London - a city for all seasons

What does one do in London when you have some time free but the weather is bad? Plenty!!

I decided to meet my cousin John at Hyde Park where he was slated to conduct a tour..........luckily for me (and for him) due to the poor weather, there were not too many tourists to form a group. The Spanish tours on the other hand were absolutely packed. The weather being what it was, rainy and cold, it was better to stick to activities indoors.

We promptly headed to the Natural History Museum which is a beautiful building. There was a temporary exhibition that we were hoping to see - Animal Inside Out jointly hosted by the Body Worlds and the NHM. I had seen an exhibition of Gunther von Hagen's Body Worlds in Germany some years ago and knew that this exhibition on animals would be spectacular as well. The 100 or so plastinated animals and capillary specimens displayed the intricate insides and inner workings of the world's most spectacular creatures from elephants and giraffes, to cows and goats to octupuses and ostriches. It was a true anatomical safari of the natural world.

The beautiful Natural History Museum

Quite an imposing building

A specimen of the plastinated animal

Post that, John headed to meet a friend for lunch, whilst I decided to continue with my museum visit. One of the things I love about London is that it has a variety of museums and they are all FREE except for temporary exhibitions. So I proceeded to the Victoria and Albert Museum which is housed in a beautiful building as well. It is the world's greatest museum of art and design and has collections from different centuries, eras and dynasties. The few hours spent there were worthwhile but not enough. Hopefully I will return again.

I then decided to grab a bite and later wander the hallways of Harrod's and the food halls of Selfridges. I was lucky because there was an Irish festival at Selfridges and they were showcasing Irish produce and cuisine in the food section. I spent an enjoyable time watching the free cook offs and sampling the chocolates, biscuits, cheeses, salmon and beef.

Later in the evening, I met my friend Jo for drinks and dinner. We went to a trendy restaurant in the heart of Soho called Bocco di Lupo run by Jacob Kenedy. I can assure you that the food was excellent, the staff very helpful and the ambience relaxing.

This cuttlefish was mindblowing.

Still drooling over the memory of it.

The next day, I headed back into town to attend a play at the Old Vic - The Duchess of Malfi which is a Jacobean tragedy by John Webster. The performance was superb and I had a wonderful time.

So irrespective of the weather, one can truly find plenty of things to do in London and still enjoy oneself.