London Town (again)

So I'm, once again, combining two days into one blog. Sunday and the Monday I was in London because Mum is off to Australia on Monday. So on Sunday we went back to Spitalfield and Petticoat Lane markets and I did the unthinkable - I bought some ug boots. Oh cruel cold world forcing my tootsie toes to go cold without unattractive footwear! Lovely markets as usual and then delicious Greek food that night. I stayed over in Mum's hotel instead of coming back to uni managed to watch brilliant UK tv. Gameshows here are the best.

The next morning (well this morning) Mum packed her bag and we set out to go to the Victoria & Albert museum which is filled with everything from all over the world and all over time. We managed to see about half because we decided to see what we wanted to see instead of - everything. We started with the fashion exhibition which had dresses from the 1700s! Original clothes from then with corsets and everything. Amazing clothes which seemed so tiny. The people were so small back then and the women were obviously strapped into cruel undergarments. They had an evolution of fashion to today which meant there were very unattractive 70s and 80s garb - shoulder pads bleh. I found an interesting fact because they had four different weddings dresses starting from the 18th century - which was white. It said that women began wearing white because it was easier to wash and then it really boomed when Queen Victoria wore white to her wedding - so there you go -now you know. Apparently people back in those days were meant to wear black to mourn not only for their family members but the royal family as well! On the topic of fashion they had various interactive parts of the museum which allowed you to try on various old style fashion. So that's why in the photo above I have massive hips - it's the skirt I tell you! The second photo is a real dress worn which was the height of fashion and impossible to go through doorways. The point was to show off the lovely fabric of the dress with the flat panels.

After stumbling on some no-good-teenagers taking hilariously intimate photos with naked statues when they thought no one was looking we found our way into a historical treasure trove. There was the most amazing clock which they had a display of how it worked and the various little figures on the roof of the house type shape would ding little bells and then beneath them there were tiny little 2D figures moving back and forth. It was really clever. There was a lock they had which had a little man with a hat next to the doorknob. To put the key in you would press a little button to make the soldier kick his leg so the key could go and then open the lock. It had a counting system though so when the master would go away he could return and see how many times his vault had been opened in his absence! Very clever. Also in this museum was a type of harpsichord which belonged to Elizabeth I and may have been played by her.

By this time the sky started darkening and the inevitable happened - it started raining. So Mum and I took the tube to Waterloo and I bought my ticket to return to Egham. I had to say goodbye to Mum for the last time and we both said we didn't need to cry this time - though I started crying when I got on the train - silently. Now I'm back at uni and in the warm safety of my wee room awaiting dinner! Classes start tomorrow so I'll let you know how it goes!