uk trip, part two, autumn edition-- london, day three

the last day of the bloomsbury festival dawned grey and shit but, whatever, i am not going to let some weather get between me and london. esp not when i can start the morning with a british variety of apple.

look, americaland, the galas and fujis you, undoubtedly, import from new zealand got NOTHING on british apples. i'm just sayin'. i am only sad that i could only bring back the stickers that were on my apples and not, you know, more apples. APPLES!!!!  and now we can move on.

our first port of call on this grey sunday was the grant museum of zoology. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE, GRANT MUSEUM?! oh, right, london. WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THAT YOU HAD A JAR FULL OF MOLES?!

yes! A JAR FULL OF MOLES! I CAN'T EVEN IT WAS THE GREATEST MOST DISGUSTING THING EVER!

you know that i fell hard for this museum. presentation wise, it is tops TOPS with all the old skool display cases and sciencey handwritten labels. SOME WERE TYPED!

(look, i enjoy seeing evidence of human interaction with paper, ok? i know that's a bit odd but, not really. it is the same reason why i adore ancient pottery. you can see fingerprints and marks that some person made thousands of years ago. someone was there and they were making things. it's cool.)

also, you know, THEY HAVE DODO BONES!

this place! it is so beautiful!

GIVE ME YOUR OWL

okok so, skulls. YES THERE WAS A NEANDERTHAL CAST

YES WE COUNTED AND SCREAMED

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR it was the sexiest.

but it only made this tarsier laugh.

on their site, the grant museum says that artists can draw specimens if they ask far enough in advance? I WOULD LOVED TO DO THIS! I WOULD ALSO LOVE TO DRAW THE MUSEUM INTERIOR!

i would SO draw this fish a million times!

but not this smug dodo because, man, is he ever smug. YOU ARE EXTINCT ASSHOLE WHO IS SMUG NOW

so, yes. DO DROP EVERYTHING NOW AND GO TO THE GRANT MUSEUM! they even have a hidden bust.

and they are across the street from the charles darwin blue plaque. (i did not upload my picture because it was crazy blurry. sorry.)

anyway, the diversion might end

but the diversions did not. we walked past the royal academy of dramatic art to casa and virtual london. on the way to the venue, SIX WAY PING PONG!

ping pong is really a thing in london right now. there are a gazilliontrillion ping pong clubs and meetups. we did not go to any of these but, be aware, london has ping pong fever.

right! at virtual london there was an INCREDIBLE model of london! LOOK AT IT

here are..... canary wharf,

the shard,

parliament and the eye,

battersea

and der gherk!

I WANT A MODEL OF LONDON! i would train miniaturized white mice to run around in it.

but wait! THERE WAS MORE! pigeon flight simulator!

a giant pink thing!

A 3D LONDON RESIDENTIAL DENSITY MAP!!

here is a detail. the city is in that hole because, well, no one lives there, right?

my favorite thing, however, had to be the london data table. here is video of oyster card check ins showing which lines are busiest at which times of day. this is all projected onto a table in the shape of london. IT IS A TABLE TABLE. i love it so much.

but as cool as EVERYTHING that morning had been, i was starting to overload. TOO MUCH STUFF! so we cut through senate house again (this guy is nearby. yes, shed, i took an upskirt photo of him. ha!)

and grabbed some small cheeses, fruits and breads for an indoor picnic.

it was nice.

and then we took a nap before venturing to islington and the screen on the green to see "citadel"

screen on the green. holy hell. THIS PLACE HAS COUCHES AND FOOT RESTS!! i want to see EVERY MOVIE at this venue from now on.

also, "citadel" was really, REALLY good. it actually became a sort of meme with us so, yes, when something is that sticky, it is certainly something worth attention. SEE THE MOVIE!! i will show you video of leff citadelling in cardiff in the relevant post.

right, so, long, magnificent day was capped off by two hysterical dog images. dog with bone

and pavement puppy.

i love that pavement puppy sign so much.

TOMORROW:  covent garden! TRANSPORT MUSEUM!! MEATMARKET!! SEVEN DIALS! it is kinda' a short day but we still managed to cram a lot into it before my feet wanted to kill me. CHECK BACK SOON!