Another Day in London

The family was lazy on Sunday morning (July 10), so we did not leave the house until after lunchtime.  We took the Underground to South Kensington and emerged to warmth and blue skies.  Matthew and Peter set off for the Science Museum, and Katya and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Of course, there is an overwhelming amount on display, so we selected the galleries we were most interested in:  Japan; the displays of vast and ornate pieces of silver and gold in the Whiteley galleries; and jewelry.  Then we sat in the courtyard garden for a while, enjoying the sunshine and watching the people having picnics and the children playing in the large, shallow pool. 

Katya arising like Venus from a half shell in the courtyard garden

Sculpture and wading pool at the Victoria and Albert

Katya wanted to walk, so she left the museum to stroll the streets and I stayed at the V&A and visited the South Asia gallery, the Southeast Asia gallery and an exhibit on fashion through the ages.  In both the jewelry galleries and the South Asia gallery, I was struck by the number of pieces that came to the museum through donations by military personnel who were allowed to split up the spoils of the empires conquered by British forces, such as the Mughal empire in India. 

Small part of the exhibits of gold and silver

Of course, the building and interior design features of the Victoria and Albert also merit attention.  The rooms of the cafe, decorated with ceramic tiles and stained glass, are breathtaking.  

Cafe in the Victoria and Albert Museum

Detail of ceramic columns and ceilings in the cafe

I stayed in the museum until closing time.  Our plan was to meet at the corner where we had emerged from the Underground at 6 p.m.  When I arrived at 5:50, no one else was there, and I realized, looking at the map on the kiosk, that I was only a 5-minute walk from the Brompton Oratory, a spectacular Baroque Catholic Church that had not been open the last time we were in South Kensington.  Since it was Sunday, I figured that the doors would be open, and they were!  The previous service had ended and the next mass was not scheduled for another hour, so I was free to roam around this great space as rays of light streamed through the clerestory windows.  It was heavenly.

Nave and apse of the Brompton Oratory

Brompton Oratory altar

I was a few minutes late getting back to our meeting spot, but it did not matter, because (surprise, surprise!) Katya was lost.  Through a series of exchanged texts, Peter was able to pinpoint her location a few blocks away, and we walked to where she was and then rode the subway and buses back to East Finchley.  At the house, we rested briefly and then set off for a nearby pub in Muswell Hill with William (Wendy and Don’s younger son).  Matthew had already been there a few times, taking full advantage of his freedom to drink ale and whiskey in the UK, and he wanted to watch the final of the world soccer match in a pub with the locals that night.  Katya, William and I left after finishing our meals, but Matthew and Peter stayed on to watch Portugal take the championship.  (The game was also on the TV at the house, but Jesse, Will and I were not a rowdy crowd.)