Wednesday 15 July 2009

The Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington

On Saturday, I took the girls up to London to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. We went with their class teacher and group of other children from their class. The journey was rather stressful both ways, but the rest of it was fabulous.
It has been years since I have been to the V&A , so it was nice to revisit it. I think the last time I visited was with hubby before we were married on Valentines Day.

The Victoria and Albert Museum was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. It is the world's largest museum of decorative arts design and well worth a visit if you are ever in London.

It is free to the public, but they do ask that you consider giving donations to help them purchase more beautiful items for the museum.

Here is a picture of the outside of the building. The entrance is very grand and you just stand there admiring a beautiful building.

A memorial above the entrance of Prince Albert.

This is the entrance to the museum. This is above the reception desk and is an eleven metre high glass chandelier. My photo really doesn't do it justice. I stood under it for ages - just saying wow!
We spent a lot of time looking at the Asia exhibition in there. Where the rooms were divided into subsections. I have never seen so many beautiful artefacts all under one roof. It really is a place, where you spend most of your visit continually saying Wow!

Some of these ornaments were just so unique and so modern considering their age. We only spent the morning there, but I will definitely be returning. I hoped to get some design ideas for my scrap pages, but as we did a tour, I just didn't get to see all the rooms I wanted to.I had hoped to be able to give you details of the items in the pictures, but they are not easy to find on the V&A website. So apologies for my ignorance!
They have an exhibition devoted to the changes is fashion which I really enjoyed. Looking at the period costumes right through to modern couture.

The dress below belonged to Princess Diana and I can actually remember her wearing it. What you notice about the dress up close, is how tall and slim she really was.
This is another picture of a sculpture at the entrance of the building. It is called The Swarm and is one of eight made by Zaha Hadid. It is made up of 16,000 Swarovski crystals suspended on wire. It represents a freeze frame picture of an explosion of insects moving in different directions.
This is from the Cast Court. Below you will see a copy of Trajan's Column, a 1st AD monument. The museum is not big enough to hold the column in one piece, so it has been separated into two parts. You get a real feeling for it's immense size when you stand under it. Definitely awe inspiring.

I have only given you a glimpse of this amazing museum, yet it would take you at least a week to look around it properly and take in all the beautiful items on show. If you are ever in London, then this is a place you should definitely visit.
I hope you enjoyed my mini tour of the V&A. I will definitely be returning.

14 comments:

  1. Wow! Viv, thank you for the awesome tour.

    WOW!!!

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  2. Wow somewhere I will have to take the children this summer. xx

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  3. My eldest raved about it when she went but seeing the pictures is something else. I'll definitely have to take the girls in the holidays so I can get to see it too :)

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  4. I loved being transported to your neck of the woods with the awesome photos; thanks so much.

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  5. Oh my gosh, I recognized that chandelier as a Dale Chihuly as soon as I saw your picture. It is just stunning! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a day with your girls! Did they enjoy it as much as you did? If our dream trip to England ever comes true, I think this might have to get added to our schedule. Thanks for sharing the lovely photos!

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  7. Changes in fashion, oh I want to go there too.
    I am glad you all had a wonderful day

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  8. Looks like a very cool place - great pictures!

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  9. Thanks so much for sharing these pictures-the museum looks beautiful. That chandelier would definitely stop me in my tracks. I'd love to see the changes in fashion as well-what a great idea.

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  10. Loved the museum photos ~ thanks so much for sharing. Particularly enjoyed the pics of fashion through the ages, would love to see that!

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  11. What lovely pictures. I'll bet you had a wonderful time! It looks like there is a lot to see and do there. I especially love the pictures of the outfits. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. wow, looks like a wonderful place to visit. great photos!
    how cool to see Princess Di's dress, I remember her wearing that one too.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  13. I loved this post! I always wanted to go to the Victoria & Albert Museum, but there's so much to see in London that I was never able to fit it in. Next time, though!

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  14. What beautiful photos! I haven't spent as much time as I'd like at the V&A. Always seem to go there after a long day at a different museum, so tired and not taking anything in. It does deserve its own day all to itself.

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