| I believe that life is very precious and it is a one time | | | | aspects of London: people, culture, royalty, heritage, |
| opportunity. No one knows where we were before | | | | buildings, hotels, services, transportation and lots more. It |
| birth and where we would be after death. It is just this | | | | keeps having a varied and comprehensive programme |
| space between birth and death which needs to be | | | | of events to complement its exhibitions and displays. |
| utilized to the fullest. | | | | For adults these include gallery talks, lectures, guided |
| There are many people on this earth who are | | | | tours, curators' workshops, walks, debates, visits, |
| captured in the shackles of poverty and there are also | | | | seminars, evening courses and special evening events. |
| those who do not have the physical strength. But for | | | | A lively choice of activities is also available for families |
| the others who are fortunate enough to have God's | | | | and children at weekends and in school holidays. |
| mercy on them, being ignorant of this gift called Life is | | | | Next in the line was the Natural History Museum. |
| foolishness. That's why I am a Traveler. I am driven by | | | | It's a unique museum dedicated to the fantastic story |
| an urge to explore as much as I can of this beautiful | | | | of our planet. It presents a very interesting journey into |
| world in this lifetime and acknowledge God's wonderful | | | | Earth's past, present and future, exploring its many |
| creations in my own small way. | | | | natural wonders - and uncovering a few of its |
| I am writing this blog to share one of my most | | | | mysteries too! |
| memorable traveling experiences. I visited London with | | | | I could know about some of the most incredible |
| my wife and son last month and it was a trip that will | | | | creatures, both living and extinct. Some I knew, others I |
| remain very close to my heart for a long time to | | | | could never even have imagined, except maybe in my |
| come. I had heard a lot about the cultural centers, | | | | nightmares. In this museum, you can take a trip into the |
| museums and galleries of London and so we decided | | | | centre of the Earth and out again to the far reaches |
| to dedicate our trip to visiting these fascinating places. | | | | of the universe and discover how our tiny world |
| Throughout our trip, we stayed in the very renowned | | | | developed from a tiny, hot fireball into an incredibly |
| and luxurious Grange Hotels ( ) located mainly in | | | | diverse living planet. They tell you that on our planet, |
| Central London. The cheap and cost effective | | | | nothing stays the same for long. You can see the |
| accommodation attracted us to choose these hotels | | | | dynamism of our planet and feel its immense power. |
| for touring London. | | | | This Museum holds a mind boggling 70 million |
| My tour of the museums started with the British | | | | specimens from all around the world, many displayed in |
| Museum. The British Museum is one of the oldest | | | | the most imaginative way possible, often using the |
| museums is London, and one of the biggest museums | | | | latest interactive technology. We were told that behind |
| in the world. Here we found some of the greatest | | | | the scenes, over 300 scientists are working to extend |
| treasures of all time under one roof. There were The | | | | our knowledge of the natural world even further. |
| Elgin Marbles, The Portland Vase, The Lewis | | | | Following are some of the rare attractions of this |
| Chessmen, The Sutton Hoo Treasure, to name a few | | | | Museum: |
| of the wondrous collections. I was simply amazed by | | | | - The Pieces of Life's Jigsaw |
| the Egyptian Mummies, and overwhelmed by the | | | | - The Dinosaurs |
| superb exhibition of prints and drawings. In fact, the | | | | - Earthquake and Volcanic Eruptions |
| British Museum is a vast storehouse of such scriptures | | | | - Journey into the Centre of the Earth |
| and artifacts. We had little time and there was an | | | | - Close Encounters of the Creepy Crawly Kind |
| unlimited number of things to see. We thought the best | | | | - The Biggest Animal - Ever |
| way would be to concentrate on one department at a | | | | Situated in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, the |
| time and moving on trying to cover as many sections | | | | Science Museum contains all the wonders of our |
| as possible. | | | | industrial and technological age. There are exhibits of |
| We were told that, in 1753, the Government of the day | | | | early scientific experiments on display and many |
| bought the collection of Sir Hans Sloan, a wealthy | | | | industrial and transport-related exhibits from a full-size |
| Doctor who practiced in Chelsea. The collection had of | | | | replica of Stephenson's Rocket to a detailed |
| over 80,000 curios including fossils, plants, coins, medals | | | | reconstruction of the Apollo landing craft. |
| and prints. This huge assortment formed the beginning | | | | The Science Museum is home to a number of |
| of what has become certainly the biggest, and | | | | interactive displays and demonstrations. Ranging over |
| probably one of the best museum collections in the | | | | seven floors, it was indeed a great experience to find |
| world. An act of Parliament established the British | | | | on display items representing every area of the |
| Museum as the world's first public museum. The | | | | sciences, space travel, computing, medicine, |
| Cottonian Library formed by the Harleys, Earls of | | | | telecommunications, chemistry...the list is endless. |
| Oxford, was immediately added to this collection. In | | | | The ground floor is devoted to Power, Space and |
| 1757, George II presented The Royal Library to the | | | | Transport, starting with James Watt's steam engines |
| museum. In 1823, George III conferred on the museum | | | | first used in the 18th century. |
| the right to a copy of every book printed. This right | | | | On the mezzanine floor is The Synopsis Gallery, it |
| continues to the present day. | | | | shows a scaled-down history of science dating from |
| Designed in the Greek revival style, the grand building | | | | the stone-age up to 1914. Also, on this floor, there is the |
| of British Museum has an Ionic colonnade and portico | | | | Space exhibition depicting the development of rockets |
| complete with pediment frieze. In the central part of | | | | since the 18th century. |
| the building is a Round Reading Room, surmounted by | | | | On the first floor there is a The Launching Pad, a |
| one of the largest domes in the world. | | | | specially designed play area children. Another gallery |
| Even after expansion on various occasions in the past, | | | | on this floor is Challenge of Materials, where there are |
| space always proved to be a problem and a new | | | | hands-on displays to be explored and enjoyed. Also on |
| home was found for the Natural History Collection; this | | | | the first floor are Telecommunications, History of |
| was transferred to South Kensington in the 1880's; and | | | | Gases, Agriculture, Time Measurement and Food for |
| is now known as the Natural History Museum. | | | | Thought. |
| Another major change to the museum took place | | | | The second floor encompasses Chemistry, Nuclear |
| when it was decided to remove the British Library to | | | | Physics, Computing, Printing and Ships. The third floor |
| new purpose built premises at St. Pancras. | | | | houses Early Scientific Instruments and has a section |
| We was informed that today, the British Museum is | | | | on Health Matters. On this floor what I enjoyed most |
| home to no less than six and a half million objects and | | | | was On Air section, set out as a recording studio. |
| has ninety four permanent and temporary exhibition | | | | There is also a Flight Lab, including a full-size model of |
| galleries. The Education Department provides a wide | | | | the aircraft the Wright brothers flew to make their |
| range adult and children services. Other departments | | | | power-assisted flight in 1903. |
| are Coins and Medals, Egyptian Antiquities, | | | | The fourth and fifth floors are devoted to Glimpses of |
| Ethnography, Greek and Roman Antiquities, Japanese | | | | Medical History and The Science and Art of Medicine |
| Art, Medieval and Later Art, Oriental Antiquities, | | | | gallery. |
| Pre-Historic and Romano-British Antiquities, Prints and | | | | For us this visit was indeed a new realization of the |
| Drawings, and Western Asiatic Antiquities. | | | | contribution of science and technology to the world |
| Another important museum in London is Imperial War | | | | and to us as its occupants. |
| Museum. | | | | The last but not the least in my line of museums was |
| It was quite close to our boutique Grange Hotel and | | | | The Victoria and Albert Museum. It can be called the |
| we easily booked a guided tour for the day at a | | | | greatest museum of art and design in the world. It is |
| cheap price. My interest in visiting this museum was to | | | | rather a treasure house with collections of fabulous |
| know about the details of the Second World War. | | | | scope and diversity. |
| I was amazed to find that the museum illustrates and | | | | There are 3000 years worth of amazing artifacts |
| records all aspects of the Two World Wars and other | | | | from many of the world's richest cultures. Be it |
| military operations involving Britain and the | | | | ceramics, furniture, fashion, glass, jewelry, metalwork, |
| Commonwealth since 1914 i.e. from the start of the | | | | photographs, sculpture, textiles and paintings, everything |
| First World War. The Museum has a vast collection of | | | | is here. This place is also the largest collection of Italian |
| exhibits and employs all the latest technology to make | | | | Renaissance sculptures outside Italy. There is John |
| its exhibits appealing to all visitors. | | | | Constable and Raphael work in abundance. |
| The museum has permanent exhibitions including | | | | Inspirational, beautiful and unmatched in scope, the |
| Secret War - the clandestine world of espionage and | | | | stunning British Galleries 1500 - 1900 tell the story of |
| Conflicts since 1945 - conflicts world-wide which have | | | | British design from the Tudor age to the Victorian era. |
| involved British Commonwealth troops. Apart from this | | | | It was quite amazing how the Grange hotels, located |
| there are art galleries, special exhibitions and | | | | mainly in Central London, also took so much inspiration |
| workshops for children. | | | | from The Victorian and The Georgian era. It showed |
| The museum has a continuous process of special | | | | the popularity of these periods. |
| exhibitions and events including film shows and | | | | London is an insatiable experience and you always |
| presentations. There is a large amount of military | | | | have more and more to see and explore. It had been |
| reference material which can be accessed by the | | | | a wonderful and quite an eventful vacation till now, but |
| public. | | | | we were not finished yet. After having seen all the |
| Next we visited the Museum of London. This museum | | | | major museums and galleries in Central London and |
| is located in almost Central London and digs deep into | | | | elsewhere, we decided to visit other tourist |
| the history of London city through its rich collections, | | | | destinations in London including monuments, churches, |
| presented to the visitor in innovative reconstructions | | | | malls, shopping arcades, clubs etc. about which I will be |
| and displays that use state of the art technology and | | | | writing shortly in my next blog. So do return back to |
| the latest design techniques. The Museum is truly | | | | find out more about this wonderful city called London. |
| London's own museum. It stores information about all | | | | |