Birds, Diamonds, and Coffee (28 January)

Today we decided to wander around Putney and Barnes, in southwest London, for a bit. Although there didn't end up being much to see, the Barnes pond held some very familiar birds and also some we had never seen before:
We bussed back over the Thames and decided to have a peek at the Natural History Museum, which is housed in an amazing building:

Although we didn't end up staying for very long, we browsed a bit in the minerals and meteorites room, which we picked based on an employee of the museum choosing it as her favourite place in the museum and also because it is the only gallery still in its original form. One of the interesting exhibits was the "Aurora Collection" of 296 coloured diamonds, that took 25 years to collect: The diamonds glow, changing colour and even texture under ultraviolet light, something that was remarkable to see. After we left the Natural History Museum, we crossed the street for one last look at the Volume installation at the V&A (today was the last day of the exhibit). Of course, this meant another lovely shared French press of coffee in the exquisite café before we headed home.