Oct Week 1 - Part 1
The next couple days were pretty slow - the hustle and bustle of running around the city kicked both our bums. This was especially the case for K; on top of still feeling some residual covid symptoms, now she has a secondary chest infection. After a couple of weeks of mustering through with every over-the-counter option she could get her hands on, she finally went to the doctor and was prescribed antibiotics, an inhaler, and other goodies.
While K was on bed rest, exhausted and medicated, I did some solo exploring to get out of the house. The day after puppy yoga, I did a big loop through Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park again, hitting some yet unexplored paths. But first I did a mandatory stop at the duck pond - now that I had my Merlin app updated, I had to ID all the birbs and get them checked off of my life list!
I also took a slightly different route home and happened on some beautiful trees and building facades:
This was also the day I discovered our favorite grocery spot closes early on Sundays - whoops!
On another extended walk around the block I found a nice patio seat where I had a read and enjoyed my favorite Czech pivo. Lovely.
Kitties “cuddling”:
Victoria and Albert Museum - Day One
I spent an afternoon at the Victoria and Albert Museum (free entry!!)
The cast courts were the first thing that blew my mind; used to thoughtfully placed pieces taking up their deserved amount of space . . . this was the polar opposite of that. This place (and a lot of the rest of the museum if I’m being honest) was just completely chockablock full of pieces like, “We’ve got to put them somewhere!”
The cast courts are all replicas, but extraordinary nonetheless. The pillars in particular caught my eye - normally they would be stacked on each other to make a single column, and you can actually walk into the bottom :0
(reminder, click to zoom in!)
Perseus vs Medusa:
Lighting is rough here, but still rad.
Birdbath by Judith Schaechter:
Beautiful stained glass.
This was just my first toe dip into the V&A.
On the way home I happened upon a wonderful tree:
And a beautiful sunset:
(Big Fish, anyone?):
Victoria and Albert Museum - Day Two
After getting my first taste, I just had to go back the next day.
I immediately ran into this wild Edo period piece:
Then on to sculptures!
Our first pair of pairs is “Truth and Falsehood.”
Truth is yanking Falsehood’s double tongue out - pretty metal.
Followed by “Valour and Cowardice.”
Valour ain’t got time for ‘dat.
Now a few Saxon Gods - Sunna (Sunday):
And Thuner (Thursday):
A pretty morbid scene of Apollo flaying a satyr:
A pretty wild Bacchus party:
There were busts a plenty - the detail was extraordinary :
The wine Cup of the (Mughal) Emperor Shah Jahan. Dated 1657 AD, made of white nephrite jade. Absolutely ridiculous.
Sweatopia - pretty poignant:
I found this painting equally beautiful and sad. I can’t help but hear the dialogue between the tourists in the foreground: “Wow! Think of all the ways we can exploit this place!”
On to some of my favorites from the South Asian Sculpture room - lots of amazing Hindu imagery:
And another exquisite sunset on the way home, this time with a Heron buddy:
