First on the agenda for Monday was the Victoria and Albert Museum, the museum for the decorative arts. It is also the museum that covers British style, taste, and design from 1500 to 1900. True to form, we spent more time there than we had allotted, forcing us to rush through everything else. But it is another great museum. Computer touch screens at various points along the way allow you to watch a video on how things were made (an enamel box or a gilded and painted statue, for example), or to find out more about an object (e.g., William Burges's washstand). There are also areas where you can touch things and even try on things (e.g, a crinoline and a corset, or a kimono)--Katie was a willing participant. There were also cabinets upon cabinets with drawers that you could slide open to reveal various fabrics under glass.

Rick Steves's book summarizes the spirit of the museum's collection thus--"beautiful manufactured objects that demonstrate technical skill and innovation, wedding the old with the new, and blurring the line between arts and crafts."

I especially enjoyed the glass gallery rooms, and I now have a new favourite glass sculptor, Danny Lane, whose balustrade of stacked glass is very cool. The architecture section was also very interesting. Also on our self-guided tour, we saw the Dale Chihuly Chandelier, the Hereford Screen, the Michaelangelo Casts, Trajan's Column Casts, the 11th century Buddha Offering Reassurance, the Dress Gallery, Musical Instruments (also with movable cases that slide out to reveal a wide range of instruments), a nice Frank Dobson sculpture (The Man Child), and a quick peek into the gallery with Raphael's Tapestry Cartoons for the Sistine Chapel. The Morris, Gamble, and Poynter rooms of the cafe were works of art in and of themselves. The V&A, with almost 150 galleries, definitely warrants a return visit.

We then went across to the Natural History Museum for a quick tour of their dinosaur galleries and to enjoy the beautiful Central Hall.

And finally, we went back to the Tate Modern to take in more of their second floor, especially the Surrealists. I became fascinated by one American photographer, Francesca Woodman, who had died in 1981 at the age of 22. So young, yet there was a small gallery dedicated to twenty or so of her photographs, as well as a small room showing some of her videos. I was curious about her and "googled" her when I got home. Sadly she took her own life by jumping out a loft window in Manhattan.

We were exhausted yet again and I was too tired to think about cooking, so we had a nice meal at a little Italian restaurant across the street from our flat. It was pretty good (and so was the wine). At home we watched a disturbing television documentary, Interview with a Cannibal.

Now it's Tuesday, and Katie and Brad have left for Heathrow Airport. I'm home washing linens and towels because tonight my brother Rick arrives. I wish the washers and dryers were more efficient here. It takes forever!

Happy birthday to two special young women who will be 21 tomorrow! We love you.