Thanks for the well-wishes, the old fella had a brilliant 60th. So what did we do to celebrate his big day? We travelled to Ancient Egypt!
We caught the train to the NEC to visit Tutankhamum Birmingham: The Immersive Exhibition.
Birmingham's NEC at 10.30am, the calm before the storm!
Walk Like An Egyptian (sorry about the earworm!)
The incredible hi-tech production features an 8-metre-high, 360-degree video mapping room, a seated VR experience and a free-roaming metaverse walk-through of the Valley of the Kings - alongside treasure rooms filled with artefacts, replicas, and curated Egyptian displays and everyone we encountered from young kids to groups of pensioners were totally captivated.
The seated VR experience blew our minds as we awoke inside Tutankhamen's mummified body, stepped out of his sarcophagus and made our way out of his pyramid towards the Court of the Afterlife where the 42 divine judges (the Assessors of Maat), precided over by Osiris, weighed our divinity and granted us eternal life.
It was thrilling to see Howard Carter's diaries and his original sketches.
And the interactive photobooth was hilarious.
I seem to have turned into Harriet Walter!
After over two hours of fun and thrills we hopped on a train back to the city centre and had a spectacular Lebanese feast in the beautifully decorated Comptoir Libanais.
We even had some special birthday baklava - on the house!
After a morning in Egypt and lunch in Lebanon, we spent a couple of hours in the gorgeous traditional Victorian pub, The Shakespeare, on Lower Temple Street.
Our traveling continued once we got home. We headed to Ancient Greece to rewatch The Return. Much as we enjoyed Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, The Return feels more true to the spirit of Homer.
And a couple of days later, with Adrian & Liz's birthday present, some Lost Years rum & Jellyatrics sweets, we rewatched the wonderful O Brother Where Art Thou? The Coen Brothers Odyssey-inspired film set in the American Deep South in 1937.
The Sixtieth celebrations continue....we're squeezing in another adventure leaving us with just 24 hours before we've got to be at Beautiful Days.
All being well, I'll see you at the end of the month!
Awh happy 60th Jon. Wow that crept up on us all didn’t it. Can’t believe I’ll be 71 next week. How the hell did they happen.
ReplyDeleteLove from the two of us xxxx
Happy 60th birthday to Lord John! Hope you both had a fabulous time. Louise (Mids) xxx
ReplyDeleteWow! The exhibition looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous time in your next adventure. Looking forward to hearing about it xxx
What a fabulous day! You took me back over fifty years to a very special outing bringing back my feelings when I saw the death mask. The exhibition looks amazing. Enjoy what comes next.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful trip—Egyptian civilization is incredibly impressive!
ReplyDeleteA 60th birthday is a significant milestone; may he be healthy and happy.
And may you be by his side to enjoy these moments with him!
Have a great week ahead!!
Happy 60th birthday to Jon. Looks like you had a fab time. Oddly we have just got back from Norfolk celebrating my older sister 's 80th birthday and we stayed in Swaffham where Howard Carter was born and there is a blue plaque in the town for him. Recalling about when Tut's exhibition was at the British Museum in the 70's and we queued for hours to see it. I love O Brother Where Art Thou. Good luck for the festival. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteI felt so lucky to see that exhibition and the queue was quite an experience. I remember the one for Churchill as well. I marvel at the history I've seen.
DeleteYou find the best curated exhibits in Birmingham and its on my radar as part of a future adventure your way. I'm glad Jon's birthday was fabulous.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous exhibition. We have visited the museum in Cairo years ago and also Tutankhamun's tomb but clearly there is plenty we haven't seen, not least select items from Howard Carter's private collection - and without the airfare to Egypt! I just know that you would have spent a very long time looking at the jewellery! Maybe now's the time to confess that my lovely Egyptian style necklace which you gave me got stolen/lost from my room on my last trip to Istanbul, so sorry to tell you. Everything you did on Jon's birthday treat (especially the food!) is what I would have loved to do too ... and the celebration isn't over yet?! Hope you survive the 5th heatwave coming our way whilst at Beautiful Days.
ReplyDeleteBetty
Happy birthday John!
ReplyDeleteAnd that Egyptian exhibition looks incredible! Wow - I remember seeing a very much more muted and 'of its time' style Egyptian display when I first arrived in the UK. I went with my Gran who absolutely loved it and I was just so mesmerised by the death masks, the art work and the detail is fantastic.
I watched both your clips and have decided that I need to watch both in their entirety 🌞