The Sneaky Magpie

Having friends with little children makes me plan things that can excite both: adult and kids’ tastes. With the weather being so glorious the most essential part of the plan has got to be an outdoor space, and lots of it.

One of my favorite places in London is Horniman Museum with its Victorian dark displays, stuffed animals which have seen better days and all kind of curiosities. The museum is surrounded by gardens, meadows and it has got a small animal enclosure for kids.

We set off with plenty of spare time and got there really fast, I was pleasantly surprised it was only a 20 minute cycle from my house. I always imagined it to be far away.

Having a spare half an hour we headed to Dulwich Picture Gallery, we didn’t have enough time to visit it but instead we strolled through the garden which would not feel out of place in a Jane Austen novel.

It felt so romantic and I was half expecting to see Elizabeth Bennet reading a letter under magnolia tree.

From the tranquility of the gallery grounds to a mayhem of toddlers pointing at stuffed monkeys and owls. After repeating animal names for a bit and trying to teach a 2 year old the word ‘cuttlefish’(it’s been a while since I saw kids getting so excited!) we settled for an afternoon tea in a charming glass house.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the fish scale detail of the roof.

Then it was time to explore the garden and burn off the Victoria sponge, the blossoms make everything look so pretty.

I have no idea what tree this is but I love it.

Tags: Dulwich Picture Gallery, Forrest Hill, Horniman Museum

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 8:41 am and is filed under Architecture, Cycling, Days out, London, Museums and Galleries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.