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Published: February 10th 2006
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At the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Lots of stuff that needs to be unpacked and put on display. Visit to Pax Lodge
Victoria and Albert
That’s a Museum!
Well, today is my very last full day in London. Richard has to work this afternoon so as per usual I woke up mid-morning, around 9AM and then headed off on my own. I was gonna have my usual toast for breakfast but with the damp weather the bread had gone all mouldy. So instead I stopped off at Tesco’s on the way to Earl’s Court Station and picked up something to eat and of course a few snacks as well! How can one say no to four triple chocolate cookies for only £1! Well, let me tell you, I couldn’t say no! lol
Then I continued to the Earl’s Court Tube station and made my way north to Pax Lodge which is a short walk from the Belsize Park stop on the Northern Line. It was super easy to find Pax Lodge. It was pretty quiet there save for a few volunteers and a few people checking in. Ruth, a volunteer from Ireland took me around on my tour of Pax Lodge. Puri from India came along on the tour as well. She’s just arrived from Sangam and is “learning the ropes.” She also knows Rachel who is the Deputy World Manager at Sangam. She told me that Rachel will be leaving Sangam soon to pursue an MBA! Wow, I should really drop her a line. I also found out that all of the renovations at Sangam are now complete. Geesh, it seems so long ago that I was in Pune…over 4 months now!
Anyhoo, the tour around Pax Lodge was nice. It’s actually the third location for the Guide House. First was Ark House in the Buckingham Palace area. Then they outgrew that location and moved to the Earl’s Court area and they’ve been in their current location since about 1991 if I remember correctly. It’s right beside the World Bureau which is represented by all five regions of WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.) Each of the dorm rooms (I think there are a total of 58 beds) is sponsored by a country or region of the World and it is indicated on the door to that room. Then each room is decorated with souvenirs and gifts received from that country/region of the World. So as you can imagine, some rooms are more highly decorated than others. In the common rooms many, many gifts that have been received over the years are on display. It’s really interesting to check out the gifts. One of my favourites was the wooden box that is actually a foot warmer! It was received from a group from Norway. Proud to report that Canada seems very well represented at Pax Lodge from gifts given to volunteers (I think three) to staff (five). The large conference room is co-sponsored with the USA. So half of the room is Canada, the other half the USA. No trip to Pax Lodge would be complete unlike you stopped off for some souvenirs at the shop. I picked up a couple of badges and a pin as well.
By the time I was finished at Pax Lodge it was past NOON. Well, what good timing I was only two stop from Camden which meant I could stop by for some last minute souvenirs and pick up some good food for cheap! It wasn’t too busy at the markets, which is a good thing! The choice of what to have for lunch was tough. Italian? Thai? Chinese? Indian? It all looks so good! I ended up getting Indian since their selection of food looked the best. Can’t beat a £2.50 plate of chicken curry!
I wandered the stalls and shops for a bit but didn’t pick up too much. Perhaps a few postcards and a Great Britain badge for my camp blanket. Boy do I have a lot of sewing ahead of me! lol I was tempted several times to purchase stuff - bag, jewelry, shoes! But I was good and didn’t buy any of those sorts of things. I think because in the back of my mind I was thinking about how heavy my pack weighs already and having to lug my pack to the airport…ugh!
I eventually had enough with the browsing and hopped back onto the tube to the Knightsbridge stop. Yup, gotta check out overpriced Harrod’s! I can’t believe how expensive stuff is there or rather how much overpriced stuff they sell! Lol I picked up a couple of things as gifts for people I’ll be staying with but other than that all I did was a bit of browsing. The food hall was mouthwatering to look at but that’s all I did…drool. Couldn’t justify spending so much money on a piece of chocolate that will be devoured in less than 10 seconds!
After Harrod’s I did some more shopping and window shopping as I worked my way to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I was disappointed when I got to Marks & Spencer’s and they only had ready salted sticks and squares. Apparently the consumers in this area also like ready salted potato rings. Lol
The Victoria and Albert Museum is full of stuff and the way the museum is laid out it is a little confusing. So after a while I stopped consulting the map and just looked at whatever I “ran into.” The glass exhibit was quite interesting. I guess since seeing that documentary and then the exhibit in Atlanta on Dale Chihuly I’ve become a bit of a fan! There’s a huge Chihuly chandelier in the foyer of the museum in yellow and blue. I’d be afraid to work underneath there since it looks like tons of glass! The architecture section was quite interesting as well. Looking at the little models of buildings I’ve seen around the World was cool to look at. And the section son Ancient China, Japan and Korea were interesting. The sections such as ironworks and such were not so impressive to me.
After the V&A Museum I did some more walking and headed towards High Street Kensington which would eventually lead me “home.” Of course I had to check out H&M’s sales racks to see if I could score any more deals. And you know what? I did! I found an awesome black dress for only £7.50 that will be perfect for my upcoming cruise! Score! Then I came across another big Marks & Spencers and headed to the food hall in my quest for Marks & Spencers ready salted potato rings. Score! I wish I had more room in my carry on to buy more but only got six bags plus one bag that was beef and onion flavour. I had to say no to all the other snacks cuz there would be no way of me carrying it all to the airport. It’s times like this that I wish I had wheels on my backpack. Yup, I have wheel envy. Lol Mind you there’d be the problem of overweight luggage if that were the case. Lol
It was my last night in London so I suggested to Rich we go out for dinner…my treat. The least I could do since I’ve stayed at his place for about a total of a week in London. We went to the Tortoise & Hare which is just across the street from Rich’s place. They serve up yummy Asian dishes at pretty reasonable prices. What more could a person ask for? As we walked over to the restaurant I had to mention to Rich that I spotted a hugeass rat on that side of the road about a block away from where we were standing earlier on in the afternoon so don’t be alarmed if I let out a huge scream if I saw another hugeass rat. I really dislike rodents!
I did the final packing of my bags and a final check of my email before going to bed. One more sleep and I’ll be in NYC. I can’t believe I’ll be back in North America tomorrow! After seeing the price of things in the British £ and the Euro, I’m guessing things in the US are gonna appear to be cheap to me. Lol Hopefully I don’t go overboard with spending. 😊
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