We were amazed to discover just how many inventions Da Vinci was responsible for, including the submarine, the parachute, the bicycle, and the floodlight...
We could only wonder what Da Vinci would have been capable of if he were alive in our time. Although it was slightly disturbing to see how many deadly war machines he designed (he invented the armoured tank too).
We particularly had fun in the "mirror room" an eight-sided room with all sides made up of full-length mirrors. You could see yourself at any angle, in infinite repetition. As with many of his designs, this was never built when Da Vinci was alive - because such large mirrors could not be produced at that time.
After the exhibition, we decided to try out the big wheel at Southbank - it is 60m high and gave us good views of the river and west to the mountains. Not high enough to see over the tallest city buildings, but high enough for me!
After that, we headed down to Cleveland Point, where the latest Narnia film, the Dawn Treader, is being filmed. We love the Narnia stories, so this was an exciting preview for us. The Dawn Treader is a great sailing ship and the filmmakers have made the life size version and parked it on the edge of Cleveland Point.
The ship's not actually sea-worthy though - it's mounted on hydraulics to give it rocking motion! It was also interesting to see the blue screen suspended in the air beside the ship. It was hard to get close, with the set being fenced off and there were loads of caravans between us and the action, but we couldn't miss the impressive sight of the Dragon's head at the front of the ship towering above it all...
