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Posted by Viviane on June 13, 2006, 7:48 am
Well that all made me very homesick for London. For some reason I felt the
heat there much worse than I do in Australia - maybe it has something to do
with the fact that we're geared up for the heat here. Then again, I feel
the cold here more than I did in England because we don't dress properly for
it and the homes are built for it! Glad you enjoyed your day.
>I had a LOVELY day today.
>
> I went to London, and met Big Sis Anne Marie at Victoria. Haven't seen
> her for a couple or three months, so it was great to catch up. We then
> fought round 1 with the London Underground* and went out to Gloucester
> Road station... We trotted out into the sunshine (it has been BAKING all
> day! I feel steam cooked, like factory bread!) and up the road, and round
> the corner, and into one of those big ole London houses that has been
> knocked together with three others inside and turned into a hotel and met
> our own dear Karen Maslowski! :)
>
> I'd roped AM in as 'Native Guide' for the day, as I'm not good at London -
> duzz me 'ead in, innit! We toddled off and fought round 2 with the
> underground, then walked the tunnel to the Victoria & Albert museum, where
> we wandered through the India/Raj section, admiring the workmanship of
> the costumes, delighting over fabric and details, and marvelling that one
> man's coat has a 75 metre hem! It was made of the lightest and finest
> cotton muslin, with every tiny stitch set by hand. Cloud like and
> incredible! AM earned her stars for the day with the bits of history that
> went with things like Tipoo's Tiger http://tinyurl.com/fu8fq (a musical
> organ beast that growls and mauls a soldier! One of my favourite things
> in the museum!).
>
> Then we trotted off to the costume galleries, and once again our eyes were
> out on stalks at the fineness of some of the workmanship and the hand
> worked buttonholes to die for on the Tommy Nutter suits, and other
> glorious things. We exclaimed over the tiny costumes of the 18th and 19th
> centuries, and the exquisite stitching that went into some seriously ugly
> garments!
>
> We discovered that some designers and some pieces were loved by all three
> of us, and we diverged markedly on others. I could spend MONTHS in there
> with such company, jest gazing and speculating...
>
> Two things all three of us wanted was mirrors so we could see the backs of
> things, and corners turned up so we could see the finishing on the
> insides!
>
> Lunch was delicious and friendly to my diet! We ate salmon or chicken in
> the V&A cafe, and salad with lovely dressing.
>
> Then we trotted off through the shop and back down that lovely cool tunnel
> (always a cool breeze in the tunnel from South Kensington station to the
> museums!) and fought round three with the underground! This round we
> almost lost... The train was PACKED and hot and evil... But we didn't
> let it defeat us, and we made it to Liberty! :)
>
> That shop is almost a museum by itself! Karen looked at the lovely
> scarves, and then we trotted off and lazed in the tea room, eating scones
> with strawberry jam and clotted cream, washed down with Earl Grey tea!
>
> And we chattered... and chattered and chattered! Like a trio of busy
> sparrows! If any donkey had wandered past, he'd have lost all four legs
> and the tail, and needed help getting home!
>
> Karen bought her scarf, and we left the shop as they were closing the
> doors! I've never needed to be let out of Liberty's after closing, but
> this came close! We none of us bought fabric, though it came close with
> the vinyl coated stuff... A couple of us were slightly tempted for bag
> making. But it just wasn't *quite* right, and the selection was nothing
> like as good as the last time I was there when they had fabric. They had
> a few years when they didn't sell fabric at all...
>
> AM and I escorted Karen back to her hotel, more to prolong the
> conversation and the pleasure of her company than to stop her getting lost
> (*I'm* the one that can't tell left from Tuesday, after all!), and I got
> back to Victoria with AM in time for the 21:03 from platform two to Dover.
> AM waved me a fond farewell, and trotted off to get her train to Balham.
>
> It was a HOT day...
>
> It was a BUSY day!
>
> It was a truly LOVELY day - and I am all walked out and talked out!
>
> *So hot that they were sending teams round with water to revive fainting
> passengers!
> --
> Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
> Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
> http://www.katedicey.co.uk
> Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
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