So today had a busy-ish feel as I made my way down to belsize park station to catch the train down to embankment to get to south kensington for the natural history museum, science museum, Baden Powell house and the Albert & Victoria museum.
There are things that miss from the trains at home. Like when they list the stations that train is doing rather than just saying the terminating stop. I eventually got to the museums and started with the NHM.
Multiple school groups were going in as I was so many small children and some not so small high schoolers were there as well. Not too crowded which was nice so you could move around with relative ease. The insect section was first. Winding paths with informative facts accompanied with models or interactive stations really made it enjoyable, albeit aimed at a younger audience.
From there it was onto the dinosaurs. Walking through the archway and being confronted by a large herbivores skeleton is startling but awe inspiring. Many skeletons were on display and even suspended from the roof with the occaisional animatronic raptor moving its head and forearms in reaction to your movement. From the upper walkway you move down and past the large animatronic T-Rex. There were heaps of scared kids with parents trying to reassure them that "it's just a big toy" without much success. More displays were on the lower walkway, these focused on how the world was changing as well as the adaptive methods of the dinosaurs.
Then the marine invertebrates including corals, sponges and shells of different genus' then onto the mammals. This included the large gallery with the life size model of a blue whale as well as skeletons of other whales and models of smaller aquatic mammals. Many taxidermied animal skins were on display as well as interactive stations.
From there I went to the main hall and up the stairs to the second level and the gem and geology section. Literally a long room filled with display cases of different crystals and specimens of rocks that had been found. This is where my camera battery died, much to my annoyance. At the back of this room was what they called "the vault" (I heard that in a rather menacing tone.. Anyone else?) where they keep some of their most significant and priceless pieces as well as loaned private collections. It included large nuggets of gold, opals, raw emeralds and a private collection of the 25 different colours of diamonds, showing them under natural and uv light (some diamonds glow under uv light, it's really cool). I then saw the cross section of a 1335 yr old tree, it was one of the oldest trees alive for a long time until it was felled.
After eating a quick lunch I wandered around the corner for the science museum. This was interesting as it was similar to the power house museum but with so much more (and a nicer layout). There was some art installment and the main hall had some historical engines that lead to a space exhibit models of different rovers and satellights as well as the different types of rocket engines that have been used over space flight. From here you wander into a room of transport and invention, with steam engines and early cars on display as well as a recreation of Thomas watt's workroom.
Exiting that and moving upstairs you find a level entitled "who am I?" where it talks about how our genetics and upbringing shape us as the people we are today and will be tomorrow. Lots of interactive bits and stand alone displays. Another level up is call 'atmosphere' which is focused on how our planet is affected by global warming and the solar system around it. Overall very good and a decent days sightseeing, I would seriously recommend to anyone with a spare day in London to go and see these two places, either side is the Victoria & Albert museum and Baden Powell house as well.
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