Visit to the Natural History Museum before leaving London

21 December 2012

This was our last day in London and we would be leaving London for Oxford. We planned a visit to the Natural History Museum before we checked out from the Premier Inn Kensington hotel.

Entry is free and the museum opens at 10 AM so we had about 1 and an half hour. Upon entry, we saw a large skeleton fossil of a long neck dinosaur.

Large long neck dinosaur (Diplodocus) fossil welcomed us into the museum. Longest land mammal on earth at 26m length.

The museum galleries are divided into zones. We headed for the Blue Zone  -  showing dinosaurs fossils, blue whale and other mammals. 

Skull of T-rex and Triceratops.

This guy gave visitors some goose-bumps.

Dinosaur eggs are hatching.

Are they alive?  Looked so realistic.

There was an animatronic T-Rex that moves and roars. Quite real-like.

After seeing the fossils, the next exhibits nearby were the mammals on land and in the ocean. Particularly impressive were the giant blue whale and skeletons of various whales. Amazing how these large beasts fed on the tiniest creatures in the sea, filtering out krill, small fishes and even planktons through the baleen.

Stuffed lion in a realistic position, eyeing a visitor’s handbag.

Blue Whale – largest mammal on earth. This gallery is impressive with many skeletons of whales.

Skeleton of a Blue Whale showing the baleen in its mouth.

Orcas, porpoises and dolphins – other sea mammals related to the whales.

An exhibit of a narwhal skull with twin tusks was interesting. This is rare as most narwhal has one tusk.

We barely had time to view the Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles section. The fishes of the deep ocean are not to be missed. This are some photos of a fascinating exhibit.

Anglerfish.

The Anglerfish lived so deep down in the ocean where there is no light. This is a fish that produces its own light in the tube between its eyes. A piece of dorsal spine that protrudes above their mouths like a fishing pole(hence their name) has a luminous tip.

Anglerfish with a prey peeking out inside its mouth.

Their mouths are so big and their bodies so pliable, they can actually swallow prey up to twice their own size. Prey seems to be smiling.

Beautiful building of the Natural History Museum, London.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to London’s Natural History Museum. Given more time, I could have easily spend more time at this fantastic museum.

We took a taxi from outside the museum to the Premier Inn Kensington a short distance away. It cost about 5 sterling pounds. We realised that for short distances, it would be cheaper and faster to take a taxi than to take the Underground for a party of 4.  

We were in time for our hotel checkout and a pre-booked taxi to Heathrow Airport where we picked up our rental car for the second part of the England 2012 vacation.

Part 2 will be a driving holiday that would take us to Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon, Liverpool, Lake District, Bath and then back to Heathrow.

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From London to Oxford and the Covered Market

21 December 2012

It was an easy drive from Heathrow Airport to the city of Oxford. I had been here before and I had done some research before my trip. So it was easy for me to find a car park space near the Museum of Natural History, within walking distance to the town centre. The only thing on our mind was to find a good place for lunch. There was plenty of eateries at the town centre. We chose to eat at an English pub. Fish and Chips!

The town centre area was busy and crowded with Christmas shoppers and young people.  After lunch, we went into the Covered Market, located at the junction of High Street and Cornmarket Street.

It was fascinating to see the gruesome carcasses of animals and turkeys hung outside a butcher shop inside the Covered Market. Back home, we only see butchered meat packed in Styrofoam trays.

Turkeys hung on top of a butcher shop in the Oxford Covered Market.

Carcasses of deer outside the store. Santa and Rudolph won’t be happy to see this.

Mistletoe for Christmas.

Watching a baker at work.

Preparing the icing and Xmas decor on a cake.

Oxford is a university town. The many colleges are spread around town. The buildings are old but beautifully done.

Radcliffe Camera.

We went into the courtyard of one of the college to explore. It was not uncommon to see ex-student, students and their families going round taking photos of their school or alma mater.

Christmas tree at courtyard of one of the college.

After touring the town centre, we proceed to the Red Mullion B&B to check-in before heading back to town again for dinner at Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant located along George Street.

This restaurant was quite popular in Oxford as this was Jamie’s first restaurant. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes the previous time that we ate here. This time, I had made a reservation via their online reservation website, so there was no need to wait in line for a table.

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Pitt Rivers Museum and Oxford University Museum of Natural History

22 December 2012

The plan for the day is to spend some time at the Pitt Rivers Museum and University Museum of Natural History in Oxford before taking the car to explore the eastern part of the Cotswold and ending the day at Stratford Upon Avon.

If you want to see exotic and amazing stuff like shrunken human heads from Amazon or dried fish skins used as body armour, then Pitt Rivers Museum would be the place to visit.

The two museums are free of charge to visit and are practically linked. We entered via the University of Natural History. There were stuffed animals and fossils of dinosaurs. This museum is smaller than the Natural History Museum in London but Interesting nevertheless.

Dodo bird – hunted to extinction because it cannot fly and is practically defenceless.

T-rex skull and head.

Exhibit in the geology section – meteorites.

We entered the Pitt Rivers Museum from the Natural History Museum. This museum which focused on anthropology and world archaeology is unlike any museum I have been before. The items on displayed came from all over the world and is a massive collection displayed on showcases on 3 levels.

Overview of Pitt River museum. Giant totem pole at the back.

The objects displayed are grouped accordingly to how they were made or used. We just combed through the rows and rows of shelves to view the items on display.

Some of the more fascinating objects displayed on the ground floor were the shrunken heads under the “Treatment of the Dead” display.

Skulls or heads kept as war trophies – reminded me of the movie Predators where the alien kept human skulls as trophies.

Real shrunken heads or Tsantsas from the Amazon region.

This ivory ball(s) looks like one I saw at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Each ball is a detached layer carved within another. Extreme and amazing craftsmanship.

The upper gallery has an interesting collection of shields, armour, spears, swords and also firearms. Some exhibits were simply amazing and have to be seen to be believed.

Spiky war helmet made from a spiny fish. Dried dish skin used as armour.

We spent about 1 hour and a half at the two museums before leaving Oxford to explore the Cotswold. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Pitts River Museum, a place not to be missed while visiting Oxford.

Our next stop would be Bourton-on-the-Water.

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Tea at Bourton-On-the-Waters, the Venice of the Cotswold

22 December 2012

On the way to Stratford Upon Avon from Oxford, we drove through the eastern part of the Cotswold and one of the better place to stop for a break was at Bourton-On-the-Waters, the “Venice of the Cotswold”.

It gets its nickname from the several stone bridges across the River Windrush that runs through the town. The High Street is flanked by greenery and trees on both sides of the river and has many tea shops and shops that attracted many visitors.

Bourton-on-Water, the Venice of the Cotswold, with many low arched stone bridges across the Windrush River.

One of the stone bridge across the Windrush. This one carries vehicular traffic leading into the village.

Last remaining signs of autumn.

Bourton has a number of tourist attractions that we could possibly spent some time and money on, such as the model village and the motor car museum. I was considering whether to go see the model village which is a 1:9 scale replica of the village but instead we just spent time exploring the village on foot before settling into one of the tea rooms (called the Chestnut) for afternoon tea.

Inside the Chestnut, a tea room along the High Street. Beautiful decor with Xmas theme and we were fortunate to get a table next to the window.

Interesting teapot and decor on the window sill.

This house is almost on the river. Like those in Venice.

This village is ideal for photography and walks by the river.

What a name for a Inn.

There are many interesting shops along the High Street and ideal place to shop for some unique Christmas gifts to take home, except for the high price tags.

Checking out the Model Railway exhibition. Toys for Boys!

The Model Railway exhibition is worth a visit. Entrance was FOC, so we popped in for a look before heading northwards to our next stop – the village of Lower Slaughter.

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Most romantic village of the the Cotswold - Lower Slaughter

22 December 2012

A good place to visit while on a road trip through the Cotswold from Bourton-On-The-Water to Stratford Upon Avon is the village of Lower Slaughter. Lower Slaughter is just a short drive from Bourton-on-the-Water.

The word “slaughter” is associated with something violent and bloody but not so. The name of the village of Lower Slaughter stems from the Old English name for a wet land 'slough' or 'slothre' (Old English for muddy place) upon which it lies. There is actually a similar village called the Upper Slaughter but the best place to see and shoot photographs is by the stream along the Copsehill and Becky Hill Road at Lower Slaughter.

The village is so quaint and peaceful and romantic. The stream running through the village is crossed by two small bridges.  In our last visit to the Cotswold in September 2012, we were informed by the owner of the B&B that we stayed in Cirencester that the stone bridge running across the village is the place where a lot of local marriage proposal takes place. No wonder. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Peaceful, Easy Feeling at the village of Lower Slaughter.

The small village has little parking spaces on its narrow street, so we drove through the village and parked our car on a clear patch of grass, along Becky Hill Road, about 5 minutes walk away from the main attractions. Walking back towards the stream and old mill, we chanced upon a couple taking their wedding photographs on the bridge.  

Perfect place for a marriage proposal or a wedding picture.

Waiting for the wedding couple to finish their photo shoot.
Our car was parked further down this road (Becky Hill Road), about 5 minutes walk away.

View of the Old Mill and distinctive red brick tower from where we stood. 

Once the wedding couple finished their photo shoot, it was our turn to snap some family photos at this romantic place. Not quite the same without the proper attire.

Our “couple” photo.

Across the bridge and strolling along the river and walking by several traditional Cotswold cottages, we came to the old mill.

On the way to the mill. Cottages made from limestone.

Restored water wheel of the old mill.

The mill has a gift shop selling craft type products and includes a cafe. Walking past the mill and up a slope paved road we came to an residential area with more modern looking houses with beautiful gardens.

I think this is one of the most beautiful and peaceful village in the Cotswold and hopefully will remain in its present state for a long long time.

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