Darwin’s Big Idea

The snow was really falling again Thursday when we got up; there must have been 3 or 4 inches overnight. It’s funny; we changed over to metric in the early 70’s yet when we talk about snowfall it’s always in old money. The buses weren’t running and the car looked pretty well covered so we thought the only way to the train station was to walk there. Claire took lots of convincing, but still came in the end. It was pretty treacherous going, especially that our good boots are still in Giffard Park so I made my way in my normal boat shoes.

Lots of trains were cancelled but the first Virgin train came in just as we were walking down the stairs to the platform so we ran down and jumped on it. We only had a cheap day return and wasn’t supposed to get a Virgin train and we were also too early for the cheap rate slot because of the delays. Never mind, the ticket man hadn’t made it in so nobody knows.

The exhibition was a little disappointing for me as there wasn’t really anything there that I didn’t already know about. I really liked seeing his actual notebooks though and this made it worth while. Especially the one where he draws the tree of evolution with branches on with the words, “I think”. Evolutionary trees are still drawn in this way today. We had a quick walk around the dinosaur room and the creepy crawlies but Claire got spooked out by the sound of wasps buzzing. After all, it was lunch time and we were both looking forward to lunch in Wong Kei’s. I had first been there with Steve and Mei Jing over 10 years ago one New years Eve in the last century. It is quite basic and cheap but great authentic food.

It had started to rain in London when we came out of the Natural History Museum and the snow was clearing. We were very disappointed when we got to Wong Kei’s and they were shut for redecoration until 15th February. To find it get off at the Piccadilly Circus station and walk up Shaftsbury Avenue and it’s on your right just around the corner to China town down Wardour Street. We decided to try one of the restaurants in China town and all the decorations were up for Chinese New Year. Most of them are buffets which we are not keen on but we tried the one that the food looked the best through the window. Bad move, not very nice at all but never mind. I have tried several of the places along that street over the years and always end up disappointed. Go to Wong Kei’s every time!

Harriet had rang to say that a lot of the trains were being cancelled so we decided to head back to the station. It wasn’t very nice walking around in the rain anyway. Good job we did as all trains were cancelled accept for the next Virgin one where the first stop was Milton Keynes so we had no choice but to run for it with everyone else when the platform was announced. Luckily, we got a seat and the ticket man still hadn’t got to work, maybe he had missed his train. Shhhh don't tell anyone!