London and 14-Day Arctic Circle Crossing: Edinburgh Evening Stay Holland America Cruise: Day 4 Victoria and Albert Museum, "Operation Mincemeat" at Fortune Theatre May 15, 2025

 We got up at 8 and my husband K went to take a shower. My back was killing me, probably due to all the walking the last two days. It was 52°.

J and I got dressed and we gathered all we needed for the day and left at 9:16.

Just six minutes later, we were back at Zeit für Brot for breakfast again. Actually, we plan to come every day. K decided to try the Berry Crunch Porridge. J and I picked out Apple Cinnamon Schnecke, Schokostange, and Apple Crumble. K got his Long Black Coffee. J got Blood Orange Juice and I got C-Vision again, figuring the turmeric was good for me. It all came to Ł30.45. We didn't think the Schokostange had enough of a chocolate flavor, but we really enjoyed the other two pastries. K said the porridge could have been warmer.

 When we left at 9:58, it was really gray. We went to the Angel station and at 10:06, we were on Northern to King's Cross. Three minutes later, we were off and made our way to the Piccadilly westbound platform. We got there at 10:13 and only had to wait one minute.

At 10:30, we got off at South Kensington. There was a handy tunnel (subway) that led to various museums and we followed it for  just 10 minutes. Along the way, there were displays about the rails and ads for museums.

The tunnel led us to the -1 level of the Victoria and Albert Museum. There was a bag check, but we could keep them. We climbed stairs to get in the building.

Europe 1600-1815 was the section of the museum that was immediately accessible to the right. 

As you can see, this was a museum of stuff, and a bit reminiscent of our Smithsonian. I decided the best thing to do was just roam through the room and stop to look at whatever caught my eye, like this medal case. I was really grateful that their signs didn't just say what you were looking at, but gave details about the items. And, how handy is it, that they include a photo of what you can't see inside this thing?

 

There were several dresses on display. This first one was made in England around 1810 with machine-made net, hand embroidered with straw. In contrast to that one, which was definitely influenced by the French empire style, was this  English-style dress from 1785. It is made from painted cotton or chintz from India, that was imported through Amsterdam. A sign said this kind of fabric was popular, because the price was good and the bright color lasted. The neckerchief and sleeve ruffles dated to about 1760.

  

For no particular reason, except time period, this German gingerbread mold was in this area,

There were musical instruments from the time period such as this hurdy gurdy, lyre guitar, and bird organ, which was used to teach caged birds to sing. That feels wrong to me.

In this area, we learned that not only the royalty entertained in their bedchamber. It was one of the most important rooms in the 18th century and large sums were spent on furnishing it and the fabric. In the 1780's, new styles of bed were designed to be set sideways or in an alcove. This saved space, protected from drafts (draughts, as they say), and gave more privacy.

Today, we have man caves and she sheds. Back in the day, rich women had rooms for their own use. I'm not rich and I have that, but they made it a real thing.

    

  

  

 

 

The next item dates to 1760-1765. It is a miniature suit. It is not for a kid, but rather for a tailor to carry around to show his skills. The idea is much like carpenters in the US carrying around miniature furniture to show their work to prospective buyers.

We actually ran into a couple of conservators working on a display. They were dusting items quite carefully and not even allowing the dust to fall to the floor.

We ran into the next, huge exhibit, quite by accident. We'd gone upstairs to find a restroom and the path led through this hall. We'd never heard the term "cartoon" applied in the art world and here was a room full of them. They were absolutely huge and so impressive.  We could not find out if the tapestries made from them had been hauled out and used in the Sistine Chapel in the recent conclave. We were interested to notice that the sign above the arch had obviously been changed from "Her" and "Queen" to "His" and "King".  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They had so many interesting treasures. There were a series of needlework pieces done by Mary, Queen of Scots and her attendants, while she was held under arrest by Queen Elizabeth. They had the Drake Jewel that was given to Sir Francis Drake by Elizabeth.

 

Special attention needs to be given to the Great Bed of Ware that was so well known that Shakespeare mentioned it in Twelfth Night.

  

Another floor was so full of china, porcelain, earthenware, tiles, etc., it was a wonder the floor could support it all.

  

  

Out the window of this floor, we could see some fine Georgian homes.

Since I build miniature furniture, I was very interested in the Furniture display. It was set up to be something that aspiring furniture makers could visit and study. Pieces were identified by name, style, date, etc. and some were "blown apart" so that you could see how they were constructed. There were even things to touch. It was so seriously cool!

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was really impressed with the Fractal Table. First, because it was the correct use of a math term, but also because the shadow was so neat.

 

Another cool piece was the One Shot Stool. It took me a moment to recognize the relationship between the three pieces, but, once I got it, I was totally impressed.

 

Sometimes, we found ourselves just admiring the museum itself. Look carefully at the ring of the overhead light in the last two photos. Those are ceramics up there.

  

Even the roof looked interesting. Across from this section is the dome of the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which Rose Kennedy attended, when her husband was the ambassador to the Court of St. James.

We started encountering rather old pieces as we headed to the modern glass elevator to go downstairs and once we were down there. There was a German tiled stove from 1450, like we'd seen in St. Petersburg, Russia and in Switzerland. And, as usual, when there is old religious art, I managed to find my patron saint, Catherine of Alexandria. That always gives me great pleasure.

  

There were several pieces thought to be by della Robbia, but this was my favorite.

 

In a large hall on the ground floor with a lot of sculptures there was this impressive "Samson Slaying a Philistine" by Giambologna.

  

And then, we stepped out into the rotunda, where the information desk was, we found hanging above it an absolutely huge piece by Dale Chihuly called "V & A Rotunda Chandelier" from 2001.

 It was now almost 12:55 and we knew we should break to eat. So, we headed to the building on the other side of the John Madejski Garden, which occupied the large courtyard. We admired the brick buildings surrounding it, as well as its fountain. We were surprised that you were allowed to put your feet in the fountain, but not use buckets, spades or water toys. Who brings those to a museum??

 

 

Lunch options were a bit spread out and there was a lot of people milling about. I claimed a table in what turned out to be the room designed by James Gamble and K and J went off to get food.

 

J let me know where to find specific desserts, as well as a meal for us to split. Finally, at 1:18, we were all seated together. J picked up Grilled Toulouse Sausage, zucchini salad, new potato salad and Victoria Sponge Cake, along with a Coke for Ł29.95. K got Quiche Lorraine, green bean salad, new potato salad, and coffee for Ł22. I bought roast beef and pepper, green beans, and lentils, mango raspberry cake, and bergamot green velvet cake (seriously, how could we not try green velvet cake) with Coke Zero for Ł35.95. It was an interesting combination of flavors on that table.

  

We finished by 1:55. Rather than go back through the garden, we turned left in the hall with the dining room and then right into the hall that ran along the right side of the garden.  There were some seriously old pieces there, including this statue of St. Catherine of Alexandria that was made around 1520 in Upper Swabia in what is now Germany.

When we turned to go into the hall that was parallel to the dining room, we saw this really cool print made by a camera obscura by German photographer Vera Lutta. It is called Radio Telescope, Effelsberg XV: September 12, 2013.

 
The next area to visit was the truly amazing Cast Courts. Who knew this had even been a thing?

  

I understood doing the lion statue. What surprised me was the church doors. They seemed really tricky to do. 

 

The Celtic cross brought home the idea that these casts let people see things they'd never be able to go visit and to be able to see the entire thing, unlike a drawing of the item.

  

I've seen the actual Trajan's Column in Rome. Sure, it was tall, but, somehow, being broken in two and being displayed with all this other stuff made it bigger. It was like a traffic light that seems small hanging high above, but turns out to be quite tall, when it is on the ground.

  

 

I'll be honest. This next one interested me because it is German. I'll also be honest and say I circled that thing more than twice looking for the figure representing the creator to no avail.

  

The British like their old gravestones and decorations. On my first visit to London in 1984, I went to a place where you could do a rubbing of the design from such a stone. At the V & A, they had a whole line of life-sized effigies. They were impressive. Some even looked like they were on a bed. This one was made for the wife of King Edward I.

 

It definitely was fun to look at something and say, "That looks familiar," only to find out we had seen the real thing. We saw these two pulpits in Pisa on our Mediterranean cruise and J and I saw David in Florence, while K was at a ClarinetFest in Assisi.

 

 

We decided to go see one item in particular in the India section, because they made a deal of it. It turned out to be a fairly gruesome piece, as I expected. But, on the way, we saw this cool bench made of fiber, not wood.

  

Why in the world did the British take that thing?

We now found ourselves in the vicinity of the front door of the museum. I wanted to go outside to see the front of the building, since we'd be leaving through the door we'd entered. It did not disappoint. 

On either side of the arch were statues; one labeled Inspiration and the other Knowledge. Inside the arch, was a series of reliefs, each holding part of the message "The Excellence of Every Art Must Consist in the Complete Accomplishment of Its Purpose". Albert, who had been a patron of the previous incarnation of the museum in Kensington, is depicted in a large statue over the entrance. 

  

 

By 3:45, we each had different sections that we wanted to see. So, we split up and I went to Architecture, of course. Once again, it was an area meant to be instructional. There were a lot of neat models of homes, schools, malls, businesses, etc. 

 

 

Next door to Architecture was the section we agreed to meet in, Glass. They had yet another Chihuly.

 

We really didn't have time to explore this section, but I was impressed by the glass banisters above.

  

The shop was the next stop, of course. We left at 4:42, because we had evening plans. At 4:52, we were on the Piccadilly line. At 5:08, we were out in King's Cross. Four minutes later, we were waiting for the Northern Line to Angel, which we boarded a minute later. The trip took another minute. When we got off, I had a moment of panic, because I could not find my Oyster card. It finally turned up in a wrong pocket of the purse.

We were in the room at 5:28 to  dump stuff and get things together for the evening. We were out again at 6:02.

By 6:11, we were waiting at Angle for the Northern Line to King's Cross. A minute later, we were on board for the 3 minute ride. We made our way to the Piccadilly line. At 6:22, we were on and headed to Covent Garden. It was just a 6 minute ride. We went up to the street via a lift, because there were too many stairs.

We needed to find  some place quick to eat. Along the way, we passed this lovely cart.

We passed pubs with lines or bunches of people outside drinking and talking. Finally, we stopped at Orée Boulangerie. We got a ham and cheese brioche, prosciutto and cheese sandwich, and a ham and cheese sandwish. J got Orangina, but K and I had to try Sipp'd Karma Cola and hibiscus leaves. We had to eat outside, where it was chilly. It was 56°, felt like 54°. The food was ok.

Just after 7, we hustled up the street next to us to reach the 432-seat  Fortune theater to see Operation Mincemeat. J had told me the plot, which was based on the true plot of a book I read ages ago, The Man Who Never Was. 

Inside, we were sent downstairs to our seats. We wanted to make a pit stop first and found the absolutely tiniest restroom. There was no knee room to sit down! The sink was the smallest possible and the water was non-potable, a sign which K didn't read and he rinsed out his mouth.

J and I bought programs and we were led to our seats in stall H. The play was wonderful, touching, and hilarious, with great songs and music. The play is currently on Broadway with the original cast, who won Olivier awards here and are up for Tonys in New York.

 

When it got out at 10, we joined the throng heading for home. At the Covent Garden station at 10:12, we found the Piccadilly Line too crowded. We waited at boarded at 10:14, which had plenty of room. We were off in King's Cross at 10:20. Five minutes later, we were on the Northern Line for Angel, which we reached in 3 minutes.

We were back in the room at 10:40. 

My phone logged 12,210 steps for 4.5 miles and 8 floors.