Gimme a V! Gimme an A!

....and also an "H" and a "IWM!" I've been very busy since my last post and have lots to catch up on.

I was successful yesterday in catching the correct bus and getting to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The hour and a half I had for the excursion was just enough to scratch the surface of this amazing place, though. I'm thinking I need to make a separate special place in one of my notebooks for "places to go back to." I'm so fortunate to have enough time to be able to do that!

The main reason I went to the V&A was to see the clothing gallery since I'd read there were good examples of WWII utility clothing that I might want to recommend for my WWII class. That exhibit was actually a little disappointing, as there were not as many items as I had hoped. But the bright side is that gave me more time to check out some other exhibits of interest. I was unable to find the musical instruments gallery (the place is a maze) but I did make it to the jewelery section and WOW! that was worth the trip. An astonishing array of historically interesting, and just flat-out gorgeous stuff.

The rest of yesterday was spent getting provisions for, preparing, and having a little party for our students at the flats. It was a lot of fun. I think I might have mentioned before, what a delightful group of kids they are? They went out to karaoke last night but my colleagues and I were partied out and made early evenings of it.

Today, though, we were hyper tourists. The "H" referred to above was Harrods, and what a hoot of a place that is! I don't know if I would ever actually buy anything there (except for food, which is scrumptious and some reasonably-priced stuff can be found, especially in the bakery) but it was certainly fun to look around. The Christmas section is spectacular (and I might return at some point to get a souvenir ornament...) and I really enjoyed the lighting department. I've never seen such unusual lamps and chandeliers. The games area might have been my favorite section (except for the food). This foosball table for the man who has everything—a bargain at £5000 since they only made 50 of them—was a particularly interesting find.

After fortifying ourselves at Harrod's Food Hall gelato bar, we headed south of the river for a completely different experience at the Imperial War Museum. This is one of the main visiting points for my WWII class and I have been eager to scope it out.

What an absolutely fabulous museum! You could spend days and days in there and never see everything—and everything is so fascinating and so well-displayed. We particularly found the Children's War exhibit moving and absorbing, and they have so many interesting little items from WWII that I know I'll want to go back prior to my class' visit, and several times thereafter. There's a whole gallery just on D-Day! Plus there's the First World War stuff I want to see. And the Holocaust Exhibit, which I only had time to run through quickly, looks so interesting, with lots of background information and studies of the events from different angles. As well, of course, as the heartbreaking stories and personal accounts scattered throughout.

This museum tells a sad, but very important, story, and tells it very well. I think it should be a required stop for all London visitors.

We came out of the museum to a lovely afternoon, but are certainly thinking about our friends and families in Houston. Let's hope Ike fizzles out and only brings y'all some good rains.