Back to back trips to Europe, both routing through London – a coincidence? I think not. In fact, I landed in London 3 times in the span of 4 weeks, which is pretty astounding now that I think back to it. Many of the posts written from the summer in London are from the first bookend where I planned our days around that part of town (White Cube, Tower Bridge to name a couple). This post and the one to follow on Battersea are the other bookend of the trip, where we explored another part of London thereby avoiding cross town transit.
However, contributing to this post is also the third stop which was on the way back from Ibiza and whatever I felt like I missed from the couple weeks before, I sure did squeeze in to less than 24 hours in London. This included another walk by to properly capture the exterior of the Natural History Museum.
This is one of those buildings where it’s hard to capture at any scale- so much detail it’s hard to express that. So big it’s hard to capture that. There are few times where my iPhone hasn’t been able to do the trick- this is probably one of those few times.
On the visit where I went inside, we managed to pick a day at the Natural History Museum that was packed with school kids and tourists alike – I would very much like to explore this place when I would feel less in the way all the time just standing in place and observing. There was always a constant flow pushing everyone through the place. I imagine for many decades, perhaps these halls were quiet- private and exclusionary. So in this regard, perhaps I should rather much appreciate the foot traffic instead.
I thought I had a photo of the detail of the stonework, but I don’t – in the midst of all the grandioseness of the building itself, what really caught my eye was the stonework of different animals and plants. What a beautiful expression way for the building to embody what was a most impressive collection of natural wonders.
I don’t say this often but I think this building is really a masterpiece of it’s time, and even today. Natural history, science and observation of the world shifted so much of how we look at the world. When I think of modern technology paradigm shifts, I think they still pale in comparison to the kind of shift in how people see and relate to the world when compared to the burgeoning of scientific thinking.
I preferred the older, less modernized, exhibits in this museum. I think the exhibits and how they presented natural history is as much of the history that we can reflect on as is the content itself.
It’s on the tourist list of things to do. I’m not a touristy list kind of person. Go to appreciate the architecture if for nothing else.
Address: Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
Website: Natural History Museum write up
ofallthespaces 