Wonderings on a Wonderful Weekend in London - Part One

I can’t believe it’s been a month since my last blog post.  The time has gone so quickly and it’s taken me over a week to write this one about my weekend in London, which I've ended up splitting in two as it started to get quite long.

Last weekend I headed down to London with a couple of my friends for a weekend of galleries, musicals and vintage shops.

The journey down on Friday was lovely, the train was peaceful and I managed to relax, drinking tea, eating fruit cake and reading The Moonstone, a perfect way to spend an enforced period of inactivity.

We had decided to spend the evening at the Victoria and Albert Museum as they were open late for an exhibition, however, we first went off to Harrods and what a treat that was.  They had decorated their windows for a Swarovski Crystal Christmas and they were just magical, it was like watching a party at the Snow Queen’s palace.

Hugh crystal fairy chandeliers.

Mannequins in evening gowns dripping with crystals.

These beautiful snowy white nymph trees.

A huge display of Art Deco miniature ladies

We went round each window in turn gasping in delight as we pressed our noses up against the windows, desperate to take in as much of the beauty as we could, like those Victorian images of children at the window of a toyshop.  It was the best window display I think I’ve ever seen, it made you want to step through the window and live in this gorgeous sparkling paradise.

Before long though our bellies got the better of us and we headed for the Victorian and Albert Museum and after a fortifying cup of tea and piece of cake in their gorgeous café it was time to explore.  I’ve been to the V&A a couple of times before but there is something about being there at night, when it’s all dark outside that makes it seem like a super special experience.

Whilst we didn’t really get involved in the main evening exhibition as it was very busy, we did enjoy walking around the different sections, where they were holding a Visual Editions Mass Reading Event which involved 150 volunteers reading out loud pages of Compositions No 1.  All the pages were out of order so you weren’t quite sure where you were in the story, but it was lots of fun to stop and listen to them and pick out any names or plot that you recognised, although we never did work out what happened to Helga in the end.

We actually didn’t end up leaving the museum until about 9-9.30 and by that time we were all quite weary and ready for bed. 

Thanks to Charlotte for letting me use her pictures.  

I'll put the post up about Saturday tomorrow.