The V&A

I left Bournemouth this morning on the 9 am mortorcoach.  Unlike the midweek bus from Heathrow, the weekend bus was packed.  It seems that everyone in Bournemouth wanted to go to London.  Traffic was very heavy in the opposite direction, so its seems that everyone in London wanted to go on a seaside holiday.  I was the second person on the bus so I sat in the first row to get a good view out the window.  There were lots of people out and about in the city.  We drove along the Thames for a short bit and there were many people painting outside.

The bus station was two blocks from "The Tube", the colloquial name from the subway here officially called The Underground. I purchased a 7-day pass, which will work well for seeing lots of sights in the city.  Almost everything is in central London, which is in zones 1 and 2 with respect to the subway fee structure.  My card is a tap and go card, which is faster than the pass-through cards.

I got to checked into my hotel about 12:45.  They asked if I would stay in a single tonight in exchange for a upgrade tomorrow, so I thought that was worth it.  The room is nicer, but smaller than my room in  Bournemouth, which was tiny.  One the plus side, I have wired internet in the room.  There is wireless in the lobby.

I then headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, or more simply the V&A.  Wikipedia claims "it is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert."  They have over 60,000 items on display!  I am looking for items with a mathematical connection for my upcoming course and some historical research I am doing.  They have items from all time periods and from all over the world.

Like many of the big museums in the UK, the V&A is free with only a suggested donation of £3.  I had a bite to eat in their cafe before hitting the exhibits.  The V&A housed the first museum restaurant in the world, "intended as a showpiece of modern design, craftsmanship, and manufacturing."  The rooms are still used for cafe seating.  Unlike the US, they allow flash photography, which is quite surprising, but very helpful in seeing intricate details.  However, some galleries did not allow any photography.  Here are some of the 177 photos I took today.

A collection of spherical ceramic objects with symmetric patterns.

A neat screen carved from marble.

Tippoo's Tiger.  A life sized automaton showing a tiger at the throat of an Englishman.  When the crank is turned, the man's arms flail and he makes a groaning sound while the tiger roars.  Made in India.

A misericord figure.

A large Chihuly sculpture in the main lobby.

Two views of a carved ivory cup.  The top has several docahedrons.  If you look closely at the bottom, you can see there are at lest three nested objects.  Carved to demonstrate mastery of the craft.  This was carved in Germany in about 1850.

Well, a few hours is not enough to see everything, but they kicked me out at closing time.  I will head back tomorrow morning.  It is quite a museum!

There are two subway stops near the hotel: Notting Hill Gate and Bayswater.  I have explored around both today.  While the hotel is in a very residential section, there are quite a number of shops in the surrounding area.  In addition to a large number of restaurants, I found a laundry that will be needed soon.  I had dinner at a local pub and then walked around the area, stopping again for some dessert before getting back to the hotel.  I took a short nap and so I am up late blogging.

Amy is now in transit.  Our plan is to meet at the hotel tomorrow and then have lunch together.  I am exited that we can spend time together during the next two weeks!