After I have dropped my things off at the Meininger Youth Hostel (a German hostel, that I highly recommend to the future travelers for excellent security, cleanliness, and very reasonable prices), the first place on my list was the museum of natural history, pictured above. First and foremost, the museum building as a work of art by itself, but when you enter it, it is quite like entering a whole new world. The museum houses around 30 galleries exploring various aspects of natural history, including animal kingdom, dinosaurs, underwater worlds, and gems to list a few. Often, there are seasonal exhibits like a butterfly exhibit (that I unfortunately did not get to visit) and special interest/research exhibits, like the reproduction and sexual life of primates. The museum was incredibly interesting to me as an adult who knows very little about natural sciences, thanks to the beautiful and interactive displays, but there are also special programs for children and school groups. My absolute favorite were the dinasaurs exhibit on the first floor and the gem exhibit upstairs (I'm a girl, sue me!). Here is a picture of one of the artifacts (all real, btw):
I have spent quite a few hours in the museum of Natural History, so it was time to grab some dinner and explore the rest of London before dark. On Cromwell street, there is a number of cute little cafes and restaurants for any taste, and my peculiar one have chosen an Eastern European place where I have enjoyed scrumptious beef and onion pirogi and cherry-filled chocolate cake and was entertained by the Poland-native owner of the restaurant. Thanks to my knowledge of Ukrainian, we could understand each other fairly well :) After dinner, the next adventure was conquering darkness in the center of London. The sun was setting and the views had become more and more beautiful with each second...
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| I could not have possibly missed the Big Ben Clock |
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| Right underneath those flags, people were camping out day and night, fighting for their sons and fathers in Afghanistan. |
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| Peaks of the Westminster Abby were shooting up to the bright blue skies, piercing the clouds with their sharp edges. |
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| Beat up by time and weather, Virgin Mary and baby Jesus were blessing the tourist with their gaze from the ridges of the Abby. In the rays of setting sun they seemed to glow with some unnatural gold light that could make anyone believe in their power, if only for a even a little bit. |
After walking around the Westminster Abby, I have returned to the bank of Thames to watch the sky change colors from cool mints and creams to exquisite violets and pinks.
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Street musicians after every few feet kept the streets alive, with people huddling around them t o block out any other noise; brightly-colored flags and ribbons were trembling in the light breeze coming in from the river; women and men walked around - swift and happy - with brilliant smiles across their faces, in pink, blue, yellow, red, orange, white, green summer clothes. Spring Festival was in London, and I could feel it with every fiber of my existence.
On this high note, around 11pm I left downtown London and swiftly moved through now sleeping South Kensington and Cromwell streets to shelter. In the hostel, an unexpected surprise awaited me. I was in a mixed-gender room and a one of the guys clearly had a eye for me. Eek!
He was handsome, well-spoken, freshly-graduated from a Master's program, while I was alone, in a foreign country, and scared beyond belief. I'm sure he could sense it...That night I hadn't closed my eyes fro a second. Neither did he. Around 4 in the morning, just as the first rays of sun hit the buildings he left, and in a few minutes I heard blood-chilling screams coming from the outside. It was a woman, and perhaps she was being stabbed or raped. They went on for what seemed like eternity, but noone seemed to do anything. So, I stumbled out of my bed, and bolted to the window...the coast was clear but the screams persisted. In a minute I was downstairs, where the receptionist informed me it was but a bird who was hatching an egg in a tree a few feet from the window...Turns out she was a frequent visitor in the safest part of town who often disturbed the hostel visitors.
Fear and a sleepless night took its toll and in just a few minutes I was sound asleep for the remaining 4 hours. Around 9, I met my friend Angelique for breakfast in a small Cromwell Street cafe that served a yummy grilled salmon fillet, fried eggs, and toast complete with a glass of orange juice, and we have embarked on the next day of our adventures.
First, Ange and I have re-visited the Natural History Museum that she really wanted to see, and then, after spending a considerable amount of time there once more, we grabbed some fried rice for lunch and went off to see what we came here for - the Tower of London. There, we have enjoyed a thorough tour by one of the beefeater guards (pictured below with Ange) through rooms and historical events. There is a common misconception, that the Tower of London in just one tower that at some point was a prison. Well, the reality is thta it is actually a whole fortress that houses a number of royal guards with their families, Crown Jewels, and a number of the exhibits and contraptions meant to educate the public about the life of the Royal family, prisoners, knights, and English people in general at any given point in history. Unfortunately, taking pictures is not allowed in many exhibits, so the following shots are what I have ended up with in the end...
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| The church within the fortress walls was meant for the kings and queens who lived here at some point |
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| Angelique and the Beefeater who thought it would be funny to pick on all through the tour. (It actually was, since I'm a proud owner of a sharp tongue) |
FYI:
MEININGER Youth Hostel - 9 Locations in Europe (Hamburg, Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt/Main, Vienna, Salzburg, and Koln)
The one in London, UK is located on 67th Queen's Gate (you can get there by taking the subway South Kensington station and then taking a Queen's Gate road to the hostel)
Tel: 020 7590 6910
Rooms are available for male, female, or mixed gender groups, or private.
You can book your room at the website: http://www.meininger-hotels.com/
London Museum of Natural History is located on Cromwell Road ( just a few blocks from MEININGER, which is about 5-10 minute walk) in London and is open Monday through Sunday 10:00am to 5:50pm, with list admissions at 5:30pm. Entry is FREE! More information can be found here: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/index.html
Tower of London is located on the Thames river bank by the Tower Bridge subway station and is open during these times:
Tuesday - Saturday 09:00 - 16:30
Sunday - Monday 10:00 - 16:30
Tickets are 19.80 pounds for adults, but 17.50 pounds for students. Last admission is at 4:00 pm! For further information visit http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/
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