I have run into a slight technical problem in getting the Cologne and Paris pictures from Rob's camera, ie. my camera is a dinosaur of the technical age (from 2006 mon dieu) and cannot read a 4GB SD card, so we are leaping forward to London.

Last time I was in London was January 2007 and mostly what I remember is wandering around for 2 days in a jet-lag induced fug. I took 7 photos and this was one of them...


This time in London I was actually awake for the majority of the time (except when I was sleeping at night..but like.. at normal times) so the scope to do things and remember them was a bit wider.

I'm going to back-track here a little bit and give you some context: last year for Christmas my brother gave me this set of tools from the Victoria & Albert Museum printed with a William Morris design.
Not that actual design, but a more awesome design. That screwdriver turns into 6 screwdrivers. It's like magic. I haven't used them because I don't really ..do.. home handiwork, but I'm sure that if I ever do need to use them the whole experience will more pleasant because my tools look awesome.

The point here is that this time in London, since I was awake and relatively alert, I was determined to go the V&A. I don't think it was just because of that tool set, but ever since I got those tools I have wanted to go there. A museum of decorative arts appeals to me immensely.

I told Rob he didn't have to come because I knew he would hate it, but he came anyway and so I found a map, pin-pointed the room where they had some medieval armour, and told him I'd meet him in an hour. I knew in my gut that he would not enjoy the fashion or jewellery exhibits. Don't ask how I knew, I have crazy good intuition about such things.

Off I toddled; here is some of what I saw.

Up close these dresses were amazing.


I would tell you that I was wandering around having a little Jane Austen moment, but that would be a lie because the purist in me says "those dresses are not from the Austen period". I had a real Austen moment the next day anyway, but you shall have to wait and see why because I am not telling.

Mostly I was just wandering around wishing that I was an extremely rich lady of leisure with a tailor.

It was so moody and climate-controlled in there. I loved it.

Although in retrospect, those mannequins with blank faces were kinda creepy...


Full of contrast too. Bam! Didn't see that giant squid-like plastic bubble thing coming.

It's in the main entrance, but we didn't come in the main entrance, so it did somewhat take me by surprise...

After all that though I completely forgot to go to whichever part housed the William Morris prints. To be honest, I was quite bewildered by the map and at one point I wasn't sure I would be able to back-track to our meeting place (because we had come in the alternate entrance it wasn't quite as memorable as the giant squid-like plastic bubble thing).

I haven't quite mastered the art of navigating complex, multi-level maps, much less the museums that accompany them.

Oh and with all the back-tracking and fast-forwarding in this post, I thought this would round it off nicely...

Peeking Squirrel, Hidden Flagon. Circa 2009.