Back to Blighty

This is clearly our British year. We started the year at a cat sit in Ashtead, Surrey, came home for three months, then were back for spring and early summer (though you wouldn't have guessed the season from the weather.) We spent two months at home and now we're back for our longest trip yet. We flew out on September 11, a somewhat ominous date. The flight on Virgin Atlantic was wonderful.

The flight manager, Alan, was friendly, attentive and BTW, very easy on the eye. He reminded me of Nigel Havers. The flight attendant taking care of us was Zara, who was just a delight. I don't know how Virgin Atlantic chooses its flight crew, but they always seem to be wonderful. I did a food allergy test a couple of weeks ago and discovered that my top problem foods are cheese and eggs and since I avoid eating meat, there is very little on a standard airline menu for me. Reluctantly, I pre-registered for a vegan meal. To my surprise and delight, it was terrific. A tomato salad was followed by a really delicious dish of curried vegetables over noodles. I managed to sleep for a few hours and skipped breakfast because I was looking forward to a proper latte and breakfast at the Revivals Lounge. I've mentioned the Revivals lounge on this blog before. It's a wonderful perk when you fly VA Upper Class. You can check your bags at the reception desk then enjoy a shower in a private bathroom. Then you can relax in the lounge and have a latte or drink of your choice and breakfast. I usually opt for eggs royale, a variation on eggs benedict with Scottish smoked salmon. Then you can relax until the room closes at 12:30. This is a great way to kill time since most hotels have afternoon check-in times. Alas, none of this was meant to be. We took the lift to the Revivals lounge and was greeted by a lovely attendant telling us that the lounge was closed due to a water tank on the floor above bursting and flooding the suite below. No! No shower in my private bathroom. No latte, no breakfast. No quiet place to relax. (Cue sound of baby crying.) We were given vouchers for Nero, a coffee chain. We went back downstairs to the very busy arrivals area and found Nero. this was my first lesson in the pervasiveness of dairy in the English diet. The only two non-dairy options for food were a BLT and a tuna sandwich. Sort of a bizarre breakfast, but I chose the tuna. We had our coffees and decided that the cacophony was no substitute for the Revivals lounge and headed for the tube. It's a bit of a trek from the terminal to the tube, but we weren't in a hurry, in fact we were trying to kill time, and we found a wonderful way to do so. There are lots of "moveable sidewalks" at Heathrow which allow you to traverse large distances quickly - that is, if you're walking. If you're standing it allows you to traverse large distances very slowly. Eventually we arrived at the District Line and rode the 15 stops to South Kensington and then made our way to the Chelsea Cloisters, our usual digs. We saw a couple of our favorite front desk people but were sad to learn that we had missed our favorite, Kieran. His last day had been the day before our arrival. Oh, well.

We were quite early so while we waited for our room to be cleaned Bruce headed to the pub and I headed for the V&A museum.

It was a lovely sunny day so I made my way to the courtyard. On my way there I noticed a museum label that caught my attention.

Naturally, I had to find the plaques. I made my way around the courtyard

and found the mosaic that commemorates the team of constructors and builders

but it took me a while to find the lovely plaques dedicated to the dogs. There was just something so appealing about the fact that these dogs got plaques in what would become such a popular place. How loved they must have been.

I then headed to the jewelry gallery and saw a new display, "A Parrot for Flaubert"

The piece was made by Kevin Coates and is inspired by "Un Coeur Simple", a short story by Gustave Flaubert. I revisited so many of my favorite pieces from that gallery then headed to the silver gallery. I'm always so impressed by the silver lions.

I've mentioned the drawers beneath the displays that hold extra bits worth seeing, but not worthy of a whole display cabinet (like the bottle tag collections)

What I hadn't noticed before is that the bottom drawer has a yellow handle and is marked as being for children. They have an interactive aspect and seem to me to be a great way to appeal to an otherwise unlikely audience for silverware.

I meandered over to the fashion gallery. There's a featured exhibition about Naomi Campbell but since it's running till May, 2025, I just enjoyed the open display. They have an enormous collection of clothing at the V&A, so the displays change regularly.

At that moment I got a text from Bruce saying the room was ready so I headed off to the flat for some much-needed rest.