Walk this Way to the V&A

We came to London with every intention of walking as much as possible.  But you can't have a long "places-to-see" wish list and expect to combine every outing with a matching hike. In any case, the damp, cool, gloomy weather was not conducive to long periods spent out-of-doors.     

So our friend John's Fifty London Walks languished on the shelf, and we took buses and subways.

But that is not to say that we didn't find places to go on foot.

The Victoria and Albert Museum was about a half hour walk from Gloucester Tce. and the best route was through Kensington Gardens, a destination unto itself.

Off we went...

Kensington Gardens:  on our way to The V&A through the Italian Garden 

Kensington Gardens is a huge park with so much to explore that I am embarrassed to admit we failed to see most of it.  It was too cold for an outdoor adventure.  Besides, we had 145 V&A galleries to investigate.

The Albert Memorial, on the V&A side of Kensington Gardens

In the end, we only managed only about 20 V&A exhibits, and I blame it on china.  The world's most extensive collection of ceramics is on the museum's upper level, and that is where we (strategically) decided to begin.  We foolishly assumed that we could quickly take in this vast array, whipping by the Wedgwood and disregarding the Delftware. But this gallery demanded our attention, so we lingered longer, and after about a thousand plates, bowls, teapots, Toby jugs and Staffordshire dogs --not to mention cabinet upon cabinet of glassware--we finally found our way to the Architecture and Furniture galleries which had been our original destinations.

A tiny bit of the huge V&A museum from an elegant interior courtyard. 

There is lesson in this.  Study the wonderful Victoria and Albert Museum website first.  Plan your visit, and do not be seduced by the first china shepherdesses who winks in your direction.

It seemed entirely fitting that we got lost on our way home at the end of our V&A day. Coming back through Kensington Gardens we turned right when we should have gone left at the Italian Garden. (The "we" here is significant because this directional error is one I make all the time.  Bruce's internal compass rarely becomes confused.)

Striding on confidently, we failed to notice an absence of familiar landmarks until we were well and truly turned around .   However, we had our paper "bus map" with us, and we had our ancient paperback London A to Z, the one we could hardly read because the print was so small. That is probably why it took an hour-and-a-half to thread our way through a labyrinth of roads and back to familiar territory.   Perhaps it is time to get an i-phone.  Then we could make use of great websites like this one: My London Map.