If your lunch-times are spent munching while hunched over a screen in the scintillating company of a spreadsheet, it may be time to grab your coat and embrace some culture. A new environment can work wonders for problem solving and new subject matter will help get the creative juices flowing again. If squeezing a museum visit into half an hour seems a tall order, here’s my top five bite-size, mini museum wonders guaranteed to revive and refresh the parts that a spreadsheet never can.
poeticaldistractions The Freud Museum
The Freud Museum
Home to the infamous couch, (worth a visit for that alone), Freud’s house provides a fascinating insight into the interior life of the great psychoanalyst. The house and its contents become all the more fascinating when you discover that it’s a pain-staking recreation of the former home that Freud left when he fled Austria in 1938. Worthy of some analysis?
The Vault, Hard Rock Café
Buried away in the basement of the Piccadilly’s Hard Rock Café is a treasure-trove of memorabilia boasting random gems including Madonna’s bustier and old credit card and John Lennon’s glasses. Free guided tours take place every twenty minutes. (Visitors must be accompanied by café staff.)
Razak Abu Bakar The Vault
Twinings Tea Shop and Museum
Perfect for a spot of early afternoon tea, the Twinings Tea Shop and Museum dates back to 1706 and is the oldest shop in the City of Westminster. While the Museum provides a history of the company, a smaller tea shop is also available in case you need to stock up on afternoon supplies.
The Old Operating Theatre
Tucked away in the roof space of an English baroque church is Europe’s oldest operating theatre. The spartan timber-framed “torture chamber” contains the original wooden operating table where amputations would be viewed by a packed gallery in the hair-raising days before anaesthesia. Not one for the faint-hearted.
John Pannell The Old Operating Theatre
Charles Dickens Museum
Located in the heart of creative Bloomsbury is Charles Dicken’s former London residence. Explore the rooms where the great masterpieces Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist were penned. Decorated in the Early Victorian style, over 100,000 items are available to view. Ideal for summoning the muse for those afternoon reports.
Gail Frederick Charles Dickens Museum
Do you know of any other mini museums that could be slotted into a lunch hour? I would love to hear your recommendations.