Today was another sunny but cold day in London and with my family coming to visit at the end of July, I thought this was a good opportunity to go and be a tourist! So this morning I got ready, headed off to the train station, and read through my Rick Steves' Great Britain 2013 travel book. One great thing about most of the museums in London is that they are all free! So I decided that today would be a good day to check out the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert (also referred to as the V&A). Jake had a class this morning, so I first went to the Natural History Museum.
The Natural History Museum was cool, but it didn't feel much different than the Natural History Museum back home in Exposition Park. First I headed off to the dinosaur exhibit and saw the usual triceratops, the long-neck dinosaurs (which I found out are called diplodocus), and the T. Rex. Did you know that if a full grown T. Rex were to trip, the fall would have most likely killed it?
After the dinosaurs I walked through the mammals, then the birds, then the marine fossils (I think I may have found one of Nessie's cousins...).
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| The Natural History Museum |
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| Victoria & Albert Museum (The V&A) |
We first looked at all the medieval artifacts. Some of my favorite items on display were the reliquaries. A reliquary is a box that was used to carry or store physical remains of the saints. Relics can range from items such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures. The cross in the picture collection below is a reliquary containing a human finger. Another reliquary that we saw (that I wasn't able to snap a picture of) contained the head of the saint that it was in memory of.
One of the funnier things that I spotted in the Natural History Museum was a father showing his 2.5-3 year old daughter around the museum. Most parents there had their kids in a stroller or on a leash. But this particular dad kept his daughter by his side by feeding her small cookies that he had stashed in his pocket. He would walk a couple feet, call her name, and when she was by his side he would giver her a small cookie. If he was having trouble getting her to follow him he would simply show her the cookie and she would come running...clever dad!!
After the Natural History Museum I met up with Jake and we walked over to the V&A. According to Rick Steves' the V&A is "the world's top collection of decorative arts (vases, stained glass, fine furniture, clothing, jewelry, carpets, and more) is a surprisingly interesting assortment of crafts from the west...The British Galleries are all grand, but there's much more to see...". There was so much to see at the V&A that I wouldn't mind going back again because I know I missed some incredible things!
It is so incredible to see these items that are almost 1000 years old! Did the people who made these incredible items think that they would still be around this long? Did they think that people would come from all over the world to see them? What were the people like who created these items?! It just blows my mind...I LOVE HISTORY!
After the V&A we walked down past Harrods to Green Park next to Buckingham Palace. It was such a beautiful day! We stopped for some dinner and then grabbed a yummy gelato. I found a delicious new flavor...it sounds odd but just go with me....Basil & Chili. It was yummy. Don't bash it until you try it! We sat in our favorite place, Trafalgar Square and then headed home.
A long day, but so fun!!
Victoria & Albert Museum: http://www.vam.ac.uk
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