Wednesday - London is jubilant

On Wednesday I set out for the Victoria and Albert Museum where I saw a very interesting exhibit on the Arts & Crafts movement. It was very well laid out - with items, photographs projected on screens ... going from England to the US to Western Europe to Japan. In both England and the US the movement was spearheaded by architects who got involved in furniture-making, pottery, jewellry etc. I loved the work of Gimson, especially a set of fireplace tools, as well as the houses in Windmere (amazing hand carved woodwork and ceramic tiles), Frank Lloyd Wright's designs and furniture, Lunch in the V&A cafeteria which is like a museum piece. One room was completely designed by William Morris. A lady from Switzerland joined me. She is an art historian and we had a nice chat.

After lunch I toured through some of the exhibits (the museum is large) and then went walking. Every newsagent had signs outside proclaiming London's win of the 2012 Olympic games. People were jubilant. I strolled through Kensington, enjoying the city. I finally had to buy a map as London streets are a challenge. Found my way to Harrod's. They were having a sale and the place was mobbed - still out of my price range. Tube home for a bit of a rest and then I went off to the Southbank. I read, sitting on a park bench for a while, but it was a bit too windy. I met Susie for dinner. We had a lovely dinner and then went to Queen Elizabeth Hall to see Flavio, a Handel opera. The staging was bizarre, but the singing was excellent. I particularly enjoyed the instrumentalists as well. Act 1 had no notable arias, but the music got better in acts 2 & 3. A delightful evening. We walked across the bridge to Embankment Station and took the tube home.

Walked many steps today!