Museum of London – 05/10/11

I’ve been neglecting you. I’m sorry. We were so close at the start and our relationship was so happy but lately, I’ve just drifted off. Don’t take it to heart. I’ve put so much more love into your than my previous blogs. That must count for something, right?

What can I say? It’s been a busy couple of weeks and we haven’t really done anything new and blog-worthy. But I do have this gem I’m been hanging onto for a few weeks and not got round to writing up. So enjoy!

Possibly the least descriptive place name ever. It’s a Museum. It’s in London. It’s like saying “well, what else do you need to know?!”. It’s in the City, which is distinctly lacking in toddler-friendly places and it tells the story of London, from pre-history to today. But enough of the actual information – I know you’re just all dying to find out what my particular toddler made of it. Well, I think he liked it. He was having a bit of a moody week – over tired and stroppy – and woke up just when we got there, so naturally oscillated between hyper and exhausted. Still, he was pleased to see his friend Jake!

We charged through the upper floor, only stopping to look at the dinosaur skeleton in the Roman section (although Jake may have been right when he said it was a horse. Roo thinks dinosaur. Roo always thinks dinosaur.) He also liked the reconstruction of the great fire of London, with glowing houses, and the fireman’s helmet to try on but obviously the lift was more exciting. Downstairs, the story of London continued with the Victorians and 20th Century which means…yes you guessed it…Choo-chooos! As always, the boys were drawn to the transport bit, with buttons to press and things that lit up and made trains move. Hooray!

You might notice that this photo is a bit dark -the whole museum was a little dark for photos. So apologies. But be assured, there is a car and a train in this photo. And a toddler. It’s like Where’s Wally…

Also in the Victorian section was the slightly spooky “Pleasure Gardens” room. Have you seen the Doctor Who episode with the Autons, when the blank-faced dummies come to life? Well, it kinda felt like that. There were figures posed in Victorian dress, again in the semi-darkness, with these weird dark grey, blank faces. I was pretty sure they were going to try and kill me. Luckily Roo and I got out before they did.

Following that dice with death, it was time to go for a muffin in one of the two benugo cafes. It was a lovely muffin, the bit I was allowed, and gave Roo renewed energy to run around with Jake a bit more. Disappointingly, the outside space was a bit restrictive – there was a garden in the middle of the museum, which Roo wanted to go out in, but it was “bee-friendly” which suggested it might be a bit toddler un-friendly (as you can imagine, there was a bit of fallout about this). So, we headed to the other garden (the rotunda garden), only to find that it was sectioned off for a private event. Eventually, we sat near the front doors (there is a good deal of free seating!) and the boys ran in and out of them and around the paved area just outside. Which worked fine, until Roo tried to run off over the walkways and beyond. I think you could potentially get lost in the Barbican maze for years…

They also had a nice photo exhibition outside. Here’s Roo looking at some photos of the student protests. He liked them. Oh, and he also liked the gift shop. Shocker!

VERDICT: Another museum that would be interesting to look around at my pace rather than 2-year-old pace. Lots of space to run around and plenty of things to look at mean it’s a good place to amuse toddlers for an hour or two.

More details here (official website)