Natural History Museum

I went to the Natural History museum on Tuesday. 

It is so full of exhibits and interesting information that it would be impossible for me to write it all down here so instead I'll share some pictures and tidbits along the way.

 Just inside, you are greeted by one of the many dinosaur skeletons the museum has on display.

Turn around and you see this beautiful arch. The main hall is enormous and beautiful. 

The mammal room is absolutely stuffed (no pun intended) with these animals. This picture doesn't even show half of what's in there. The collection is a mix of stuffed animals and models.

 Apparently the British say "fishes"

 The dinosaur exhibit is amazing. First, you walk across a bridge spanning the entire exhibit, lined with the skeletons. Then you walk down a ramp, past an animatronic T-Rex, followed by wandering through the first floor of the exhibit which holds models and facts and hypotheses.

 A T-Rex skull and a Triceratops skull.

 Another section of the museum is referred to as Darwin's Cocoon. The museum is putting an effort into continuing Darwin's process of collection samples of every species. The focus at the museum seems to be mainly plants, butterflies, spiders, and beetles. They have collected samples of 95% of the 20,000 known species of butterflies.

To see the cocoon, you are taken to the top by a glass elevator and then you walk back down through it. There are windows into the labs and where they keep the samples and there are many interactive videos in which the curators discuss the work they do.

 Back in the main atrium, there is a cross section of an enormous sycamore tree that was cut down in the 80s in Panama. 

 The rings are labeled with significant events throughout history. 

 The atrium was so beautiful.

 Here, the museum is lit up with christmas lights.

Outside, there is a skating rink and carousel. I didn't skate but it made for a beautiful picture.