Weekend in London
London has always been one of my favorite cities. Just being there makes me feel slightly happier. The street names, lots of them with a meaning of their own like Abbey road, Oxford street, Regent street, Bond street. The known busses, the famous underground sign, the public telephone booths. London is immediately recognizable. This visit had a wonderful bonus of having my parents visiting it at the same time.
Well that, and that the pound is historically low.
The year 2009 marks two hundred years to the birth of Darwin and a hundred and fifty years since he published his theory of evolution. The Natural History Museum had a special exhibition for this occasion. They did a wonderful job. It follows the path that Darwin took, starting as a young scientist leaving aboard the HMS Beagle on a five year trip all the way to his death. It shows his finding, items he has used to collect and analyze them and most importantly the whole thought pattern that went in his head. the internal struggle with himself once he realized that the holy text version of creation is wrong. It is sometimes hard for us to imagine but up to 150 years ago the bible version was the version.
The museum in itself is wonderful. It covers pretty much all known life from dinosaurs through fish and bird to mammals and humans. Since museums are now free in England a lot of families go there. It gives the museum a living feeling that is wonderful, especially in a museum that is about life. I highly recommend visiting it if you get to London
The other museum that I really enjoyed was the TATE modern. Located in an old power plant building it is a fitting setting for a modern art museum. The exhibitions varied quite a lot so there was something there for everyone. And again, as an open museum there was a wonderful feeling of living art, instead of observatory art.
Not that it was all culture. We spent a whole day shopping. Working our way from Piccadilly circus through Regent street to Oxford circus and then on to Oxford street. At the end of which we went to Soho for some good beer.
London was a pleasure, as it was expected as it always is. We didn't get to do half as much as we wanted to, which means we will be coming back. As far as I am concerned sooner is better then later.