London is very good at placing signs to help travellers get from one area to another. Some of the major attractions are signposted from the tube station to the site so I never actually used a map. I got straight off the tube station and walked directly to my hotel without asking directions, that is unheard of.
I arrived at the Enterprise hotel in Earl's Court quite late in the evening. Though I choose the hotel for obvious science fiction reasons, they did not beam me up on arrival. I dragged my suitcase up the stairs. I have one major question for the continent of Europe. Why do you dislike the people who live in you? You will find at any major airport, train station, bus station or street corner a person/persons in varying states of duress trying to lug suitcases, prams or trolleys up stairs. I really don't understand how the most metropolitian centres have some of the worst facilities in the world.
Anyway into my hotel at least there was an elevator. Got to my room and by jove there is a set of stairs inside my room. I'm not talking one or two but a decent seven or eight stairs.
Stairs in my hotel room
I settled into my little hotel in Earl's Court, became a master of the tube and travelled round the most important sites of London, according to Lonely Planet.
London Museum
Tate Modern
National Art Gallery
National Portrait Gallery (got ripped off on 11 pound ticket to see Beatles to Bowie exhibit - my dad's album collection is much better)
Portebello Markets
Wicked the Musical
Science Theatre
I'll only make a quick reference about the Science Theatre from the places I visited because it was definatley the best of all. Even just walking around the outside of the building is an experience, it's majestic. Inside you are greeted with a life size skeleton of a massive plant eating dinosaur. I wish I could say what kind but there were masses of school children surrounding it so I didn't get a look at the description. Onwards the exhibits get more fascinating with fossils and specimans, working ant colonies, a whole section on the human body (we are disgusting), the chronology of monkeys to modern man, conservation and so many stuffed animals it must of been a taxidermist's dream. In particular there was an intricate model of a tree which contained every type of humming bird. They looked so happy in their frozen state of glide, perch and sing; though in reality they probably wouldn't be sitting in the same tree... because of trust issues. Sometimes I wish humming birds weren't so racist.
Some not so racist humming birds
Most importanly a statue of Darwin the father of modern science smiled down on the school groups pushing, shoving and screaming; the tourists flashing their expensive cameras and the young red haired lady tripping up the small children.
The most fun was the dinosaur section. You begin by crossing a bridge where you can see the exhibits below and real and I mean real dinosaurs are perched on the top moving and snarling at you. Okay they were mechanical but so cool. I was behind some kids when we came up to the velociraptors and one of the kids yelled "they can open doors" coolest little kid ever. And then we came up to tyrannosauraus rex and I had such a Dr. Alan Grant moment. I can't even talk about it now.
The king
There are so many more amazing things to see there - like the blue room which has life sized versions of just about every animal in place. Whales, dolphins, elephants everything. But the most amazing thing was the giant sequoia tree cross section. It was felled in the early 1900s and was a seedling before the birth of Christ. Along the age rings it hard markings of major events in human history. It was massive. All in all it was such a good day I couldn't stop smiling. I also managed to find an average sushi place which is rare in London, so it magically turned into a spectacular sushi place.
Giant sequio cross section
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