I've realized that I don't have anything to tell you all about my fifth day in London as that was when I flew home, so I'm smooshing the fourth and fifth days together! The three full days was there there wasn't a drop of rain (aside from few scattered showers at night) but the day I left it was beginning to rain pretty hard.
Fortnum and Mason was where my fourth day started. A friend told me if I could find it that I definitely should. She shouldn't have told me to go here. Bad idea, suuuch a bad idea. It was a sweet tooth trap. It was like a huge chocolate shop!!! Three stories of chocolates, cakes, wines, candies, and every pastry you can imagine!!! I didn't make it out empty handed... I left with a bag of rum-chocolate truffles and a piece of almond, dark chocolate fudge. It would be very easy to spend all of your hard earned money in there and worst of all, it would be worth it...
I went to Buckingham Palace right afterwards to see the Changing of the Guards! It was a great ceremony and I'm glad I got to see it. It had been packed there, even an hour before it began. I can't help but wonder if it is this crowded every day for it! It was perfect however, it seemed as though no matter where you stood you would get a good view of the parties as they walked by. There were constantly police men and women on horseback walking up and down the streets throughout the procession just to make sure everything was going smoothly. It was awesome to be so close to the horses!
Everything about the procession was incredible, from the music to the horses and the uniforms and formations. It was very neat!! I keep thinking of all the illustrations and animations I'd love to base on these guards. Even a children's book.... so much inspiration!
I made my way to the Victoria and Albert Museum next. I was not prepared for this museum. I enjoyed the Tate Britain a lot, but this one... this one was massive!!! So many floors with every type of art you can think of... There was of course the traditional renaissance paintings and the Greek sculptures, but the museum even went into photography, fashion design, silver sculptures, and even the art of iron making. Every floor was very unique and had something incredible to offer.
My favorite hallways of the V&A Museum were their "Technique Hallways" where it offered a lot of different types of sculptures and sketches, all of various techniques (given the name.) It was great... There were artists everywhere sketching! I was very jealous that I didn't have the time to sit and sketch with them. It would be very easy to spend days on end in this museum!!
The building itself circled around a courtyard where there was a little fountain and café. Perfect if you needed a breather from all the rooms, but this museum felt so light and open and free, so much natural light streaming in from the windows! Next time I go to London, I'll be spending much more time there!
To those of you who know the MIA well, you'll recognize this artist's hand! A sun-styled chandelier hangs in the entrance of our little Minneapolis art museum. In the same manner, and in the same location in fact, the same artist has one of his colorful chandeliers in the A&V Museum as well!!! Dale Chihuly is the artist in question, I was so excited to see that we had something in common with this amazing London art institute! (Click here if you'd like a refresher on the MIA's piece by Chihuly!)
I hadn't taken too many pictures of the Underground, mostly because I didn't want to seem too touristy (haha) but I still can't quite get over how much I adored traveling by it!
My last activity in London was a bit of a last minute decision. I'd been looking into musicals before I'd left and of course had my heart set on Wicked. Though... I was constantly hearing the live performance of Once was incredible. Just for fun, I made my way over to the Phoenix Theatre and asked them what their ticket situation was looking like for my last night there. Turned out... They had a very cheap ticket left and in what was, I thought, one of the best seats in the theatre!!!
If anyone gets the chance to, you have to see this musical. Of course the lyric of each song is the same, but the music is so different from one musician to the next. The cool thing about this musical is that because it’s based entirely on the characters playing and living their music, the actors and actresses are chosen for their passion and talent. So with each performance you are going to see completely different artists on stage with different ways of singing and playing. No two musicians are going to sound alike and each rendition of each song is completely unique!
I have loads more to say about Once, though I believe I'll stop there. When I see you all in person I'll be sure to talk a lot about it!
I think that's all I'll have to say for my trip to London... I fell in love with it so quickly, and want to go back so badly! I hope I'll get to go back one day. (Scratch that, I will be going back one day hehe!) I left out a lot of the little things I did in these posts such as hanging out in the parks and finding many little book stores that I adored, though I think I hit the major things I had done there!
Elizabeth is in Florence with me now and we've been doing a lot lately so I'll be writing about that soon!
Ciao per ora!!
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