Sunday 8 February 2015

The V&A and Harrods - Day Six London


Today I took a tour through the Victoria and Albert Museum which showcased major highlights of their vast collections. Throughout the hour-long tour we saw an Imperial Throne from the Chinese Qing Dynasty, whose carvings were all carved out of the millions of layers of lacquer painted onto the chair (not the wooden core), busts of Spanish Princes - or something - and some other interesting stuff, but the highlight for me were the Cast Courts.


Imperial Throne


When setting up this museum, Albert had plaster casts made of significant sculptures, architectural features, monuments, and other structures of note such as from Churches. The thinking behind this was to inject a little inspiration, culture and worldly thinking into the society of the day, as people didn't yet travel to the Continent that much. They were a resource for art and design students; a taste of European art and architecture right in the heart of London. Now, these numerous casts populate two large airy rooms known as the Cast Courts.





This glass 'chandelier' punctuates the front entrance of the museum
From the China Galleries
Dominating one of these rooms is a life-size copy of the Statue of David. It was awe-inspiring to see something so iconic (though not in its genuine form) right in front of me, and the large scale was unexpected. He looked smaller in photos... On the back of the plinth he was standing on was a specially formed dock leaf out of stone, used in a strategical position when unveiling the cast to Queen Victoria so as not to cause Royal Embarrassment.




Lunch in the most beautiful room in the V&A
After a few hours here I headed up the road to Harrods'. Seeing the old-school light-bulb signs made me feel like I was in a movie from the 1920's. I found most of the shopping departments intimidating and pretentious, but the food hall was just plain interesting and exciting! Absolutely any fine food you could possibly think of is stocked here. The food hall is comprised of a series of rooms, maybe about a tennis court in floor area each. In one you'll find an oyster bar & other sit-down mini eateries, another a buttery, fish monger, deli, vegetables, another patisserie & desserts. It was like a maze of glorious food and around every corner was something new, exciting, curious and delicious.





'Zebra cake'
I must confess I spent most of my time in the chocolate/confectionary room, where the combination of things you could put in chocolate of cover in some form of sugar seemed endless. I tried my first marzipan fruit - strawberry on the outside, soft and almond on the inside - and couldn't resist a few truffles either. The candied fruits also tickled my curiosity, so I came away with half a peach and plum each.




Marzipan flowers
On my way to Harrods' I passed the most apetite-inducing window filled with beautiful cakes, pastries and desserts. So on the way back, I dropped in for a spot of afternoon tea. I went with a classic strawberry shortcake and pot of tea, but take heed my friends, this wasn't your average tea and cake, oh no. The shortcake was litterally the size of a small cupcake, which was piled high with vanilla creme then coated in a silky strawberry jelly containing whole strawberry slices. Heaven. The place is called L'eto, just in case you were wondering :P.



Strawberry shortcake

The legendary Honey Cake - a must try
Love,
Addie xoxo

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