fact that this is THE area to visit at the weekend for a fine selection of people, shops and amazing food from around the world.

The British Museum Visit.

There cannot be a more impressive centre than this in any of our museums. The remarkable Sir Norman Foster designed glass roof is in itself worthy of praise as it spreads light around the reading room and into the surrounding display areas.
As a young adult I found the museum as a whole a bit daunting as it is full of exhibits that can be too much to take in on one visit, but with the passing years I find that I have a greater capacity to want to learn and don't rush things as I used to.
The major highlights include the infamous Lord Elgin marbles which are fantastic in their amount and details of scenes from the Greek golden era showing horses ridden by great warriors into battle. There have been many requests by the Greek governments for their return, but so far they remain here. The museum displays a notice stating that they believe they have saved these marbles from extinction by moving them from the site that would have led to their eventual destruction from pollution and vandalism. Lord Elgin had bought these sections and had them shipped over as a private collection. I cannot ever imagine that these will be returned.
The Rosetta Stone is another example of an important object that was gained in a peace treaty during the good old British Empire days when the French Army was defeated. The reason for the importance of this engraved stone is within the inscriptions chiseled into it. There are three translations of the same script in different language's used during this period, the stone was the first stage in the translation of hieroglyphics to Greek, and has been crucial in solving many of the Egyptian writings in the tombs of the Pharoahs.
Ask any child that has been here what their favorite section was and I am sure they would say the Egyptian mummies, as some of the burial coffins still show the interiors and embalming process of the inhabitants. Loads of bones and skulls, what more could kids want ?
From the exhibits of the exciting Victorian days of massive private curio collections, to the Roman treasure unearthed in Britain on a glorious scale, you have the privilege of one of the world finest collections, and all free of charge.