London | Science Museum, Natural History Museum and War Horse

This isn't my usual style of post but I had such an amazing time that I thought I would document it.

I am only 25 minutes away from London by train and yet so rarely venture into our nation's capital that it should be criminal. There's so much to see and do in the city but I always forget my love for London until I'm there. Don't get me wrong, I would despise living there or having to do that commute every day. For a big day out, though, London is perfect.

It was recently my 24th birthday so my boyfriend and I went into London for the day to celebrate in style. He asked me what I wanted, and since I couldn't think of any 'thing' he could buy me, I suggested we go and experience something together. We decided to see a play and the whole day out grew from there.

We started with an early morning and a quick stop at Starbucks for breakfast before the train. It was a weekday so we tried to leave after the commuter traffic but before the tourist traffic. I think we hit the sweet spot since we did manage to get a seat on the train (albeit the ones next to the toilets).

We started at the Science Museum and were there just before the doors opened so one of the first ones in. I've been before but only really quickly on a way to an exhibition hosted there so this was the first time I'd have the chance to explore it properly. Fraser is science minded so I knew we'd enjoy ourselves.

It was a bloody massive museum. It took us 4 hours to get round the whole thing and we skimmed past a lot of the exhibitions. I reckon you could easily lose an entire day there. My favourite section was the part about human genealogy and also the section about Space.

In between the exploring, we had lunch at the museum diner. It was actually amazing! I got the burger with bacon and cheese which I polished off nicely. Frase got the fish and chips which he said was the best fish and chips he's ever had. So there's a compliment!

We finished our tour with a visit to the gift shop where we picked up some space food. It was surprisingly delicious! Dehydrated ice cream is definitely something I could get used to if I had to.

After the Science Museum we took a very quick trip to the Natural History Museum which is right next door. We didn't have time to do the whole thing so we just visited my favourite exhibitions. The Natural History Museum in London is one of my favourite places in the world. I used to visit every few months in my late teens so I know my way round.

We visited the Earthquakes & Volcano section, the Earth since time began bit, the Jewel part and tried to get a visit to the Dinosaurs in but the queue for the T-Rex robot was too long so we couldn't actually get in. It was a flying visit all in all but we still saw loads. 

After that we head to Covent Garden to wonder round the shops and watch a few street performers before our dinner reservation. We went to one of my favourite restaurants in London for dinner - Fire & Stone in Covent Garden. They do the most amazing pizzas there which we had alongside cocktails and a calamari starter. Dessert was cinnamon sugar donut sticks with warm toffee and chocolate dipping sauce. We shared between us because we were that full, but on an emptier stomach I can see myself finishing the whole thing on my own.

After dinner we had a nice 15 minute walk to the theatre which was well needed after all the food we'd consumed. We decided to see War Horse at the New London Theatre and OMG... I don't know how I can ever do it justice with words.

It was PHENOMENAL. The audience was out of their seats for a standing ovation at the end. There's no photography allowed so I couldn't get any snaps. However, we were in the third row in the centre so had an incredible view. The actors were all incredible and the puppetry with the horses took my breath away. I was bawling by the end and so moved. Definitely the highlight of the day!

We got the train home after that. It was 11pm so only the slow trains left. It was a struggle not to fall asleep right there. I'd been wearing my FitBit so I know we ended up doing 19k steps and covered nearly 9 miles distance by the end of it. We definitely earned our pizza dinner by the end of it! 

All in all, it was an amazing day out and a massive thank you to my lovely Frase for treating me all day :-) We've both said that we should definitely take more advantage of our proximity to London on a regular basis so hopefully there's more to come. I think we'll probably check out the V&A next if we can.

Have you got any favourite places in London that I should visit? Any tucked away restaurant/cafe suggestions perhaps?

Tabitha
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