Tourist: Natural History Museum, Tower of London, Tate Modern, Not St. Paul's

Natural History Museum

After just rereading Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything, the British Natural History Museum was at the top of my museum list. I spent three and a half hours there, which I think is longer than I was able to spend in the Louvre or the NY Met...


The building is enormous. It has more than twice the number of specimens as the American Museum of Natural History in NY. Something like two thirds of the space isn't available to the public - where the majority of the specimens actually are - because the main purpose of the building is for research.

The dinosaur exhibit was first, and I think I spent an hour reading every single plaque in the area. Human biology and the Darwin Centre were both great, and after that it went a bit downhill. Insects, rocks, trees, mammals, whatever. My camera battery was nearly dead so I didn't take many pictures, and realized after that I took hardly any of the exhibits: they're all of the building itself.

I wish I knew how to format the page better so these would be side by side

Apparently it used to spin but too many people messed with it.

JR: "What are you studying?" Cute girl: "Geology" JR: "I LOVE rocks!"

It moves, and ROARS

Tower of London

This morning I tubed out to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. Considering the Natural History Museum and the Tate Modern are free, I think it's weird that the Tower costs £20. As I entered I joined a tour with a hilarious Yeoman which saved the experience - other than that hour it's mostly just armor and cannons and prison cells. I've found I'm quite interested in the line of kings and queens, and since this is where the Royal Jewels are held I thought I'd be able to learn a lot about it, but it was somehwat lacking in that history. I'll have to look somewhere else. I did get to see the changing of the guard for the crown jewels, so I have even less reason to see the other one (everyone tells me to skip it).

Elizabeth Regina II, in case it wasn't obvious

St. Paul's, as the 4 o'clock bells were ringing

"Sorry sir, we're closed"

"I thought 4:30?"

"Yes but we stop selling tickets at 4"

"Selling?"

"Yes, it's fourteen pounds fifty"

That's $23. Don't think I'll be going back there.

I tried to talk to a cute girl by asking her to take my picture after I crossed the river. Not only did she have no interest in talking, she took the picture without including the dome of St. Paul's, just off screen.

Tate Modern

I did a fairly quick tour through this museum. The most interesting exhibit was the expanse of hand painted porcelain sunflower seeds, raked flat. There must have been millions of them, each crafted by women in a single city in China.

Other than that they had some Warhols and Picassos, but not many.