Day Six

The Victoria & Albert Museum is my absolute favourite of all the museums in London. This is the courtyard where lemon trees grow and is a tranquil setting compared to the hustle and bustle of Cromwell Road. This fantastic sculpture hangs in the front lobby and has you gaping in astonishment the moment you enter the building. There was an exhibit called Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones which featured examples of millinery through the ages. There were leather hats worn by Cavaliers, bonnets worn by Royalty, the golden spray that Camilla wore when she married Prince Charles, a very exotic headpiece worn by Isabella Blow and even Madonna's cowboy hat, worn in her 'Music' video and so much more.Ladies, can you imagine wearing a dress like this? As women had to enter rooms turned to the side there was an hierarchy as to who went through doorways first. The lower you were on the social scale the longer you waited in line. The embroidery on this dress was stunning! I could easily spend a whole weekend here, three and a half hours went by so fast! But it was now after lunch and time for something to eat so I grabbed a window seat at EAT, had a quick sandwich and did some window shopping in Kensington. The tranquility of the V&A's courtyard is more my style than the high-priced atmosphere of Harrod's but while you're there you might as well have a look around.

Time to switch gears again for there was another museum that I was intrigued by. The Foundling Museum tells the story of 27,000 babies and children abandoned in a building adjacent to this one from 1739 to 1954. The collection is to be housed in this gorgeous Georgian building for a period of twenty-five years. The children were fed, cared for and taught basic skills so that they could go out and typically be put into service. Most heart-wrenching were the tokens on display that accompanied some babies when they were left behind such as a button, a hairpin or simply a few beads on a piece of string. My impression is that most of these children were loved but there was simply not enough income to provide for another mouth to feed. Journals show that many babies didn't survive very long due to illness and disease. This was a very tragic and emotional exhibit but sadly, reality for all too many.

Later in the evening there was a London Walk that I wanted to go on, what a fun way to spend an evening! You meet at a designated tube stop, pay your guide the meager sum of 7GBP and then you walk around that area for two hours learning all sorts about the history and people that lived there or live there still. This walk was called Ghosts, Gaslight and Guiness and started in Holburn. The photo above shows a pub in a narrow lane, there has been a pub on this site since the time of Elizabeth I. She was Protestant which was not good news for Catholics, so they would hold secret mass at this location. There were tunnels underneath the floor so that priests could make their escape during raids. It was a fun, albeit spooky fun, night of dark lanes and ghost stories with a stop at a pub for a pint. I would have preferred a cup of tea but that came later back in my room. The next day would bring the book chat at Persephone Books and I couldn't wait!