My Journey to London: First Impressions (Rema Zeynalova, ITP 2018, Azerbaijan)

Hi, I am Rema Zeynalova (ITP 2018 Fellow), working as Chief Specialist on Scientific Research at Azerbaijan Carpet Museum.

This is about the first day of my trip to London which was awesome and memorable… There are many cities I have visited around the world, but London was always my passion. This is my first visit to London and I am excited, because I will be meeting new people and experiencing new cultures, traditions and cuisine.

So, after a six-hour flight finally I arrived at Heathrow airport. Half of my heart was nervous and the other half could not wait to meet the ITP team and other ITP fellows. At the airport I was happy to hear nice words about my institution, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum. from the custom officer who was really impressed with my work place. Last year he visited the museum and I understood from his smile that he seemed to be very satisfied about my museum. He warmly welcomed me to London.

At the airport I met Xu Liyu from China, one of the ITP 2018 fellows, so I started my first acquaintance in person with an ITP fellow. Then Xu Liyu and I left the airport together and headed to Schafer House where we were warmly welcomed by Rebecca Horton (ITP Coordinator).

When I arrived in London, it was too late in the evening to explore the city. But the weather impressed me first; unlike Baku, it was pretty cool. The next day, early in the morning I started to explore the city. First of all I was amazed by my first experience on a double-decker bus. I felt like I was in the sky observing the city.

My next destination was to visit my dream museum object, the Shaykh Safi carpet at the Victoria & Albert Museum. I spent one hour with the carpet, enjoying its magnificence.

Then I walked around the city, enjoying Hyde Park, live music performed in the street and then some traditional British food, which completed my day.

So, I finished my first day in London full of good impressions and new ideas for the coming days.

Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the British Museum ITP team and its UK Partners for the opportunity given to me and for all the support extended to organize my participation in the training.

Rema