London Trip Part 6: The Natural History Museum

If we get a chance to visit London again, I imagine that this will be one of the fist places we go back to. The Natural History Museum is an amazing place. It's huge, fascinating, and gorgeous to look at. I mean, check out the architecture alone...

The closest thing I can compare it to is the Field Museum in Chicago, which is a museum very near and dear to my heart.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see very much of the Natural History museum because the place was absolutely mobbed with people. Museums are free of charge in the UK, so everyone that was stranded by the Iceland volcano seemed to be killing time at the museum. Also, unbeknownst to us, we happened to be in the city at the same time the London schools were on Easter holiday. All of the kids on holiday were also at the museum, making it impossible to comfortably move around and see anything.

It was so crowded that there were actually lines to get into the galleries. The line to see the dinosaur exhibit at one point in the day was 2 and a half hours long. Craziness!!

We caught a break in the action, and only had to wait in line fifteen minutes to get into the dinosaur gallery. It was a big mistake, though. The exhibit was set up so that an enormous suspended catwalk ran the length of the exhibit, and you had to walk down the length of it to get onto the main floor. The catwalk was PACKED with people, andit moved at a claustrophobic crawl. So, even though it only took fifteen minutes to reach the catwalk, we were stuck on that darn thing for probably an hour. And the manners of the people in line around us were horrific. People were pushing, shoving, cutting in line, screaming... It was very un-British, and very impolite. I was just right about on the cusp of punching someone out.

Here's a glimpse at what Matt appropriately dubbed "The Walkway of Bad Manners."

Gives me the wilies just looking at the picture. Frankie didn't seem to mind, but I was pretty much at my  wits end. Matt too. After the dino gallery, I was ready to put on pajamas and not be around crowds for a long, long time.

I'm not soured on the whole museum, mind you. I'd totally go back again. Just when it was a little less insanely crowded.