Earlier this year the David Bowie estate donated their collection of photos, videos, clothing and memorabilia that belonged to the iconic singer to the V&A. The Storehouse set aside a room to house and exhibit the collection for all David Bowie fans to enjoy.
There are dozens of costume bags that store David’s outfits that he wore in his shows and music videos. You can even request to see some his outfits in the Study Hall. While we were there an outfit was being laid out on the table next to ours.
One of the unique features at the V&A Storehouse is the private showing of items that members of the public can request to see up close. You simply go into the on-line catalogue of items stored in The Storehouse and choose up to five items that you would like to see. There is about a two week wait so you have to book in advance.
Brendan curated our pieces for us based on our interests and family history. Last Friday we arrived at the Study Room, washed our hands, donned purple gloves and read the rules for handling our chosen items.
Kevin’s items came up first. The first item was a silk screened poster from 60s of the band Buffalo Springfield, the second a 1970s Canadian made telephone, the third a pair of trainers made on the 70s for Marks and Spencer’s, the fourth a 400 year old celestial globe made in Iran and the final item was an Irish bracelet made in the 1800s from horsehair.
My items included a theatre poster from a child’s puppet show held in the town of Magdeburg, where my mother came from, a bohemian glass vessel made in Schlesinger where my father was born, a pewter coffee pot made in Frankfurt, Germany where I was born, an 800 year old beaded banner made in Germany and one of the first pieces ever housed by the V&A over 150 years ago. My final piece was a large roll of screened fabric for household items made in Germany in the year I was born, 1952.
If you are planning a trip to the Storehouse I would highly recommend that you do some research in advance and book one of these free showings.
After walking around Trafalgar Square and enjoying the art in the National Gallery, Kevin and I headed to the Steak and Co. for dinner. We chose this restaurant because it was down the street from the Harold Pinter Theatre. It also had a good rating.
It was a nice meal even if I did have to send my steak back twice. Kevin and I both ordered medium rare steaks and his was perfect but mine was blue and difficult to cut. The chef cooked me a new steak but it was also blue. After sending it back for more grilling the third try proved to be the charm. The staff were quite embarrassed and they kindly discounted our final bill. The appetizers and the dessert were outstanding and the service was exceptional.
After dinner we took the short walk to the theatre. The Harold Pinter Theatre is an ornate 19th century theatre with three tiers of balconies. It opened in 1881 as the Royal Comedy Theatre.
The play we watched was The Weir, starring Brendan Gleason. Kevin summed up the story line as a crash course on rural Irish culture. It took me a few minutes to get used to the Irish dialects. Here is a summary of the plot.https://www.haroldpintertheatre.co.uk/shows/the-weir
We caught a glimpse of the set before the play started
On Friday we headed down to the Theatre District. We were gifted tickets to see a show at the Harold Pinter Theatre. We had a few hours before the show started so we walked towards Trafalgar Square.
Canada House sits next to the Square so we decided to step inside to take in the Hannah Claus exhibit. She is an indigenous artist from the Montreal area.
When entering Canada House, security is high and it’s like going through the airport without having to show a passport.
We also explored the National Gallery which is directly across the street from Canada House. We were interested in seeing the featured show but at £27 each we decided to stick to the galleries that were free. We headed straight to the Impressionists Rooms. I was not disappointed. Many of my favourite artists, including Van Gogh, Monet, Degas and Rousseau had work hung in these rooms.
Today we decided to explore Hampstead. It is an affluent neighbourhood in the north of London. It’s a beautiful leafy green village with wonderful cafes, pubs, bakeries, book stores, antique and floral shops and high end clothing stores.
We had a perfect lunch in The Flask….cauliflower soup with truffle oil, baked Camembert with chutney and pickled fennel on sourdough bread.
Getting ready for a vacation overseas is always a lot of work, especially when you try to get the house at home clean for overnight guests. On Tuesday, I spent the day cleaning the kitchen, changing all the bed sheets, doing four loads of laundry, cleaning out the fridge, delivering food that won’t keep to the neighbours and of course packing.
Finally at 8:00 pm the Uber arrived to take us to the airport and at the same time Gaelan and her family pulled up to stay overnight. We said a quick hello and goodbye and then headed to Pearson. Once at the airport we checked our bags and went through security and then had to wait over two hours to board the plane.
The flight was a bit turbulent and I found it next to impossible to sleep. We landed at 11:30 am UK time and then had a very long walk through Heathrow to get to customs and our luggage. The pick up for our London Uber was very easy to find and our car arrived within five minutes.
When we finally arrived at our son’s flat it was 2:30 and we were exhausted. Jet lag is always the worst on the first day but it is worth it when I can have dinner with this little girl.
Mama Cormier 