Journeys for Knowledge

Since most of yesterday was spent in a plane, car, or flat, I didn’t actually get to see much of London, or England for that matter. After getting an Oyster card from Sanjay to pay for public transit in the city, I walked out my door and jumped right into the heart of London. Today’s plan called for visiting the Victoria Albert Art Gallery, the Natural History Museum, and the British Science Museum. Admission is free for almost all museums and galleries in London, which made it quite easy to pop from one to the other.

Since there were crowds at the museums I visited the gallery first. While there was much to be found in the British art galleries, as some might expect I was drawn to the Asian art sections, with interesting selections from India, China, Korea, Japan and beyond (see photos below).  The East Asian galleries were familiar yet still new, but the Indian gallery had many artifacts from Colonial times that I had not seen before, including a desk built in Visakhapatnam, once famous for its furniture, but now known for its naval shipyard. I confess I did not explore this gallery to the fullest, but if the art is not provoking thoughts within me, I can’t do anything but pass it by.

Next up was the Natural History Museum, which was full with dioramas and demonstrations on everything from climate change to dinosaurs to the human body. What really struck me was the sheer amount of fossils the museum had in its collection. There was one long hallway that was two stories of wall to wall fossils, and apparently those did not even include the dinosaur fossils, which were undergoing renovation. The Science Museum was right next door so that was my next stop. It was mostly filled with artifacts from the 1800s onward, documenting the progression of mankind and our technology. It was interesting to see Britain’s perspective, considering they ushered in the Industrial Age before anyone else. Of course by the end American marvels were stealing the spotlight, like Cray-1 supercomputer and the Apollo 11 command module. It reminded me of the Tech Museum in San Jose, but less interactive.

So these three places were supposed to take up a whole day, but alas I ended up finishing at 1. After grabbing a sandwich for lunch I decided to spend the rest of the day exploring Kensington Park and Hyde Park, which were just north of my location. The parks were very well kept and full of monuments and memorials to various aspects of British history, such as the discovery of the source of the Nile, Princess Diana, and even Peter Pan. The best part was by far the birds, which swarmed over this one pond and were extremely friendly. There were swans and ducks and pigeons, but also many species of bird I did not recognize. Still it was fun just to walk and interact with them.

Of course there’s no more fitting way to end a day of walking in London than some fish and chips. I had already picked out Kerbisher and Malt thanks to suggestions on Reddit, and had a very satisfying meal before finally coming back home and retiring for the evening. While bits of the day forced me to adjust to the differences between England and America, walking through museums and parks was actually very familiar for me. It just goes to show that there’s something universal in appreciating the cultures and wildlife of our world.

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