Sleeping in, visiting Victoria and Albert and getting in the Thames

Today, we decided to sleep in a bit, which was very much needed. The consequence was that we skipped our planned trip to Tate Britain. Sorry, Tate the second. Not personal. Just political. The advantage of this plan was that we were able to spend a solid four hours at the epic, glorious, ever-welcoming Victoria and Albert Museum. Our first job was to grab lunch, which was an opportunity to sit in the fanciest cafeteria in the world. These rooms, all adorned with tile and paintings and all sorts of ornate decor, were built to be a cafe for patrons of the museum, with the mission of making the beauty of art accessible to all. Like most other museums in London, the V&A is free, and there are many areas for public relaxation, such as the courtyard with wading pool and multiple beautiful study rooms. Very cool, V&A, very cool.

Here are some of the highlights of today's art trek (are you getting tired of hearing about all this art? Sorrynotsorry - we can't seem to get enough of it). First we were treated to an astonishing amount of sculpture, from ancient to modern. And added to these originals, we found the Casting Court to be breathtaking. Casts of famous sculptures from around the world, most life-size, were created in the late 1800s to enable students and those who could not travel to see the great works of the world. Visualizing all of these masterpieces in the same room was swoon-worthy and it mattered not a bit that we were not looking at originals. Another favorite for me was the miniature portrait room. There were tiny, maybe 1 to 3 inch, portraits of all sorts of people in little frames, made part of jewelry, and placed on everyday objects. The room featured many magnifying glasses that could be used to check out the portrait's details (or take ridiculous selfies, not that I would ever do that). We also saw many, many jewels, some of them of the crown nature, and loads of silver and gold objects for everyday (??!) use. The one disappointment was the Beatrix Potter exhibit, not because of its content, but because it was so crowded and the pieces displayed so small, that the entry fee was not worth the experience. 

After V&A, Mom and I headed to the London Eye, not to take a circular trip but instead to get on a river cruise. The Thames impressed and provided a chilling wind for the venture, and highlights such as the London Bridge (which isn't the fancy one with towers - that's the Tower Bridge), Big Ben (which isn't really called Big Ben - Ben is the bell in the plain old clock tower), and a whole host of modern and historic buildings. Mom and I tried to take a selfie and the family sitting behind us offered to take our photograph. When they gave back my phone, they'd taken a photo of themselves accidentally and then another on purpose (they also took our picture, which was an extra bonus). It was amusing and you can see these strangers below. Post boat, we stopped at the Selfridges Food Hall for dinner and goodies and then booked it home for British TV (which has waaaayyy too much US TV going on). It's been another terrific day in London and we've got one more coming tomorrow. We are truly lucky.