Victoria and Albert Museum, III

For our last full touring day in London, June 21st, we chose to visit the V&A once more. Although the museum is international in scope, we wanted to focus on the historic Brit bits, much, but not all of which, we have seen before. Closure in some sense. I'll just post pix that, I'm pretty sure, I have not posted before.

Interesting how differently the US and the UK approach such issues currently

Three-fer of Charles I...head shots...

Late Medieval copy of The Golden Legend, compiled by
Jacobus de Voragine, in the mid-1250s, on which much
Christian lore and maybe even some doctrine are based;
prior to the 1500s, it saw more editions than the Bible,
and was regularly translated into the vernacular; define
"hagiography"...

Joris Hufnagel, Nonesuch Palace from the South, 1568; the earliest
and most detailed depiction of Henry VIII's grandest palace; first
known landscape water-color in England

Gift items from the court of Henry VIII

Himself, by an unknown Anglo-Flemish painter; one
can appreciate how it was that the younger Holbein
revolutionized portraiture...

Torrigiani's (painted) terra cotta bust of Henry VII;
students of this blog will recall that Torrigiani was the guy
that busted Michaelangelo's nose

Stairwell landing...

Moving right along, we are now admiring works by
Glasgow favorite Charles Rennie Mackintosh

And William Morris

Penelope, designed by Sir Edward Coley Burnes-Jones,
realized in stained glass by the Morris company; we're
always on the lookout for Penelopes

Draperies by Morris, who spend much time studying in
the V&A (back when it was just the South Kensington)

Chest painted by Morris

More stained glass by Morris' company; we have enjoyed
the full windows he designed for Winchester Cathedral

Asparagus, anyone?

Charles Sargeant Jagger, Cathal and the Woodfolk, 1914,
bronze relief on oak frame; Cathal was an Irish folk hero

Cabinet, Bruce James Talbert, 1878, classical themes...won grand prize
at the Paris International Exposition, 1878

Exhibition cabinet, design by Alexandre Eugene Prignot,
manufactured by Jackson and Graham, London, 1855;
another prize winner

Paxson's sketch for the Crystal Palace of 1851

A page from Chippendale's Director catalog, 1754

Drawing Room Entry, Northumberland House, 1775;
very Pompeiian, non?

And thousands and thousands of more precious wonders...next time...

British Food And Drinks, II

Some years ago, we fell under the influence of Marks and Spencer's "dine in" meal deals--those take- home semi-prepared meals...appetizer, main, side, dessert, maybe even a bottle of wine, for two, any cuisine you can think of--and it has seriously affected our dining-out proclivities in London. The M&S idea has spread to the main grocery chains, and thus you can find meal deals at Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, and our favorite, Sainsbury's, and more. We'll go out to a restaurant for a special occasion, or to accommodate a museum or show or great house visit. But, generally, the Peking duck meal, the pork ribs (three different sauce options), the Indian sampler, etc., that you can fix in 30 minutes in your own kitchen, enjoy quietly, and affordably, and healthily, kept us from the restaurant scene. (Never mind that restaurants are nearly always a crap shoot, noise often above 90dB precluding conversation, obnoxious and repugnant fellow diners, never the best choice for healthy food, ridiculously over-priced...). So our restaurant visits in London were quite limited. The one good thing about Brexit is that it forced Marks and Spencer to close their stores in Paris! No meal deals there. But then French restaurants, markets, food generally, are a wholly different and wonderful experience, to be protected and preserved.

Global warming

Bought several boxes for Penelope, then ate them ourselves...

Strawberries and cream

A little harder to replicate at home

There was a Sainsbury's near our Churchill Gardens flat...but we
never missed an M&S on our outings

But of course

Alas, we missed it

The Hundred Years' War continues

Part of a "free from" aisle (free from sugar, gluten, etc.)

Not locally sourced?!

Goes right well with the chicken tikka wrap at McDo's

At the Seven Dials Tower Street food hall (West End, sort of);
self serve

British food used to be the butt of jokes...but now there's no more
diverse and interesting food city in the world than London...well,
maybe DC...

The conveyor belt restaurant craze continues to grow...starting with
sushi, I conjecture, now expanding to cheese...the Pick and Cheese 
marque is opening soon in NYC, I've read

Nothing but spritzes...talk about a niche...

The Seven Dials Tower

A Walk In The Park...

After seeing Hadestown, we decided to walk back to our flat, West End through Trafalgar, Waterloo Place, St. James Park, and west to Pimlico. It was our last walk of the campaign.

West End sights

In Waterloo Place, the latest Banksy...placed amid scores
of monuments and statues from the days of Imperialism

Installed on April 29th; we were surely among the first 20
million people to see it; I interpret it as more a statement
about nationalism than imperialism...walking off a cliff,
blinded by the flag...

Monument to Chief Air Marshal Sir Keith Park, leader of
11th Fighter Group, defending London during the Battle of
Britain; much more on him in Auckland...he was a Kiwi

Speaking of imperialism...statue of Sir Colin Campbell,
Lord Clyde, hero in putting down the Indian Mutiny of 1857

Duke of York column; army chief during the Napoleonic
Wars; the monument was paid for by his troops, who each
committed a day's wage to its construction 

Speaking of flags...the Mall, with Buckingham Palace at the end; 
the Trooping of the Colour had occurred just a few days before

Helpful map of St. James' Park

Horse Guards Parade Ground 

One of the more beautifully landscaped of the royal parks

A bit close to the rodeo grounds, perhaps

Still pretty nice

Homage to New Zealand; seemingly

On patrol

The Drinking Boy fountain

55 Broadway, London's original skyscraper, home of St. James tube
station; for years the administrative offices of the Underground

Prom at one of the high schools in Pimlico

Churchill Gardens, site of our flat, is (was) unique when it
was built in the late 1940s, in that it utilized hot water effluent
from the Battersea Power Station (just across the river) for
heating; this is the old hot water reservoir, just a block or so
from our unit in the Keats Building (OK, of interest to Mark
and perhaps a few historians of civil engineering)