Fashion and Crypts and Stuff

Sunday was church. Both of my directors for the study abroad were there and we chatted for about 15 or 20 minutes. It seemed as though they were already missing us motley crew of students.

Then we cruised on over to the Victoria and Albert Museum since it’s only about a 5 minute walk from the church. We saw the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibit (for me, the second time) that featured a few of her costumes and a lot of her clothes. It was a nicely done exhibit that talked about how fashion fit into her life and influenced the general public. She was quite the lady.

Sara may or may not have gone nuts-o in the V&A gift shop. We left there with some treasures and presents and other niceties.

Lunch was at Café in the Crypt, located in the crypt of St. Martin of the Field’s church. The food was quite tasty and the atmosphere was actually light and easy.

Sara had a full pork roast dinner with carrots and potatoes and I enjoyed a quiche with salads.

The highlight for me was this ginger lemon soda. It wasn’t as kicky as a ginger beer, but it was very light, refreshing, and delish.

We then headed to Trafalgar Square and saw some Picasso, Van Gough, Renoir, Seurat, etc. at the National Gallery. Whatevs. When we came out of the museum, there was a huge Sikh demonstration in Trafalgar Square. They were just beginning to march into the square, but it was all very organized and calm. We’re not exactly sure what the demonstration was for, but I inwardly cheered them on in their cause. I find the Sikh religion fascinating.

We skirted around the Sikh’s to walk down the mall to Buckingham Palace without all the hullaballoo of the parade. It was a loverly walk.

There was a different regiment of guards than normal guarding the palace. They were wearing jaunty berets with feathers and carrying huge guns with scary looking bayonets.

We decided that we better hit Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. There were about 7 or 8 people set up, and most of them were speaking about religion and why the bible is wrong or why it’s right and what people should believe. There was one guy that talked about the economy but his hecklers were keeping him pretty well off track. All of the speakers had hecklers. The people watching here was fantastic.

Last we had a nice little picnic dinner of sandwiches and blueberries at the Italian Gardens in Hyde Park. We were glad to get home a little earlier than the days before, as our touring has been, and will continue to be, extensive.