June 25: London

Has it ever happened that you were on a trip, and all of a sudden there is a day (maybe after the best of days on a trip), where you were absolutely knackered, tired of the crowds, sick of having to pay attention to literally everything, and in need of a rural landscape?  That has happened to me today—after the euphoria of yesterday!  It’s bound to happen, but I don’t like it when it does.  

I did feel like going to the V&A again, and saw three very disparate exhibits:  one on Beatrix Potter, her work as an author and illustrator, and her life in the English Lake District as a “gentlewoman farmer.”  I never did read her delightful works when I was little, but instead concentrated on German fairy tales and German Romantic poetry (due to the influence of my German aunt Else, who, when I came to visit her and my uncle Hugo, would read those magic poems to me in the moonlight until I fell asleep). Great memories!

Then I went to a gallery devoted to Raphaels “cartoons” or prototypes on paper for tapestries intended for the Sistine Chapel and devoted to the miracles of Christ and the lives of his most fervent spokesmen, Sts. Peter and Paul.  The room also featured a huge, high altarpiece devoted to the legend of St. George and the dragon, and a beautiful gallery carved in wood and fit for duo and trio performers of music.  

Finally, I spent the rest of my energy concentrating on fashions in England from the 18th-20th centuries—both women’s and men’s fashions, though women’s were more prevalent.  Some elegant examples of men’s fashions were featured from around Poldark’s time, with a high collar, accented by a snugly-fitting vest.  I was reading a blurb on Aidan Turner (who played Poldark in my favorite series), that he asked for two items at the end of filming:  his tricorne hat and the kitchen table at Nampara House, the home of Ross and Demelza Poldark. I can see why he mentioned those two items.  As a captain in his “regiment of foot,” that accessory was part of his everyday outfit.  

And by the time I had finally ended, I was starved and had a potato/leek soup with bread and a cherry soda.  I thought that such fare would at least give me strength for the afternoon, but I had no energy left and therefore circumvented the London Eye, went home, and collapsed for a nap.  I hated to miss the London Eye, but know when to give in.  

Tomorrow I leave London from Paddington Station for Truro, Cornwall.  So looking forward to this part of my trip, and to having the sea salt air in my face.