DATE: Friday 7 July, 1995
PLACE: London
WEATHER: Warm -pleasant
REMARKS: A sleep-in at last. A gentle start to the day which
helped everyone relax. Left with Bryce about noon. The Tube
into the city. Surprisingly quiet running & fabric-covered
seats. Doors not automatic which surprised me. Costs are high
- even with an appreciating dollar - must check what it is
currently.
Museum of Natural History is the first stop. £5.50/adult,
£34 family pass to 2 museums. We concentrate on the interactive
displays for kids. These are very good, especially the displays
on human biology: perception, learning, reproduction, hormones,
etc.
We go on to the Science Museum & the Launch-pad exhibit
(a la Science Alive). We all go our own way to fascinating
and fun hands-on experimental exhibits. Up one floor to the
flight section with models demonstrating the principles of
flight. Again, good displays as in turning controls of models
in a wind tunnel to show how rudder, aerilions, etc. work
(Sarah had been asking why the flaps on planes wings went
up & down).
Home by Tube through rush-hour traffic, although so slow
as not to be intimidating.
The Tubes were crowded but not excessively so. The most noticeable
feature is the speed of the locals - i.e. they know what to
do & just do it. This is an area not designed for tourists
like us.
The roads in Chiswick: suburban streets are three lanes
wide, with 2 used for parking so congestion is frequent &
passing difficult. Also as an early 'garden suburb' the streets
are odd-shaped & irregularly spaced; attractive but maze-like
in effect. The area around South Kensington Tube Station &
Exhibition Road (i.e. near the Museums) is the same - odd
angles and a maze of small streets. Traffic engineering must
be a task of separating the impossible from the undo-able.
Dinner on Bryce's patio, & the kids are late to bed -
oh well! This by floodlight -a very pleasant end to a relaxed
and enjoyable day. Even tried 2 English beers: very distinctive
and unusual. Read interesting Beer Guide from Sainsbury's
- such a publication a possibility for NZ?
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