The Sun Also Rises: More half hearted posting

Sigh. I've been moping around my grandparent's house, pining for Spain and doing nothing of any interest at all. Actually, that's not completely true. We did go up to London over New Year's, which was lovely. My cousin and her fiancé gave us the run of their pied a terre in South London while they were away, so we had four days of pretending to be trendy Londoners who know their way around the tube system and who quite often go to bars and do cultural things.

We hit the Science Museum, which was heartbreakingly disappointing. It was all flashing lights and desperate ‘look, kids! Science can be fun!’ interactive displays. The best bit of the museum was the ground floor which is filled with all sorts of detritus that charts the development of cars, trains and airplanes. The rest of it was a sort of theatrical ‘welcome, to the world of tomorrow!’ theme park. I hate the idea that people need to be jollied into finding science interesting. I am a massive amateur science nerd, but I left in a mood of sneery disappointment. Bah.

We then went to the Natural History Museum, somewhere I had very fond memories of visiting as a child. And I was thrilled to find that it lived up to every single one of my childhood memories. It is the best sort of museum, one that is packed full of stuff that is basically the legacy of an empire. Look, over there we have a stuffed dodo! And an complete ichthyosaur! And all sorts of differently coloured rocks! Oooh.

The brontosaurus in the entrance hall is just as breathtaking as I remember;

Gosh, weren't they big, though?

The taxidermied animals were as morbidly fascinating as they’d always been, especially this warthog, which looks ecstatic to have ended up stuffed and on display for the enjoyment of the museum-going public;

Though this little antelope thing (in the bottom of the picture) looks understandably slightly miffed about its fate;

And there were some new friends to make. Behold! A bowl-clenchingly realistic depiction of a nightmare I have frequently had on nights when I have over-indulged in cheese too close to bedtime;

Also this room. I have no idea what it was, all I know is that it is now my goal in life to become whatever it is that allows me to introduce myself as having that job at parties.

I didn’t think anything could top the excitement of the Natural History Museum, but then we went to Pollock’s Toy Museum. Oh, joy of joys. If you ever get the chance, go there. It’s what museums should be. It’s like being in the home of a kooky elderly relative, one who has helpfully posted typewritten, laminated signs all over the walls explaining what it is that you’re looking at. It’s in an old house, and you traipse up and down the stairs. Each room is dedicated to a different theme of toy, and each successive room served merely to reinforce to me how sterile children’s toys are today. Why, in the olden days they were saucy...