London / Travel Day

We traveled together as far as Exeter, and then Bill and I had to sprint off to our respective trains, and the fellowship was broken.  

I checked my luggage at Paddington, and then set off for Kensington Gardens, where I enjoyed a light but leisurely lunch outdoors at the Orangery.

Then I decided to head over to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I had not visited before.

The grey-blue stone stripes of the
science museum looked like slices of sky.

Since I didn't have a huge amount of time at the V&A, I decided to start with the galleries devoted to Britain 1500-1760.   One of the first things in the gallery was a writing box believed to have belonged to Henry VIII.  It was really cool - though you had to watch the video to see all the cool compartments open.

The Dacre Beasts (ca. 1507-1529)

Taper Stand (1650-1700)

Ship pendant

Detector lock (ca. 1680)

Bed curtains (ca 1700), British (L) and Indian (R)

Detector Lock (ca. 1680)

Wedding Suit of James II

The Ironworks area was pretty cool too:

"Armada Chest"

They had a really cool collection of biscuit tins too.

Biscuit tin - looks like a stack of plates!!

Biscuit tin - "pillar box" style (ca. 1926)

Another gallery I wish I could have visited....

It was a little more stressful than I'd have liked to get back to Paddington via the Tube (rather than walking), but I retrieved my baggage, hopped on the Heathrow Express, and made my flight.  On the airplane, my over-friendly seatmate eventually moved elsewhere, but I still didn't really get any sleep because I had to watch all of the remaining episodes of Game of Thrones Season 3.  (Yes, "had to" - it was a compulsion.  Resistance was futile - or, at least I'm sure it would have been futile, if I'd made an effort to resist.)  And then of course I had to play some jewel-themed video game the rest of the time.  (Again, totally mandatory.)  Since I was getting in really late, I arranged in advance for a car service to pick me up from Newark.  Sadly, that journey proved to be a very unpleasant experience - I will not travel with them again.