This morning I woke up feeling a little better and as it was my last chance to get out and about I thought I would finish off the list by going to the Natural History Museum (NHM) and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and also had to go to Harrods to pick up some special bears.
Unfortunately, I got a text from my sister saying that both the museums were closed and to say I was disappointed was an understatement as they were places I really wanted to visit out of any and due to being sick and tired as I was nearing the end of my 5 week holiday I didn’t think to research opening hours for anything and just assumed they would be open seeing as it was a regular working day.
But little did I know what the day would entail as my sister told me to come to the museum anyway and she would see what I could have a look at in the Rare books Library. And in case you were wondering here is her 60 secs in the spotlight article they do on staff Clicky Clicky!
The glorious NHM
After being let into the museum as a ‘Departmental Visitor’ due to my wealth of knowledge we headed back to my sister’s office to drop off bags and coats and the day got increasingly better as we were off on a somewhat limited but yet personal tour of the NHM! NO KIDS NO SCREAMING/WHINGING/CRYING KIDS! Woohoo…how awesome is that a silent museum all to myself ( and my tour guide)!
Along the way to the office we visited Sophie the Stegosaurus who is the most complete specimen approx 90% to read how she was put together go here and a quick FAQ here.
This globe used to rotate but due to its age and safety reasons it now stands sill but is still quite impressive.
First stop was the Rare Books room that houses all the original books from Charles Darwin and other explorers like showcasing the drawings of wildlife as they saw it for the first time.
Amongst the books house in the Rare book collection is the drawings created when the NHM was being built in 1860’s and was opened gradually in 1881-1883, most of the tiles and columns are terracotta and still look amazing to this day. For more on the NHM history go here.
This book is from 1472 and sadly has been infested with wood borers at some point as you can see from the holes on the cover…this book is stunning in real life and mind boggling to be in its presence.
The following book is amazing as it is some of the first ever drawings completed from images under microscope called Micrographia 1662. Luck would have it my sister wrote an article about this book and you can view it here. Here is a basic overview:
“The first person to recognise and explore cells, Hooke’s interest in the unseen was to lead to the publication of this book Micrographia in 1665. Micrographia, or the Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies, made by Magnifying Glasses had an enormous impact both within and beyond the scientific community. Although microscopes and telescopes were used prior to Hooke’s time, his refinements of the compound microscope opened up a whole new world to the scientific eye. Micrographia explored these discoveries, in both words and pictures. Hooke’s exceptionally detailed engravings of cell-life were accompanied by a close-up of a fly’s eye, the point of a needle, a flea, and many other tiny life-forms never seen in such detail.”
The images are fantastic in their detail.
Detailed notes on the images
After spending quite some time in the Rare Books Room it was time to explore the NHM on foot, it was a quick tour of the museum itself as we had to get home to start getting ready for Christmas.
First stop was the mammals…
Professor Owen bought the Leviathan back to the NHM and removed all the wooden blocks and plaster replicas of incorrect bones that were used to make the skeleton larger than it actually was. The skeleton was then correctly reconstructed into the animal that it is today and now called a Mastodon to reflect the true nature of the beast.
While we were in Skeleton mode after heading through the Darwin Centre where the glass jars of animals or Zoology Spirit Collection are housed and also the research facilities are located and you can view the scientists working in the Cocoon building, which is actually shaped just like a cocoon.
Next stop was the Dinosaur Exhibit which is usually packed with hyped up 4-8yr old boys but today I got to experience it in total silence…bliss! Well it wasn’t total silence as all the animatronic dinosaur’s were all functioning…it was definitely a unique experience.
As we went through the Dinosaur exhibit back to front we came out at the Main entrance of the NHM and was greeted once again by Dippy as detailed in yesterday’s post.
We then headed through the very vacant main hall and headed up the stairs to take in the amazing hall and all the terracotta work in all its glory…a sight to be seen to be believed really. Sir David Attenborough really made this place come alive for me as I could put what my sister had told me and then he had shown me all together once I was personally in the space.
As time was flying by and we realised that we really had to end home and also pop into Harrods on the way so we made our way back past the Bird exhibits which were being cleaned and swapped in/out mentioned earlier.
Just before we got to my sisters office we came across this stunning cabinet full of Hummingbirds. Cases like this highlight one of the reasons that some birds are no longer on the planet due to be caught and mounted in huge numbers just because someone wanted them for their private collection just because they had amazing plumage. The photos below don’t do the colours justice as the feathers had this luminosity to them.
Bags and coats were collected from the office and then we dropped by Sophie again on our way out and due to many failed attempts of trying to take selfies with Sophie, the security guy came out of his office as he heard the laughter going on but we eventually got a good one!
I knew that Harrods would be over the top but it was just crazy the level of opulence in both the goods on sale and some of the people shopping…all sorts!
The main reason I wanted to go to Harrods was to look at all the Christmas decorations but they had packed up the Christmas Shop already which I thought was a bit rough seeing as it was Christmas Eve! But we did get to see some of the beautiful decorated windows….
Boy was it crowded inside but what else would you expect on Christmas Eve..hehe
Managed to squeeze through the the food halls and get a peek of some of the amazing food on offer.
There was caviar and champagne flowing everywhere you looked, would have been nice to stay a little longer but time was against us and we still had to find the Toy Department and the bears.
And we found them!
Then after buying the bears I wanted to we hightailed it out of there as it was getting more crazy. On the way out we were heading down the escalator there was a guy behind me discussing what champagne he would be serving on Christmas Day and he felt that he was just quite over Dom and wanted a change…the poor dear!
So we got the meats all organised and cooking for tomorrow as to save a bit of time on the day.Then it was time for me to plonk and do nothing as I was still battling this darn chest infection plus my feet were killing me after hoofing it around London for 2 days. My sister headed out to friends for dinner which I thought was important as she had not seen any of her friends since I had been in London and having some time to myself was also in need as I haven’t really stopped for close to 5 weeks now.
The Adventures of Tom and Denise 