London Journal - The Natural History Museum

If I was told I could only visit one museum whilst living in London, the Museum of Natural History would be it. I remember imagining it since I was a little girl. In my mind it wasn't just a museum, it was The Museum. In my minds eye it was the epitome of a good museum and this weekend I finally got to go.

To begin with, the architecture of the building is gorgeous. It's stunning Victorian brick work, with elaborate pillars and delightful sculptures inside and out. Unfourtunately, being a weekend, it was absolutely packed with tourists and families and maneuvering around it wasn't quite as leisurely as I would like. When visiting museums I'm often lucky enough to go during the week, when the crowds are minimal and I can take all the time I want to read a plaque or sit and watch something beautiful.

Much of the Natural History Museums' displays required queuing up and then being ushered by quite quickly to accommodate the droves of people who turned up. To avoid such lines it seemed sensible to go to the areas less popular with small children. The dinosaur hall was out, but the new Darwin Wing was hardly crowded at all.

The primate section featured some wonderful metal sculptures and a section on lemurs that was illustrated by the very talented Ralph Steadman. Generally the museum isn't really about 'art' in the traditional sense, but this wasn't the only piece contributed by an artist, rather than by nature. Well, sort of. In a joint effort was 'Tree' by Tania Kovat and an oak tree. Inspired by a Darwin sketch, 'Tree' was a magnificent undertaking that results in a ceiling mounted cross-section cut of an oak tree. The installation was done as part of the launch of the new Darwin Wing. I recommend lying on ones back in order to best appreciate the work.

Moving on to the Hall of Mammals I was both delighted and entertained by the wonderful collection they have. Many of the animals on display are extremely old and their colours have faded drastically. They have signs posted stating that they no longer represent the 'true' colours of the animals but due to the nature of taxidermy the museum doesn't believe in 'updating' the collection to the detriment of the natural world.

My favourite creature on display was a shrew, with an extremely wee nose and adorable beady eyes. He was no bigger than my thumb and I could only imagine how fast the little things must move.

The biggest creature they had was a Polar Bear. They used to have Polar Bears at the Calgary zoo, so I'm familiar with their girth, but it was quite another thing to see one right up close, with only a piece of glass dividing me from it. They have the most immense paws.

The less appetizing 'Creepy Crawly' Exhibit was mostly about crustaceans and arachnids. Being utterly icked out by the latter, I visited the crustaceans and found most of the displays to be far more 'kid-orientated', although they did make me crave a nice lobster tail. I was a bit disappointed by it, as the bug exhibit at the Melbourne Museum was magnificent and I would have thought the Natural History Museum would have been in the same caliber.

Then there were the 'things in jars'. It wasn't a very pretty section as most of the specimens have been floating about in formaldehyde for far too long. Very little of it was identifiable and if it was I sort of wish it hadn't been. Needless to say, I didn't spend long there.

Unfourtunately the whale hall is closed until March and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibit was one of the feature ones which required paying admission. But I've only been here seven weeks and I've got loads more days ahead of me. I plan on taking in the Dinosaur Wing soon enough. I think bringing my sketchbook is in order, so I can do some anatomy drawings.

But even for it's crowds and closed exhibits, it was a fantastic way to spend a rainy Sunday. I can hardly wait to go again.