Let's go to the V&A...and the theater! (#22)
Today seemed like a good museum day, so off we headed to the Victoria & Albert Museum, more fondly referred to as the V&A. This huge, sprawling museum has the biggest, most eclectic collection objects anywhere ...furniture, glassware, iron work, clothing, jewelry, carpets, photography, anything you want to see is here. Seriously, the show stealer for me was the HUGE hand blown Dale Chihuly chandelier in the entry room! It is gorgeous...and HUGE! 
My problem is that the V&A is almost too big (and I found it to be laid out in a very confusing way). But we did see some lovely things...sadly the fashion section and the theater section (with costumes from plays and tv shows) were both closed. The jewelry section was arranged so interestingly though and we both enjoyed it. It was so dark in that display room that I didn't take photos...but the pieces they had in there were fabulous.
It is STUNNING!!
Look how it dwarfs step people on the second floor here...each glass "tentacle" is enormous! Apparently when it was originally made and installed in 2001, Chihuly thought it looked too small, so he had them dis-assemble it and blew a bunch more glass tentacles and re-hung I!t
My problem is that the V&A is almost too big (and I found it to be laid out in a very confusing way). But we did see some lovely things...sadly the fashion section and the theater section (with costumes from plays and tv shows) were both closed. The jewelry section was arranged so interestingly though and we both enjoyed it. It was so dark in that display room that I didn't take photos...but the pieces they had in there were fabulous.
Another fun are of this museum is the "cast court" where there are replicas of many famous art pieces from around the world. When people could not afford to travel in the early 19th century, many replica items were gifted to the UK. My favorite was a life size copy of Michelangelo's David (one of my favorite pieces of art). This cast was a gift from Tuscany to Queen Victoria. There is a "clip-on" fig leaf hanging on the back side of the pediment that was used in Victorian times so as not to offend anyone! 
The famous fig leaf!
Trajans Column from Rome was pretty impressive...the original was so big, that the replica had to be in 2 pieces to fit in the museum!
And then it was time to check out their cafe and sit for a spot of tea! This lovely cafe did not disappoint...the stained glass windows, the hand painted tile work...and the giant globe lights...oh, and the delish slice of carrot cake with my tea - all perfect!
The V&A is right down the street from Harrods so we decided to wander up that direction. When we were here in 2000 with the boys we had an apartment right around the corner from Harrods so we made a quick stop to look at our old stomping grounds. It looks exactly the same!
We had this little downstairs apartment on Beaufort Gardens in Knightsbridge.
Such a pretty street.
Our apartment was on the right hand side of this street...and Gary and I both remember that there was a Union Jack flying on the opposite side of the street back then...just as it is today. Walking down this little street brought back some happy memories of that trip.
I love the food hall at Harrods so we cruised through there but showed great restraint and didn't buy anything...sure is fun to look though!
For some reason the only photo I took in the food hall was of the caviar counter?!?! Right to the left is the butcher counter and I did see that you could buy Kobe beef for £880/kg...that's $1,181/2 lbs. Anybody want me to swing back and pick up some steaks?!
We had dinner reservations so we headed out and caught a black cab to take us to dinner and the theater. Traffic was horrendous, but we had a great cabbie (of course) who gave us a lovely guided tour.
We passed by Buckingham Palace. Before we got to the front side we passed a lot of people all dressed up - women in dresses with fabulous hats, and gentlemen with all their military medals. Our cabbie explained they were attending garden parties as the famous Chelsea Flower Show is happening now. I was so enthralled that I didn't think to pull my camera out until we had passed most of the party-goers...so this is all I got as we drove by.
Chests full of medals! The women were much more dazzling - so bummed I didn't get any photos of them.
Buckingham Palace
We drove up the Mall, through Belgravia and Chelsea and were dropped off in front of our restaurant, Sarastro, for dinner. Super handy as the Fortune Theater was directly across the street! Gary went the restroom after dinner and returned with a funny grin on his face! He showed me a video he had taken in the men's room with erotic art murals painted all over the walls! We giggled and he sent the video to our boys...I then went to the ladies room and guess what? The same artist had obviously done the murals in the ladies room...floor to ceiling...and on the ceiling! Here is a "tame" piece of art from the ladies room. (If you want to see more, just ask and I'v got videos from both the mens and women bathrooms!). 
The restaurant was a trip...the dining room was decorated with theater boxes and all kinds of theater memorabilia.
The restaurant was a trip...the dining room was decorated with theater boxes and all kinds of theater memorabilia.
We walked across the street to the Fortune Theater to see Operation Mincemeat which was very entertaining; a true story of a British mission in WW2, turned into a campy musical with very catchy songs! It won best musical of 2025 and it did not disappoint!
After the show we got a UBER home and were picked up in a Chinese EV which was a great car! It had as much headroom as a London black cab and the entire roof was a glass sun roof - super sleek inside...I was very impressed (and I am NOT a car person at all!). It was a Jaecoo and it dazzled me! It was a fun, full, busy day and we were pooped and fell into bed...19,000 steps later.
What a busy, fun day! Love Chihuly, but that one is a bit weird looking to me-lmk
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