Continuing the theme of a quiet January, I spent the weekend chilling out with Jess in Reading and London. On Sunday we headed into London to catch the Chinese New Year (Year of the Monkey if you have been celebrating with Beagle 2).

Apart from thousands of other people trying to see the chinese dragon progress down the street – trailed by the less than customary camcorder and digital camera brigade, there were stalls selling drums and firecrackers and all manner of Chinese items. The only problem was that London’s Chinatown is pretty central, consists of only 1 main street and therefore the atmosphere was a bit chaotic for my liking. 🙂

So we ended up at the Natural History Museum where there is a fantastic exhibition outside (so check the weather) called Earth from the Air which I would thoroughly recommend. The photographs, all taken by helicopter over many years, tell a tale of world of both beauty and suffering. It really is impressive and free (as are all the museums around this area). Parts of the Natural History museum are fantastic (however the section on the human body must be 15-20 years old – like going back to a museum in my childhood.) After a brief trip to the V+A we walked along to High Street Kensington and a “World Themed” restauarant called Giraffe. The place was aimable enough, maybe a little over-friendly. When we left every member of staff must have said goodbye (sorry… goodbye ‘guys’) about half a dozen times each! Better than being ignored completely I suppose (well we aren’t in France are we)…

Looping up to Notting Hill and back to Paddington – it’s amazing just how “close” everything is in London if you take a little time out to walk around (well maybe not so close but the buses are always full)..