June 21-22: London

Sylvia beaming in with two days worth of news.  Sorry I could not write you last night, but I got in around 1:00 and to sleep at about 2:00 a.m.  I assure you, my blog would have been ridiculous, so be glad you didn’t witness it.

After a farewell dinner on the evening of June 20, all of us went back to our hotel and packed.  I was the latest one to leave, so sat in the lobby and read.  Finally, a rep from Road Scholars got me a taxi and I was on my way to the Arlanda Airport.  The lines weren’t too bad, but weeks ago British Airways had cancelled the 9:35 a.m. flight that day and rescheduled it for 12 hours later.  The plane I was on was about 45 minutes late, so the hotel taxi pickup was at about midnight, when I collected baggage and was drive to the Rockwall, about a 20-minute walk away from the Victoria & Albert Museum.  I finally crashed at 2:00 a.m.

Giving myself a generous wakeup stance, I went downstairs for breakfast at about 9:00 a.m.  I walked to the V &A, and it is my intention to see as much of the collection as possible.  It is the world’s largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts, and design,  housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects.  It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  The museum is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area known as “Albertopolis” because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated, including the National History Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, the Science Museum, and the Imperial College London.  Today I examined the holdings of the V&A from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.  I am returning tomorrow to focus on fashion and the applied arts in England from the 19th century on to the present.  I have a timed ticket tomorrow for an exhibit on men’s fashion that I think will involve a fashion show.  Can’t wait to see it.  

After three hours at the V&A, I walked another 10 minutes to Harrod’s.  These days that store is filled with high-end shops, and it is tricky to find the Harrod’s tea room at all.  Finally, after questioning about 10 people, I came up with 4th floor as the consensus.  I was seated, and would have given much to have had someone accompany me for the occasion.  Mine was the classic English tea, with a great, mild-mannered brew, four wonderful little sandwiches (I always like those best), a little amuse-bouche which tasted like lingonberries, and then four tiny desserts, of which I could muster two. Finally,  two scones with cream and two different types of marmalade.  Very good overall, except for the unfortunate pianist who kept playing Broadway tunes and ABBA songs until you wanted to scream.  He played with a saccharine tendency that grated.  A trio playing some music by Ravel would have been appropriate, but they didn’t ask me!

And then I had a 45-minute walk back.  By the time I arrived, my feet hurt, so I took some Aleve and edited my pictures.  Tomorrow, it’s back to the V&A and more viewing of collections; a male model show at 2:30 pm, and a possible visit to Westminster Abbey to hear choral evensong in honor of the Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist.  More as it all unfolds!