Santa Land 2005
Santa's train
December 17th, 2005 - A trip on a long silver and red train to see a very special person in a big red suit. Now who could that be? I think one little boy had an idea.
David really enjoyed his visit to Santa Land and his look around the Dinosaur gallery in The Natural History Museum. It started with a train journey at 6:45am, a tube ride or two and then a run to Earls Court to get there in time for our slot. We sort of made it on time and got a place in the queue for Santa's house. For David it seems sitting with Santa is becoming a bit passe and it showed - we opted for a fridge magnet rather than a large photo. The present was not the best and we moved onto the snow slide (100ft). A good ride but a long queue for those watching on.
Come on up!
There was a market but little was particularly for kids or Christmas. The show is on until 23rd December having started on the 3rd. It was no overly busy which we welcomed, had we been there on a busy day the queuing would have been tiresome. Mostly it was bearable and there were plenty of staff around to help out. Next to the longest queue was an opportunity to do some singing which David took up.
After the snow more rides followed, a hanging chair ride, a train ride, a roundabout and a ride in a rising balloon seat. That was enough though we needed food. An English Pork sausage bun and drink later we left for the museum.
Problems on the district line delayed our journey and we were not helped by our forgetting layout of the tubes. I dragged us to High Street Kensington rather than South Ken. We walked the difference and entered the Museum via the side door. Spirits returned, and some warmth, and David was running off to see the wonders on view.
Guess who?
There were plenty of other galleries to go through before we landed at 21 and each attracted interest but nothing matched the Dinosaur bones! We looked at the various skeletons and skins along the way to the master piece that is the animated T-Rex. Even I was impressed with this beast. It roared, it snarled, it waved its head and fore limbs about in a very menacing way. David was transfixed and later stated:
"It was alive but couldn't get us because it was in a cage."
Who knows how serious he was in his assertion? I do know it was heaven for him. A face to face meeting with an animal he plays with in miniature form very regularly. After some sizable portion of an hour we moved onto exhibits that didn't look like they could eat us for breakfast and still have a large appetite left for more. Of course this was only after he had told the T Rex he was a nothing but a bully!
Happy boy
We worked our way through the gallery and eventually found a tea room for a drink and rest. David though was not for resting and went over to talk to two young ladies behind a table of exhibits. He had to be prised away some twenty minutes later. They told him he would make a great marine biologist and he promised them he would return. No-one doubted his sincerity one bit.
We made haste back to Euston but missed a connection by a few minutes so had tea instead. Suitably fed by Harry Ramsden we were then in plenty of time to get good seats on the following train. David slept most of the way back but his parents just couldn't manage to join him. Getting off the train into the cold evening air woke the youngster up and it was another hour before we were all in bed asleep after a joyous day.
By one tired dad!
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