Today was the last day in London, and the plan was to visit the British Natural History Museum, but first, the walk there led through Hyde Park, which has become one of my favorite places in the city over the past few days. On this particular morning a couple dozen swans were lounging next to the lake, and they couldn’t be bothered to move for any of the bikers or joggers going by; you could easily get within a foot of a giant bird and it wouldn’t so much as look sideways at you. I liked these swans.
While I’m generally a fan of natural history, with so little time and so much to choose from the British Natural History Museum might not have made the cut were it not for the incredible architecture. The entry hall of this building was amazing, with mosaic floors, different plants painted on the ceiling, high arches, dramatic staircases, nature-themed sculptures, and stained glass windows. AND there’s a friggin’ blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling! I was a fan and spent a lot of time roaming about this entry hall to see it from every possible angle. While the rest of the exhibits were interesting, the architecture was far and away the highlight.
From there it was off to meet Audrey and the rest of the choir folks in Canterbury, and this one is another cathedral that I really like. It was built in 1077, and visitors are free to roam almost everywhere, so I went down to the crypts, to the ruins of the monastery out back, and all over the interior of the cathedral. The choir sang Evensong, and unlike any church I’ve ever been at before, the congregation sits in a gallery on either side of the choir, so you hear the singers from only a few feet away. I went to bed tired last night after another quite memorable day.
Sounds like a great trip filled with many different adventures.