A Cathedral Of Nature

The Natural History Museum
South Kensington - London, UK
This museum opened its doors in 1881, and the only thing more beautiful than the building itself is the wealth of knowledge and history of the natural world that is on display inside.

Our first visit to the museum was on December 28th, and despite spending much of the day there, we were only able to see a fraction of the exhibits on display.  I'm pretty sure that Lady Gaga was there too.  No joke - she was right next to me, and when I got back to the hotel, I looked it up and saw that she's in London right now.  However, I was in full nerd mode and the museum had my full attention, so by the time I realized she was there, she had moved on.  I'm not sure what I would have said to her anyway.  I'm sure she doesn't need a random fan gushing about her music when she's trying to relax and enjoy a day at the museum.

We became members of the museum and got to take the behind-the-scenes guided tour of The Spirit Collection.  Included in this collection were specimens collected by Charles Darwin, and Archie, a fully preserved giant squid that measures 8.62 meters.  That's over 28 feet long - larger than a London bus.  Photography wasn't allowed during that portion of the tour so I don't have any pictures, but it was truly amazing [update: the museum has shared a video of Archie on YouTube].

Before we flew home, we visited one last time.  Because we were members, we were able to enter the museum a little bit before it opened to the public, so I was able to get a few photos of the museum while it was still mostly empty.  There's no way that I'm going to be able to do justice to how incredible of an experience this museum is, but I'm happy to share what I can.

This is Dippy, a complete cast of the fossilized bones of a Diplodocus.  The skeleton was discovered in Wyoming in 1898 and was acquired by Andrew Carnegie.  Carnegie donated a full cast of the skeleton to King Edward VII, and it's been on display here at The Natural History Museum for over 100 years.

This is the view of the main lobby of the museum from the statue of Charles Darwin.  The large round object you can see at the top center of the photo is a slice of a Giant Sequoia tree that has been on display at the museum since 1893.

Based on the study of its rings, the tree was determined to have been a sapling in 557 AD.  It lived for 1,300 years and grew to be over 330 feet tall before it was cut down in California in 1891.  The rings of the tree are marked to show the historical events that have taken place during the life of this tree.  For example, this Sequoia was 1,000 years old when Shakespeare and Galileo were born in 1564.

Here is the view of the main entrance of the museum taken from the location of the Giant Sequoia specimen.  The white statue at the top of the first staircase in the center is Charles Darwin.

And here's me being a great big nerd standing next to the statue of Darwin.

So, now that you've seen the main entrance lobby, keep in mind that this is a small area when compared to the entire museum.  There are five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology, and the museum is home to over 80 million exhibits and specimens.  I could visit every day for a year and still not see all of them, so the photos below are a ridiculously small sample of things that you can see and learn about in the museum.

Breakfast At The Blackbird

Full English Breakfast
The Blackbird - Earl's Court - London, UK
We had breakfast at a beautiful pub that's near where we're staying.

Back At Kensington For Dinner

Zizzi Ristorante
Earls Court Rd - Kensington, London
Today has been a lot of fun, but it's also been very tiring, so we stayed close to "home" and had a nice pasta dinner with sparking apple juice.  The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was very cool.

The Chapter House

The Chapter House
St. John's Street - Salisbury, England
After we explored the Salisbury Cathedral, we walked around town for a bit and found this very cozy little place to stay warm and enjoy a glass of wine.

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury - Wiltshire, UK
This was the last stop on our bus trip, and it felt almost magical - like I was stepping into an Indiana Jones movie.  If I hadn't just been to Stonehenge, I would have said that I've never been this close to things that were this old and historic.  It was truly an experience I'll never forget.

We got to see one of the four existing copies of the Magna Carta in the world, which is on display here.  Photography wasn't allowed in that section of the Cathedral, but it was permitted everywhere else, and as always, I took a ton of photos.  Here are some of the best ones.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge
Amesbury - Wiltshire, UK
Throughout my life, any time a discussion came up of places that you want to visit, Stonehenge was always on the list.  Usually, those conversations were centered around things that you would do if you hit the lottery, or bucket list dreams that you hope to achieve before you die.  I never thought I'd actually make it, but here I am.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle
Windsor - Berkshire, UK
We took a bus trip with three stops: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and the Salisbury Cathedral.  Of the three, this is the one that I wish we could have spent more time.  It was fascinating and beautiful beyond my capability to describe it with words.

When we arrived, we were given a headset for an audio tour to help explain the historical context of the castle grounds and of the rooms inside the castle as you visit them.  I've heard of this technology before, but this was the first time I've had the opportunity to experience it, and it really is brilliant.  Unlike guided tours, you can hear the presentation with crystal clarity, and you can pause it whenever you like to soak in your surroundings without missing any of the information.

Windsor Castle was built by William The Conqueror in the 11th Century AD, and it's been the longest occupied palace in Europe since Henry I was the King of England.  The grounds are secured by members of the Queen's Guard.  I got to see a changing of the guard in the section of the grounds that you see below.

Photography wasn't allowed inside, but you could take as many photos as you wanted on the castle grounds outside.  As much as I love taking photos, I'm kind of glad that they had this rule.  If photography was allowed inside, I know that I would have spent too much time framing and trying to get the right light to capture everything.  There simply was so much to see inside that taking pictures would have distracted me from being able to live in the moment and truly experience the castle.

Masala Zone

Masala Zone
Earls Court - London, UK
I was told that I shouldn't leave London without eating at an Indian restaurant.  Masala Zone came highly recommended, and rightfully so.  Everything was delicious.

The World's Most Famous Cornershop

Fortnum & Mason
Westminster - London, UK
This store has been in business since 1707 and has held the Royal Warrant for groceries and provisions since 1955, and it must be seen to be believed.  It's very posh and very large with six floors of merchandise that ranges from ordinary to exotic.  You could easily spend a few hours wandering around, looking at all of the beautiful displays and unusual foods.

A lot of the items here are quite pricey, but there's plenty of things here that are no more expensive than a store like Wegmans in the United States.  We found a nice set of crocks filled with salt, pepper and herbs, some nice chocolate and coffee, a Christmas ornament and box of Christmas crackers.

Speaking of Christmas, the store is still decked for the holidays with trees, wreaths and other seasonal decorations.  The place was jammed and I didn't want to disturb the other shoppers, so I was only able to get a few photos, but I was able to get one of the Christmas tree by the spiral staircase.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace
Westminster - London, UK
This is the second royal palace that I've had the opportunity to visit in my life.  I saw my first when I was eight years old - Iolani Palace in Honolulu.  It only took 26 years for me to see another.  Unfortunately, Buckingham Palace wasn't open for tours (that's usually limited to the summer and a few select dates in the Fall and Winter), but it was still very cool to see the home of Queen Elizabeth.