Continuing our religious theme, but really just going to the next logical destination based on the map, we stopped by Southwark Cathedral, where photos were not allowed. So here are a couple of the outside:
Apparently, this is the place from which Samuel Pepys watched the Great Fire of London, and it's also the place where Anne Hathaway brought her husband, William Shakespeare, for services.
Staying on the south side of the river, we stopped at a coffee shop:
Although they gave us this warning, we were pretty safe since only one other person was on the second level with us, and he was on the other side of the room:
We visited the Tate Modern, which had some interesting paintings, but which didn't meet our (admittedly, rather high) expectations. We did see a group of young school children being ushered into a room with "Warning: some visitors might find this art objectionable" signs in the beginning. However, we did not stick around to see if they stayed long once the chaperons realized that it probably was inappropriate for that age group.
Brian and Rose both donated some money in the modern-artish donation box:
Then, we took the Tube to the Wallace Collection, which is a former house turned into gallery. It was very charming and, like the Queen's Gallery, just about the right size. We had low expectations going in, and were pleasantly surprised to see many great pieces of art, including Rembrandts. The house in which the museum is located is at the background of this picture.
After our visit, we were famished and it was time for lunch, so we stopped at a nearby pub:
We took the metro with the intention of visiting the V&A, but first decided to stop at a Catholic Church nearby:
Then, we made it to the V&A. This was probably my favorite museum in London. There were so many interesting things to see!This photo didn't turn out well, but there were replicas of many famous pieces of art. I believe this is due to the fact that it used to be really difficult to travel and this allowed more people to see these masterpieces. In case it's too dark, this was a giant replica of Michelangelo's David statue.
This Chihuly glass was in the entrance:
Rose had bought some mustard as a gift for her Dan, so Brian took this picture. I believe it's the same brand she had purchased:
There were several interactive displays, including this one where we could listen to excerpts from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas while looking at period costumes. Our family had seen "Patience" performed last year. I didn't think it was one of their more famous works, so it was fun to see some of the songs listed here:
Brian took an artsy photo of me:
Perhaps enjoying the fact that he could take pictures in the museum, he started trying to take pictures of men with mustaches. Given the time period of this collection, there were many of those. Just a couple:
We stopped at the museum's cafe for a quick bite to eat, as it was starting to get late.Refreshed, we then walked over to the Albert Memorial. Kensington Gardens were closed, so we couldn't get too close, but the monument was illuminated, although we couldn't get any good pictures of it.
Improvising a London by Night bus tour, we eschewed the Tube in favor of a double-decker bus to Trafalgar Square. Once there, we hopped on the Tube, which we took to the grocery store.
Brian and I love European cheeses, and we try to make one meal each trip one of bread and cheese. Not exactly balanced, but delicious and it won't kill us every once in a while! Rose was game. Unfortunately, the grocery store was out of bread, so our dinner ended up being cheese and crackers. But, the main purpose of this is the cheese, so we were satisfied.
At this point, we realized that we hadn't taken any interior shots of the apartment.
Here's the living room, with a shot of the spiral staircase to the next level:
The couch in the sitting area, where Rose slept. This is where we were when we found out Obama had been elected the next president of the US:
And here's Brian, in the kitchen, toasting our wonderful trip:
We didn't stay up too late as we would have a few hours' worth of sightseeing-time before our plane and wanted to take advantage of that!
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