London 2007
Reunited.
Museum of Natural History
This was a followup to the visit last year, to take the time to look around the museum properly, instead of in a rush.
The massive foyer of the museum. The hair-like line near the bottom of the picture is the end of the displodocus tail.
Wall carvings. These monkeys are placed over all of the archways of the vaulted ceiling.
A little attention to detail.
On the highest level of the museum (where else) is the cross-section through a sequoia that was nearly 1400 years old when it died. It would have been around twice as tall as the building it is displayed in.
A glyptodon (enormous extinct armadillo) in the museum foyer. One of the early animals made extinct by humans around 10'000 years ago.
Toxodon, a hippo-relative that died out around the same time as Glyptodon, possibly from the same cause.
To the dinosaurs at last! This is a Massospondylus - an early relative of the sauropods.
Gallimimus, a species very similar to more popular theropods such as tyrannosaurus or the more distant velociraptor, but with a beak instead of a toothed jaw. It is quite easy to see how these related to birds, and I would not be at all surprised if it had proto-feathers, like many other theropods. You may have seen a "herd" of these in Jurassic Park.
Dromaeosaurus, a very close relative of velociraptor. The reconstruction is outdated, as this type of dinosaur is known to have had feathers, and possibly even be capable of clumsy flight.
Baryonyx, a rare fish-eating dinosaur.
The in-situ remains of an edmontosaurus - a large herbivore in the hadrosaur family.
The working model of Tyrannosaurus, which moves and bellows.
The motion is surprisingly life-like, though unfortunately it does not respond to the motion of the viewing public, which would undoubtedly make it seem all the more real.
Nest reconstructions of maiasaura and orodromeus. The former is a hadrosaur, and the latter is an early relative of iguanadon.
The maiasaura chicks/hatchlings are incredibly life-like, based on actual finds - some of the most important evidence of parenting by large dinosaurs.
A full-size pteranodon - one of the best known large pterosaurs. Sadly this rare example is tucked far away from the other exhibits, near the back entrance of the museum.
Now away from the dinosaurs, these are casts from Pompeii - a human and dog trapped at the moments of their deaths by the ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
In the incredible crystal room, where literally thousands of large crystal structures and precious gems are on display.
Thames tour
On the walls of the houses of parliament. Each section has a coat of arms, unique to each monarch of UK/England.
Detail of the clock tower.
The London Eye, with police helicopter.
Cleopatra's Needle, on the bank of the Thames - a counterpart for the ones in New York, and Place de la Concorde in Paris. These are 3500 year old Egyptian obelisks made for Thutmose III, with hieroglyphs later added by Ramses II. The Romans then moved them into Cleopatra's temple (her tribute to Mark Antony), and then they were subsequently lost, rediscovered, and moved to their current locations.
Saint Paul's Cathedral, a beautiful building, but there is an entry fee, and you cannot take pictures inside. No point in going in then.
The famous Dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral. This is the World's second largest dome - second only to The Vatican.
The Millenium (*yawn* - how imaginative) Bridge. Designed to be an artsy footbridge, it failed to cope with the vibrations of people walking on it, and promptly converted itself into Wobbly Bridge. It was closed just 3 days after opening. Duuuuh. Its ridiculous initial cost was then added to by the stabilisation cost, meaning that this impressive failure totalled £23.2 million.
Taking part in a ballet lesson. Yeah.
For a refreshing change, advertising is forbidden on the banks of the Thames. Apparently the OXO corporation found a way around the ban by having specially shaped windows.
A faithful replica of Shakespere's Globe Theatre, not far from the location of the remains of the original.
A replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind, an English legal pirate ship, that terrorised the Spanish, became the second ship to circumnavigate the Globe, and took part in fighting the Spanish Armada. This replica has also circumnavigated the Globe.
Guns on the HMS Belfast, with a tiny range of only 14 miles (22km).
(No) Entry to the Traitors' Gate, Tower of London.
Luton
Luton is situated just outside Greater London, and is home to one of the four major London airports. We were here to see friends, but took the opportunity to visit a local miniature zoo as well.
A wild rabbit.
Totally unafraid of humans, it allowed me to get just 1 metre from it, to take pictures.
Large tortoises in the reptile house.
Closeup.
Corn snake - the most common pet snake.
Monitor lizard.
Iguana.
Me, holding a corn snake.
And I'm not the only one.
And their largest; a boa.
A red handed tamarin, one of the smallest primates.
Cottontop tamarin.
Ring-tailed Lemur.
Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur. They look so cute and fluffy ...
... right up until they do this.
Just in case you missed it.
Raccoon.
Parma wallaby.
Closeup.
Parma wallaby group.
Prairie dog.
Changing of the guards.
Prairie dogs.
Capybara, the largest living rodent.
Llama cria, or close enough.
An absolutely stunning shot of a European eagle owl. If only all photograph subjects would sit this still for as long as it takes to get pictures like this. One of the best (natural, unedited) photographs I have ever seen come out of my camera.- 2560 x 1920 original. The quality of this picture was so amazing, I have decided to put the original here so you can see for yourself. The clarity is so high that you can see my reflection in its eye, and even make out the individual fibres that make up the flight feathers. On the eyebrow, even the hooks holding the fibres together can be seen.
Scarlet ibis, a relative of herons and flamingos.
Flamingos.
The flamingo beak, designed for filter feeding upside down.
The stereotypical flamingo kiss, where the curved necks make a loveheart shape (or at least, they would, except one of them seemed a little wary of the other).
Blue peacock display.
Plumage and crest.
Pelican, showing its throat pouch.
A bizarre and confrontational grey crowned crane.
I am so sorry this is fuzzy, but this insane looking bird refused to stay still for long enough for the camera or me to focus. Each time I pointed the camera at it, it tried to peck it.
A final picture, the camera crew trying to out-stare a crane. Oh yeah, did I mention that cranes never blink?
The massive foyer of the museum. The hair-like line near the bottom of the picture is the end of the displodocus tail.
Wall carvings. These monkeys are placed over all of the archways of the vaulted ceiling.
A little attention to detail.
On the highest level of the museum (where else) is the cross-section through a sequoia that was nearly 1400 years old when it died. It would have been around twice as tall as the building it is displayed in.
A glyptodon (enormous extinct armadillo) in the museum foyer. One of the early animals made extinct by humans around 10'000 years ago.
Toxodon, a hippo-relative that died out around the same time as Glyptodon, possibly from the same cause.
To the dinosaurs at last! This is a Massospondylus - an early relative of the sauropods.
Gallimimus, a species very similar to more popular theropods such as tyrannosaurus or the more distant velociraptor, but with a beak instead of a toothed jaw. It is quite easy to see how these related to birds, and I would not be at all surprised if it had proto-feathers, like many other theropods. You may have seen a "herd" of these in Jurassic Park.
Dromaeosaurus, a very close relative of velociraptor. The reconstruction is outdated, as this type of dinosaur is known to have had feathers, and possibly even be capable of clumsy flight.
Baryonyx, a rare fish-eating dinosaur.
The in-situ remains of an edmontosaurus - a large herbivore in the hadrosaur family.
The working model of Tyrannosaurus, which moves and bellows.
The motion is surprisingly life-like, though unfortunately it does not respond to the motion of the viewing public, which would undoubtedly make it seem all the more real.
Nest reconstructions of maiasaura and orodromeus. The former is a hadrosaur, and the latter is an early relative of iguanadon.
The maiasaura chicks/hatchlings are incredibly life-like, based on actual finds - some of the most important evidence of parenting by large dinosaurs.
A full-size pteranodon - one of the best known large pterosaurs. Sadly this rare example is tucked far away from the other exhibits, near the back entrance of the museum.
Now away from the dinosaurs, these are casts from Pompeii - a human and dog trapped at the moments of their deaths by the ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
In the incredible crystal room, where literally thousands of large crystal structures and precious gems are on display.
On the walls of the houses of parliament. Each section has a coat of arms, unique to each monarch of UK/England.
Detail of the clock tower.
The London Eye, with police helicopter.
Cleopatra's Needle, on the bank of the Thames - a counterpart for the ones in New York, and Place de la Concorde in Paris. These are 3500 year old Egyptian obelisks made for Thutmose III, with hieroglyphs later added by Ramses II. The Romans then moved them into Cleopatra's temple (her tribute to Mark Antony), and then they were subsequently lost, rediscovered, and moved to their current locations.
Saint Paul's Cathedral, a beautiful building, but there is an entry fee, and you cannot take pictures inside. No point in going in then.
The famous Dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral. This is the World's second largest dome - second only to The Vatican.
The Millenium (*yawn* - how imaginative) Bridge. Designed to be an artsy footbridge, it failed to cope with the vibrations of people walking on it, and promptly converted itself into Wobbly Bridge. It was closed just 3 days after opening. Duuuuh. Its ridiculous initial cost was then added to by the stabilisation cost, meaning that this impressive failure totalled £23.2 million.
Taking part in a ballet lesson. Yeah.
For a refreshing change, advertising is forbidden on the banks of the Thames. Apparently the OXO corporation found a way around the ban by having specially shaped windows.
A faithful replica of Shakespere's Globe Theatre, not far from the location of the remains of the original.
A replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind, an English legal pirate ship, that terrorised the Spanish, became the second ship to circumnavigate the Globe, and took part in fighting the Spanish Armada. This replica has also circumnavigated the Globe.
Guns on the HMS Belfast, with a tiny range of only 14 miles (22km).
(No) Entry to the Traitors' Gate, Tower of London.
A wild rabbit.
Totally unafraid of humans, it allowed me to get just 1 metre from it, to take pictures.
Large tortoises in the reptile house.
Closeup.
Corn snake - the most common pet snake.
Monitor lizard.
Iguana.
Me, holding a corn snake.
And I'm not the only one.
And their largest; a boa.
A red handed tamarin, one of the smallest primates.
Cottontop tamarin.
Ring-tailed Lemur.
Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur. They look so cute and fluffy ...
... right up until they do this.
Just in case you missed it.
Raccoon.
Parma wallaby.
Closeup.
Parma wallaby group.
Prairie dog.
Changing of the guards.
Prairie dogs.
Capybara, the largest living rodent.
Llama cria, or close enough.
An absolutely stunning shot of a European eagle owl. If only all photograph subjects would sit this still for as long as it takes to get pictures like this. One of the best (natural, unedited) photographs I have ever seen come out of my camera.
Scarlet ibis, a relative of herons and flamingos.
Flamingos.
The flamingo beak, designed for filter feeding upside down.
The stereotypical flamingo kiss, where the curved necks make a loveheart shape (or at least, they would, except one of them seemed a little wary of the other).
Blue peacock display.
Plumage and crest.
Pelican, showing its throat pouch.
A bizarre and confrontational grey crowned crane.
I am so sorry this is fuzzy, but this insane looking bird refused to stay still for long enough for the camera or me to focus. Each time I pointed the camera at it, it tried to peck it.
A final picture, the camera crew trying to out-stare a crane. Oh yeah, did I mention that cranes never blink?