Natural History Museum

I love natural history museums. They are shrines to intellectual curiosity and the beauty of our natural universe, housed in giant buildings where nerds like me who are afraid of weather can view all sorts of wonders without venturing into the great and terrifying outdoors. Natural history museums are my favorite type of museum, and London’s got a great one. There are all the usual and very cool suspects—dinosaurs and gemstones and stuffed birds and taxidermied mammals (though, these could probably use a bit of updating) and old anatomical prints and exhibits on bugs and bacteria. There is also an entrance that is an escalator ride through space. What makes London’s Natural History Museum really stand out is its beautiful Romanesque architecture. This is most apparent in the iconic Hintze Hall, which looks and feels just like a cathedral to science, complete with a small shrine (okay, it’s just a statue) to Darwin. I walked in and genuinely felt awed. The hall is currently closed for renovation but will be open again in summer 2017.