I spent a week in London staying with someone I know from London, so I had the opportunity to do quite a lot of things in London.
I went to London three years ago, and that’s when I did all the main touristy things. This time I wanted to find some things a little bit off the beaten path and also things that didn’t cost money.
The United Grand Lodge of England and the Museum of Freemasonry – It’s free to get in and it’s interesting to see what the Freemasons have to say about their history and traditions. They have artifacts from ceremonies and famous members. It’s also a really grand building.
Temple Church – Temple Church was founded by the Knights Templar in the 12th century. It’s intertwined with the history of the Magna Carta as well as the history of the Crusades and the Knights Templar themselves. They’ve got a nice exhibit inside about the history of the church and you can also go up the tower and look around. It costs 3 GBP to go in.
Museum of the Order of Saint John – this is a small and free museum about another secret society called the Order of Saint John. They exist now as a charitable society called St. John’s Ambulance. They were founded during the first Crusade to provide medical care to pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem. They have some really cool old artifacts in the museum, including this jar of ‘Dragon’s Blood.’
Beigel Bake – This is a famous bagel shop on Brick Lane. Their bagels are rediculously cheap – 30p! And for about 4.30 GBP you can get a salt beef bagel with mustard and pickles. It’s amazing, I highly recommend. You can walk around Brick Lane after you eat, which is an interesting place indeed.
Maybe this won’t count, but we went to the British Museum and spent most of our time looking at the smaller exhibits, such as a new exhibit about the history of China and one about ancient Babylon.
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology – this museum is part of UCL. It has really weird hours, but it’s free to go in and they have so much stuff crammed in the little space they have there. There’s not a lot of info there but if you’re interested in ancient Egypt, it’s definitely worth checking out.
I really enjoyed this trip to London and seeing some things that normally might not make it on people’s list for a shorter trip to London.
