We hopped into another London cab and off to the Victoria and Albert Museum we went. When we first entered, there was an incredible blown glass chandelier.
We started our explorations with medieval Europe. It somehow seemed appropriate. Most pieces were church related, which is to be expected. Pieces were so finely carved in wood, ivory and gold it is hard to believe they were done hundreds of years ago with the tools they had available at that time!
There was a tapestry done of a hunt that had to be at least 40 feet long and 15 feet high. It showed detailed figures of both men and woman which allows us to see what their costumes were like. Few articles of clothing are left from that period. In the collection was an all white quilt, heavily needled and trapuntoed (stuffed work).
From those galleries, we wondered through Asia and on to Costume. There are some really lovely dresses. I was born on the wrong century. There was also a special exhibit of weddings gowns from the 1700s to today. Unfortunately, we did not get to see it. We would have had to wait over an hour to get in. Too bad. It would have been nice to see.
One of the nice things about the V&A is the hands-on things they offer along the way. They had an area where you could do a pencil rubbing or try on a reproduction of an old costume. There were also artifacts with Braille plaques for the blind. Some exhibits had benches with headphones so you could sit and listen to a narration and/or books in large print explaining the exhibits for the visually impaired.
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