I had a LOVELY day today.
I went to London, and met Big Sis Anne Marie at Victoria. Haven't seen her for a couple or three months, so it was great to catch up. We then fought round 1 with the London Underground* and went out to Gloucester Road station... We trotted out into the sunshine (it has been BAKING all day! I feel steam cooked, like factory bread!) and up the road, and round the corner, and into one of those big ole London houses that has been knocked together with three others inside and turned into a hotel and met our own dear Karen Maslowski! :)
I'd roped AM in as 'Native Guide' for the day, as I'm not good at London
- duzz me 'ead in, innit! We toddled off and fought round 2 with the underground, then walked the tunnel to the Victoria & Albert museum, where we wandered through the India/Raj section, admiring the workmanship of the costumes, delighting over fabric and details, and marvelling that one man's coat has a 75 metre hem! It was made of the lightest and finest cotton muslin, with every tiny stitch set by hand. Cloud like and incredible! AM earned her stars for the day with the bits of history that went with things like Tipoo's Tiger
Two things all three of us wanted was mirrors so we could see the backs of things, and corners turned up so we could see the finishing on the insides!
Lunch was delicious and friendly to my diet! We ate salmon or chicken in the V&A cafe, and salad with lovely dressing.
Then we trotted off through the shop and back down that lovely cool tunnel (always a cool breeze in the tunnel from South Kensington station to the museums!) and fought round three with the underground! This round we almost lost... The train was PACKED and hot and evil... But we didn't let it defeat us, and we made it to Liberty! :)
That shop is almost a museum by itself! Karen looked at the lovely scarves, and then we trotted off and lazed in the tea room, eating scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream, washed down with Earl Grey tea!
And we chattered... and chattered and chattered! Like a trio of busy sparrows! If any donkey had wandered past, he'd have lost all four legs and the tail, and needed help getting home!
Karen bought her scarf, and we left the shop as they were closing the doors! I've never needed to be let out of Liberty's after closing, but this came close! We none of us bought fabric, though it came close with the vinyl coated stuff... A couple of us were slightly tempted for bag making. But it just wasn't *quite* right, and the selection was nothing like as good as the last time I was there when they had fabric. They had a few years when they didn't sell fabric at all...
AM and I escorted Karen back to her hotel, more to prolong the conversation and the pleasure of her company than to stop her getting lost (*I'm* the one that can't tell left from Tuesday, after all!), and I got back to Victoria with AM in time for the 21:03 from platform two to Dover. AM waved me a fond farewell, and trotted off to get her train to Balham.
It was a HOT day...
It was a BUSY day!
It was a truly LOVELY day - and I am all walked out and talked out!
*So hot that they were sending teams round with water to revive fainting passengers!