The Natural History Museum and Peter Pan, London

June 9, 2009:

First we headed to Piccadilly Circus for some window shopping, but we didn’t find much of interest, so we continued on.

Curvy street near Piccadilly Circus

Statue at Piccadilly Circus

British flags along the street leading to Buckingham Palace

We took some photos in Trafalgar Square and rested our feet for a few minutes.

Trafalgar Square

Teenagers posing on a lion statue in Trafalgar Square

Clock Tower at Trafalgar Square, London

Then we headed on to the Natural History Museum to spend the afternoon there.

Natural History Museum, London

The Natural History Museum is located in a gorgeous building! I would recommend going even just to see the museum’s architecture. The exhibits inside are also interesting. It boasts one of the best dinosaur collections. There are so many collections that it would take more than one day to visit it all. We were tired, not having fully adjusted to the time difference between Asia and London, and had to take multiple breaks to sit for a while. Another great aspect of the museum is that admission is free!

Dinosaur inside the Natural History Museum, London

Inside the Natural History Museum, London

Doesn’t it look like something out of Harry Potter?

Heidi with Darwin, Natural History Museum, London

Dragging and with soar feet, we went back to the hotel for a nap. Here is a photo of the outside of the Park International Hotel, where we stayed.

Park International Hotel, London

Later that evening we went to a performance of Peter Pan in Kensington Park, the setting for Peter Pan! Kensington Park covers an extensive area, and it took us a while to walk from the side where we entered to the side where the performance was at. The park would be a nice place to stroll around for an afternoon and visit the palace and monuments. The show was in a round tent, with a round stage in the middle, so that people could sit almost all the way around and still have a good view of the stage. The stage had trap doors for the lost boys to disappear through and there were ropes to assist Tinker Bell and others with flying. There were also video projections up on the tent ceiling. Our favorite part was when the children flew off to Never Never Land with Peter Pan and the ceiling displayed images of Kensington Park and the surrounding area as they flew past. We had just visited those areas and were excited that we could recognize the landmarks! The show was more for children, but it was nice to see the classic story in its original setting.