Sky Garden

Granted, we have never done the London Eye...not good for my mal de debarquement syndrome, and Vicki had bad childhood experiences...so we opted to do the Sky Garden, a sort of viewing station/botanical garden atop one of London's city center skyscrapers. It takes a reservation, etc., but the views were great, and it was certainly a once in a lifetime experience.

In time, everything becomes a restaurant

Down river

Us, there; 46th floor

Tower and Bridge

Greater London has many CBDs

Neighbors

St. Paul's and west, the BT Tower in Fitzrovia

The garden bit, nice, but not overwhelming

Up river

The Globe down there somewhere

Yes, there

The Great Fire monument

Up river, more

The Shard

Not our most expensive drink ever (that was in Milan, but also
very special; or more likely Florian, Venice, pre-retirement)

Parting shots

Sky Garden at the top there, in a building, 20 Fenchurch St.,
Londoners call the "walkie-talkie"

Victoria And Albert Museum, 2026, II

Chronicling our second 2026 visit to the V&A South Kensington...

Heading for the entrance, admiring some of exquisite exterior sculpture

Our top priority for the day was to have a more leisurely
look at the cast courts

Back in the mid-19th century, doing plaster casts of great art and architecture
was a thing: partly for preservation, I suppose, partly to make copies to
sell, and partly for the education of the masses, few of whom would get to
go on grand tours...the V&A has two large courts of these casts, some immense,
and even if you have seen the originals, the casts are still impressive

Horny Moses (Michaelangelo), from St. Peter's in Chains, Rome

Ghiberti's bronze door to the Florence Duomo Baptistry

The copy of Trajan's victory column from Rome...so huge
(115 feet) it had to be displayed in two pieces...

Rare dorsal view from inside the the upper half of the
Trajan's column...the museum refers to this as a "quiet area,"
reinforcing my conjecture that the V&A is easily the best
napping museum in the world

Ever-popular Cain bonking Abel

Celtic cross

Jesus, man-spreading, man-'splaining

Much of the work very finely done; quite a few of the
casts are all that remains of monuments destroyed in Europe's
assorted wars, revolutions, etc.

Moving right along, we are now in the architecture section...looking
at a model of the Houses of Parliament

Model of the great starfort Fort William, Bengal, 1794;  if you want 
to see architectural models (of a certain vintage) go to Sir John Soane's
Museum, High Holborn, for a truly incredible collection of a truly
incredible architect and architectural historian...

Now we are in the humongous glass department, which would take
a day to look at leisurely; admiring a Chihuly piece 

Very early glass blowing

Medieval Muslim always impressive

You expected a wood table?!

So much incredible stuff...overwhelms you in minutes

Now into Medieval Christendom, a 1300 world map

Among the misericords; possibly from New Zealand?

You never have to look far for a resting place

Today's aquamanile; we're going to scour all the charity
shops now for an art nouveau aquamanile

Central court of the old museum...on a warm August day in 2013, it
was difficult to keep toddler Penelope (or any other kid) out of the pool!

Having a snack at one of the South Kensington museum's 3 original
"refreshment rooms"...the first museum to offer such amenities...designed
by some of the greatest of the day, not least Morris...

We always go for the "humble working class" menu (since
the "de-classed intellectual" menu is no longer available);
solidarity, you know...

Docklands and the St. Fride Swide Mission House

Historically, great wealth passed through the Docklands, some of the greatest ever; but little stayed. The area was a gritty workplace, populated by some of London's poorest. The destruction wrought by German bombings in WWII made it all the worse. One can get a glimpse of post-WWII Docklands in the great BBC series Call the Midwife. After touring the Docklands Museum, we undertook a walking tour of the area, heading to Canary Wharf, where things have changed, massively, and the populace is now very different from what it once was. Next we crossed the tracks, literally, to Poplar, and ended at the mission of St. Fride Swide, the real setting of Call the Midwife. Things have changed there, mostly the population, now mostly immigrants.

Still on the West India Quay

At a resto adjacent to the museum; we had lunch nearby,
an unmemorable fish and chips at a trendy place whose name
has been forgotten; trendy is the word for everything there

Fancy a boat ride along the wharfs? There are many options...

we saw a BBQ boat at Vancouver last summer...

Hot tub boats; I doubt that they allow these on the river, which is 
crowded, busy, and tidal

St. Peter's Barge...London's floating church

A BBQ boat; no takers that afternoon

Sort of summed it all up for me

A remnant of the grit; or perhaps sculpture?

Now approaching Canary Wharf

Looking back toward the central city

Now in Poplar, in a park, a monument to school children
killed by German bombing in WWI

Public baths (and recreation); very newish

The high-rise is from the 1960s, a major part of the
neighborhood's change

Emmaus is there, as well as other charity shops...away from all the
high-rise development, retail, restos, etc., it's still not one of London's
posh neighborhoods

And now at St. Fride's...Nonnatus House, in Call the Midwife;
presumably pretty much as it was throughout the 20th century,
and some of the 19th too

Now mostly residential, flats...

At least it's still there...for now