London trip continued (Saturday)
Dec. 3rd, 2001 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mangosteenI'm having a mindblowingly incredible time.
Just sayin'.
I got a very late start on the day on Saturday. Staying up until 0500 GMT geeking about anything and everything with your host will do that. I finally got to where I wanted to be by around 1500. "Where I wanted" is defined as the Victoria and Albert Museum. For those who don't know, the V&A is the British art and design museum. Lots of sculptures, paintings, architectural reconstructions, etc. They also had a special exhibition called "Radical Fashion", in which a bunch of top fashion designers gave their idea of "what's next" in fashion design. Typically, I think this means a whole lot of self-righteous wanking on behalf of the fashion industry, but the exhibition was interesting enough to allow me to think about it as artistic and creative work.
It is enough to say that one really must go to the V&A, as well as the British Museum. You want to know where they keep the cool old stuff? There you go.
Observation: London museums have a way of sneaking up on you. You get out of the Underground, you look around, and you don't see anything remotely museum-like. You're about to ask someone where it is, when you look behind you and notice this 3-block-square behemoth with a wrought iron gate where you swore there was none before. I was envisioning a very large building sneaking up behind me, tapping me on the shoulder, and saying "Boo."
Observation: London is not particularly filthy, as massive metropolises go. It does have the traditional city grime, though. Blowing black snot out of my nose was mildly disturbing.
After that, I went to Wagamama, which is a Japanese noodle shop with a couple of interesting twists. Most of these twists come down to "we've streamlined our service for ultimate profitability, and you'll still enjoy it." It's a trip.
After a stop in at a shop in Soho that specializes in single-malt scotch (Milroy's, to be precise), weighing several possible purchases, and getting to sample a few of them, I headed back to Cambridge.
I miss real train service. You know, none of this namby-pamby "three trains in, three trains out" crapola you get in the Boston area. I want trains at reasonably regular intervals throughout the day, dammit.
Just sayin'.
I got a very late start on the day on Saturday. Staying up until 0500 GMT geeking about anything and everything with your host will do that. I finally got to where I wanted to be by around 1500. "Where I wanted" is defined as the Victoria and Albert Museum. For those who don't know, the V&A is the British art and design museum. Lots of sculptures, paintings, architectural reconstructions, etc. They also had a special exhibition called "Radical Fashion", in which a bunch of top fashion designers gave their idea of "what's next" in fashion design. Typically, I think this means a whole lot of self-righteous wanking on behalf of the fashion industry, but the exhibition was interesting enough to allow me to think about it as artistic and creative work.
It is enough to say that one really must go to the V&A, as well as the British Museum. You want to know where they keep the cool old stuff? There you go.
Observation: London museums have a way of sneaking up on you. You get out of the Underground, you look around, and you don't see anything remotely museum-like. You're about to ask someone where it is, when you look behind you and notice this 3-block-square behemoth with a wrought iron gate where you swore there was none before. I was envisioning a very large building sneaking up behind me, tapping me on the shoulder, and saying "Boo."
Observation: London is not particularly filthy, as massive metropolises go. It does have the traditional city grime, though. Blowing black snot out of my nose was mildly disturbing.
After that, I went to Wagamama, which is a Japanese noodle shop with a couple of interesting twists. Most of these twists come down to "we've streamlined our service for ultimate profitability, and you'll still enjoy it." It's a trip.
After a stop in at a shop in Soho that specializes in single-malt scotch (Milroy's, to be precise), weighing several possible purchases, and getting to sample a few of them, I headed back to Cambridge.
I miss real train service. You know, none of this namby-pamby "three trains in, three trains out" crapola you get in the Boston area. I want trains at reasonably regular intervals throughout the day, dammit.
