Museum of London

The Museum of London is located a few blocks north of St. Paul's Cathedral so maybe we can do both the same day, although it would probably be better not to go on Sunday when St. Paul's has its free concert.  Like the British Museum, the Museum of London is free and open daily from 10 am to 6 pm, so we don't have to worry about it being closed on Mondays.  Naturally it has a store where one can buy nifty souvenirs like these suffragette buttons to the left.  I can even get London handkerchiefs!

The museum has a section on the prehistory of the Lower Thames Valley from around 450,000 BC until the creation of the Roman city of Londinium around AD 50.   They say that "London’s prehistoric landscape was similar to today's central African plains.  125,000 years ago hippos lived in Trafalgar Square!"  Rather hard to believe, isn't it?  We'll have to remember that when it is cold and rainy.

The Museum divides its early historical periods into Roman (AD 50-410) and Medieval (410-1558), which starts with the accession of Queen Elizabeth I.  I always thought the Norman Conquest was a dividing line but perhaps not.  Evidently King Henry the Eighth is considered medieval rather than divisive.  Elizabeth is followed by some turbulent times and London suffers from the Great Plague of 1665-1666 (in which 100,000 or 20% of the population died) and the Great Fire of 1666, which destroyed a quarter of Greater London and four fifths of the City.  We can learn more about these when we visit.

A few blocks to the northeast of the Museum is the Smithfield Market, the largest wholesale meat market in the UK but they recommend getting there before 7 am when all the stalls are open, since the market activity starts at 2 am...

Fernando might be interested in a nearby restaurant, St. John - Smithfield, which is the restaurant of Fergus Henderson, who specializes in offal and is the author of Nose to Tail Eating.  You can see lots more of his dishes on Instagram.