Visiting Dr Johnson's House

In the words of the current Dutch queen: 'Holland is large windows without curtains, so you can get a good look at what's going on inside people's homes.' I guess I am a typically Dutch girl as I love house peeping, especially in old ones. And London has got a good few of those.

This week I went to visit Dr Johnson's House. Dr Who?? I hear you ask. Well, in a nutshell, Dr Johnson is the guy who wrote the English dictionary. He spent nine years of his life writing down every single word of the English language, and at that point there were 42,773 of them. Quite an accomplishment without a computer and all.

The house, now a museum shows you how he lived, who he lived with and what he did for a living. It gives you a good impression of what life was like at that time. The visit starts in the parlour, where the walls are painted in a dark brown colour as to cover up the grime that came in from the outside air. You then work your way up to the upstairs, much airier drawing room, followed by the bedroom and the library on the next floor and onto the exhibits in the attic.

The highlight of my visit was the collection of period dresses and costumes that are available to try on. Kids will love it. As will some adults...

It's a lovely little museum to while away a few hours in London. And if you're visiting on a Tuesday, make sure you go in the afternoon as the museum offers Free Tea at Three. This in honour of the Dr who was not only good with words, but also loved a good cuppa.

You can find more information on the museum's website here:http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/index.html