July outing for Laura

Laura likes her travel bag made by Lorraine, it means she can come on outings with us.  Yesterday we went to London for the afternoon and evening.  We made a short visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington which we have visited once before (but without Laura that time).  It is a vast place and despite the map it is still easy to get lost or distracted along the way to a particular gallery as every gallery contains so many interesting artefacts.  We were trying the find the Theatre and Performance gallery but somehow got side tracked by the Architecture gallery where Laura encountered some model houses.

Laura admires the model of a traditional Japanese House and wonders if Miss Happiness and Miss Flower live here

The model Japanese house at the V&A museum

Laura is impressed with the model of a suburban house

the information about the model Suburban House at the V&A museum

We found the Theatre and Performance gallery and Laura was delighted to meet Joey the horse from War Horse as we entered the gallery.

Laura says 'hello' to Joey, the War Horse

The information about Joey at the V&A museum

In the same gallery were 16 of the poppies from the amazing display which 'grew' around the Tower of London last year.  It was interesting that these were featured in the Theatre and Performance gallery - they were part of an art installation which triggered an immense and moving public reaction because of its scale and dramatic message.

Laura and my younger daughter look at the poppies up close

Some of the artwork for the poppies art installation at the Tower of London

Laura is interested in the orchestra in the wonderfully detailed model of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

the information about the Theatre Royal Drury Lane model at the V&A museum

The side view of the model of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, showing how scene changing is done

We had a meal in Giraffe again, so added some plastic giraffe's to Laura's collection.  Then it was off to The Royal Albert Hall for the first ever prom of the whole musical 'Fiddler on the Roof', performed by Grange Park Opera with Bryn Terfel in the lead role.

Laura at the Proms again with my younger daughter

View of the stage during interval, it was a shame this prom wasn't filmed as the production was outstanding

During the interval while the girls went to get ice cream (expensive but it was a family outing) a voice behind me said "is that a Sasha doll?" I turned around and had an interesting conversation with a woman who admired Laura.  She recognised the Sasha face but was puzzled by Laura's legs as she remembered her daughter's Sasha having 'soft' (she actually meant curved) legs.  I didn't immediately realise that she was talking about a baby girl Sasha (an early 70s Trendon girl) until her daughter returned (I momentarily thought she was talking about a studio doll).  It was clear that that the baby had been cherished for years, she had kept her name of Sasha, though was no longer with her owner.  They did not know that Sasha dolls are not made any more and had come across the Gotz name in Harrods and Hamleys when looking at dolls for grandchildren (they liked the modern Gotz faces they'd seen).  I told them a bit about Sasha collectors and assured them that our little collection is small compared to some.  They were fascinated that Laura comes on outings and that Sasha collectors get together for social and creative gatherings.

It was a very good outing, Fiddler on the Roof was done wonderfully well at the Proms and the hall was packed.  The girls want to return again and again to the V&A as there is so much to see in that wonderful museum.