A Day With the Dinosaurs – Natural History Museum London

An interlude in the write up of our American travels…

The smallest person in the house has been somewhat obsessed with dinosaurs these past few months.  In the run-up to his birthday, he has frequently requested the impossible  – a pet dinosaur.   So, I thought it might be an idea to visit the Natural History Museum,  to see a few bones and maybe get the point across.

As he has friends with birthdays either side of his, this was to be his birthday treat in lieu of a bash this year.   As the day would also include various train journeys both above and below ground, as well as dinosaurs he probably would have opted for this over a party anyway had he been given a choice!

England has well and truly lived up to the stereotype recently when it comes to the weather, and given the thought of clouds gathering and getting worse throughout the day (as well as crowds gathering and getting worse throughout the day), we woke the birthday boy (and his less than happy older siblings) and turfed them of bed super early so we could be there as soon as the doors opened.

A little tip, if you get out of the tube at Cromwell Road, as you get to the top of the steps, turn left instead of right (as right is where the coaches drop the tourists off) and the queue is much much shorter.  Do look at the gargoyles on the outside of the building whilst you wait, they are all animals (and the walls of the inside are covered in animals too if you look closely enough!)…

It’s been many many years since my last visit here given our leave of absence.  I think I took the 14-year-old just before we left to live in Copenhagen some ten odd years ago now, and the main difference as far as I could tell is that the main London Museums are now free, but because of that, it all seems far far busier.   Of course, the free part isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it means that these places are more accessible to everyone (there is a suggested £5 donation)…

One truly happy surprise for me whilst waiting to get in was the realisation that the Musem of the Moon is currently in residence, and as we were there when many others weren’t, it was nothing short of spectacular to see and kind of have it all to ourselves.

Of course, next stop was (what we named) Dinosaur central, a wing of the museum dedicated to the bones of these huge beasts.  It’s definitely a lot darker than I remember (I am sure the appalling weather didn’t help with the light situation), but it’s incredibly atmospheric with all the shadows, and a great way to show off these incredible skeletons.

Thankfully there are now clear signs to the giant robot TRex just in case you aren’t feeling overly brave, but as our youngest is generally tank like in all aspects, we thought he wouldn’t mind.   It turned out he did.   I had forgotten quite how ferocious this model is, but at least that solved the problem of him ever wanting a real Pet Dinosaur…

He wasn’t traumatised enough to walk through the dinosaur wing again, however, before paying a visit to Volcano and Earthquake Land (as he named it).   If you are being dragged through the museum by an over-enthusiastic small child, and you don’t have time to read many signs, be aware that there is a section that replicates the Kobe earthquake complete with juddering floor and shaking shelves, or you could be in for a shock …

Next up it was a much calmer, more relaxing visit to the whale room, apart from a slight disagreement over the real name for the “Unicorn Whale” a certain small person spotted above.

Never argue with a four-year-old about this, you won’t win) before a walk around “fish land”, an inspection of the Woolly Mammoth skeleton in the main hall (did you know that woolly mammoth bones were found close to the National Gallery in 1847?  I like to think this is him!), next to Hope the Blue Whale Skeleton who hangs high above everyone else (replacing Dippy the diplodocus who is currently on tour!), before the all-important visit to the gift shop.  By now The Natural History Museum was incredibly busy (it was the weekend after all!) but we had seen what a certain person had wanted to this visit, and I am sure we will be back in the very near future.

Thank you National History Museum, it was so lovely to see you again, and an even bigger thank you for solving the dinosaur pet problem.  If I could just have that big moon though?

A note to the birthday boy, as is usual for me (although the Eagle-eyed amongst you might have spotted I didn’t actually publish the 12-year old’s birthday this year, I am not sure what happened there but as it’s in drafts, I will have to go back and post it retrospectively…).

Happy Birthday my love.  Four!  Where have the years gone?  It hardly seems like a minute ago since we were holed up in Erding Hospital after your somewhat “interesting” arrival, wondering if that was what it felt like to be institutionalised, whilst at the same time wondering when the aben essen cart might arrive with the evening brot and kase selection (and an erdinger alkoholfrei for milk production – naturalig)…   

You came into the world larger than life, and you definitely continue to live up to that.  It might be a third child thing but you are the loudest of my brood by far, and hilarious to boot (I know when your brother and sister refer to you as “that child” that you have been up to something!).     You are a natural explorer, and never let others stop you from doing something you have your heart set on (which is obviously not always good!).  Luckily your preschool is well equipped to deal with your  “must be outside at all times” character with Forest School.   I will try to forget about your start in an English school in a year’s time for the time being (I would love him to have a more relaxed start as his older siblings did, who knows it might be time we moved abroad again!)… Love you sweetheart. x