January 19: Natural History Museum

Spent the morning catching up on reading, and the afternoon in the Natural History Museum for my "Travel Journal" class. The professor took us there to find something to write/draw/be creative about. I think I'll talk about all the birds I saw, both on display and in the decor. I must be missing my Maggie! Not entirely sure what I'll do exactly yet, but it'll have to be at least somewhat creative. Anyway, though, the museum was fun. There are a whole lot of dead animals there, both prehistoric fossils and more modern mountings. I LOVED the dinosaurs! Every time I go into a museum with big dinosaurs, I feel like a little kid. They're just so exciting!

The other fun exhibit at the museum is the gem room. There are the most AMAZING cut and uncut gems. My favorite display was a rainbow created on one end by deep, almost black-red garnets, moving through coral and orange stones, gorgeous citrines and peridots and emeralds, then aquamarines and sapphires and amethysts and alexandrite and diamonds. SO pretty! I took a picture of my favorite rock in the place, a plain-looking stone with veins of bright blue opal running through...it looked like sparkly blue lava. Also in the rock room was a display of uranium. I was a little freaked out when I read that it was "encased in lead for your protection." Just how potent is that stuff? They had it in the lead case, but the top was open with a mirror above, so you could see the uranium, which was gray with dark green crystalish growths on it. Hopefully I don't start sprouting extra heads or anything. There were also some really interesting mineral formations that looked like vampire-slaying tools (they were metallic and silvery, and very spikey), and a big clump of raw hematite, one of Erin's absolute jewellry favorites, which was fun to see. I hadn't realized that it comes out of the ground looking lumpy, like the shape of a kindergartener's cloud.

The museum itself is absolutely breathtaking. On the outside, the mix of green/blueish bricks with golden bricks makes it lovely against a rare blue English sky. I think without the blue color, it would be lovely, but with the blue bricks, it's transformed into a very heavenly sort of structure. Inside, it's beautiful, with floral carvings and bird and animal reliefs everywhere. I just didn't know where to look first-the display cases or the floor or the walls or the ceiling! After the museum, I made fish and green beans for dinner and got to bed a little bit early. A very good day!

The Museum of Natural History - I wish the sky had been bluer, but I'll work on getting a better picture when the weather cooporates (IF the weather cooporates!)

Pretty opal rock

Bird relief

Me and a dino!