London - Victoria & Albert Museum

  Steven admires the ceiling in the lobby of the V&A.  Note massive Dale Chihuly sculpture dangling fromt the ceiling.  Installed in 2001, the ceiling had to be reinforced to carry the weigh of the glass.

We were on "museum row" near the South Kensington Gardens, so we could have gone to any number of museums.  But having recently rewatched the "The Young Victoria" I was curious to see the Victoria and Albert Museum, otherwise known as the V&A.  The Tube deposits you just outside the museum, so you don't get wet, and admission is exactly nothing (though donation boxes discretely suggest a 5 pound donation.)

Original entrance to V&A.
Queen Victoria is pictured top middle, giving out design prizes. 

The museum was founded in 1852 by Prince Albert, though not finished until after his death.  It's expanded over the years and now contains over 2.3 million objects on six floors of exhibit space.  We wisely decided to take one of the free public tours.  Our tour guide, a volunteer docent, told us we'd have to cover a total of seven miles to see all the exhibits.  Instead we just got a few highlights, some of which are below. 

Betsy in comfy 21st century duds next to court dress, c1750

How did you get through a door?  Sideways, of course. 

The V&A has a fascinating collection of couture clothes through the ages, including a court dress from the 1750s, that is wider than it is tall.  This silk dress was found in pieces in a box in an attic.  Luckily, someone guessed it might be older and more valuable than first thought. Seamstresses at the V&A reassembled it, stitching it together using the same holes.  Sitting down was almost impossible, and carriages were entered sideways, but this was the fashion at court for many years. 

Figurine collectors' dream

We had planned on taking a stroll through Kensington Gardens, but the rain made us think twice.  So we popped up to the sixth floor to have a look at the world's largest collection of ceramics.  I discovered that the cheap porcelein figures you can buy now look a lot like the more expensive versions from the 18th century.

Hardly enough room - porcelein figurines, c1800