It’s my niece’s birthday in the summer, in fact, her birthday is one week before mine. On this occasion she was turning 2 and she’s absolutely adorable. Sorry, not pictures of my niece or her party, my sister is very wary of sharing pictures of her children online and I must respect that.
Anyway, we often take the chance to turn her birthday into a short weekend break in London and this time was no different.
I think one of my favourite things about our (semi)regular trips to London is that the flight path we take to Heathrow always flies directly over the city.
An if the weather isn’t horribly overcast you get a pretty nice view of the place.
Straight off the plane there was something I wanted to do. The kids were at nursery until 4 when my sister and brother-in-law would go pick them up, and we’d meet them then. We had a morning flight so we had some time to kill. I also just got a fish-eye lens that demanded to be used. Where better than the Natural History Museum of London!
This place is famous for its main hall and unsurprisingly it had quite a few photographers in it with the same idea as me. But by far we were outnumbered by school groups. The place was packed. But mercifully air-conditioned. It was pretty hot for british standards outside, 30C. There was a time in my youth when I considered 30C to be mild, but I have grown accustomed to the Scottish weather now.
Anyway, there were a bunch of fascinating exhibits and if you are a fan at all of nature and science, and you find yourself in the london area, then get your backside down to the Natural History Museum and check it out.
The Dinosaur at the main entrance hall no longer exists, he was replaced not long after we visited with the skeleton of a whale I think. I need to go back and see it. Entrance to the museum is free though occasional special exhibits do require you to pay for entry, but the museum itself as a whole is free to get in. In fact, most museums in the UK are free to enter.
Our next stop was the London Eye. This was for 2 reasons: 1. My GF had never been on it (I have, several times) and 2. It was close to where we would meet my Sister and the rest of the family.
You get some wonderful views of london from the eye (which is the point duh) but if the weather is crap, say cloudy or misty it is likely not worth the expense (£23 per adult if using the online 10% discount). So keep an eye on the weather when you go. You don’t want to miss those views!
I feel now is a good point for the obligatory selfie… This is me with the GF squinting in the bright sun..
Here’s a view in the opposite direction from Westminster.
And of course the newly (at the time) completed Shard. Why shard? because it looks like a big piece of broken glass.. The British have a knack for naming buildings. The shard has an observation deck on the top floor with more incredible views of the city (no we didn’t go) and that is on the list for a future visit!
We had a few hours before our flight home so we decided to squeeze in another place I’ve always wanted to go to (since I got a fish eye lens). The British Museum. Contrary to the name, the museum focus on all of human history from around the world, not just British history.
The main atrium is stunning an so brightly lit. The glass ceiling was amazing.
The museum features all kinds of cool stuff and I recommend you check it out for yourself. I particularly enjoyed the ancient Egypt exhibit which included several sarcophagi and mummies… and a ton of really rude tourists who will happily stand right in front of you to take pictures, like they will literally push you out of the way or say if you yourself are taking a picture and are at best 15 centimetres from the glass they will get in your personal space between you and the glass. Unreal. A woman with children did this to me. I just kept thinking.. “congratulations, you are teaching your children to become assholes as adults.”
Anyway, I let that slide and we left, there is little point in arguing with people like that.. they’ll pretend they don’t speak english and look confused at you as though being a foreign tourist justifies their behaviour.
After that we headed back to Heathrow and took off (literally .. haha! seewhatididthere?) for home in Scotland.
God I love the window seat!
This is the last shot and a view of Scotland on our final approach to the airport in Edinburgh.
PROTIP: Thank you for reading all the way to the end, and since you did here is a tip: Do not use the baggage lockers at the train stations in London. They are expensive, and in the summer the lines can waste hours of your day. Instead take your suitcase with you to the museums, you can ditch them in the cloakroom lockers (some even have a special locker for suitcases) and its a lot cheaper!
Thanks for Looking.
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