Today we started at Kensington Crepes for an easy brunch before heading across the street to the Science Museum. The kids need a break from shopping and I want an excuse to check out the V&A museum which is located next door. The good news is that everything in South Kensington is walkable so it's easy to visit multiple museums in a single morning. Plus, admission it's a budget-friendly way to spend the day. (Note: Admission to museums is free but most of the bigger exhibits require an admission fee.)
Today the Science Museum is showcasing a Robot exhibit that is equal parts cool and creepy. The exhibit includes robots that talk and respond to stimulus, as well as a baby (shown above) that blinks, breathes, and has real hair. It will definitely make you do a double-take. The exhibit is thought-provoking to say the least. It's an exploration of the last 500 years of robots and features over 100 robots on display.
Next, we headed to the Victoria & Albert Museum to check out Undressed, A Brief History of Underwear. Yep, we totally went from robots to racy underwear. The exhibit explores the intimate relationship between underwear and fashion, and its role in molding the body into whatever the fashion ideal is at the time. Although the recent waist-training craze via the Kardashians has seemed to pass, corsets have played a major role for centuries as seen in the garments on display. The exhibit features corsets that were made for women to wear during pregnancy and even post-partum when women were nursing. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the corset was invented by a man. What's interesting is to peruse the collection of underwear on display and visually see how underwear and body ideals physically take shape in the form of undergarments. Today we view underwear as outerwear and design it to not only be functional but to be admired by others. (Note: This exhibit ends on Sunday, March 12th.)
The V&A has an amazing gift shop that's worth checking out when you visit. It's a great place to pick up souvenirs and fashion books. They also have a beautiful cafe and outdoor courtyard with a fountain that is fun for kids to splash around in during the summer months.
For lunch, we walked over to Honest Burger because my husband can only live so long without a good old American burger. We used to fawn over Byron Burger when visiting London, but I have to say, after this last trip, Honest Burgers is my new favorite. They use high-quality meat (35-day dry aged British chuck steak) and serve fries with rosemary seasoning salt. Even the kids liked it. I got my burger without a bun and they didn't even blink. Gotta love a place that embraces a low-carb lifestyle. I'm a fan.
After lunch we head back to the hotel to recoop and relax. The kids always enjoy a little break and
After a day at the museums, it's off to Sloane Square in Chelsea for date night. Jeff and I try to sneak away at least once or twice on the trip to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city sans kids. We book a nanny through a local agency and sneak out for a night on the town. Sloane Square is a great place to shop and dine. For my daughter's first birthday we took her to Richard Ward Salon in Sloane Square to get her ears pierced. I have happy memories here. For dinner, we decided to check out Polpo, which serves beautiful food and most importantly, Italian wine.
London is a beautiful city to explore and each neighborhood has its own charm. One mistake we made when we first visited was not taking the time to plot out the places we wanted to see so that we can group them by neighborhoods and make the most of our trip. Instead, we spent a lot of extra time and money zig-zagging all over the city. Don't do that. It's expensive and inefficient. By grouping the places you want to see by neighborhood you'll get to experience so much more.
// The It List //
- Shop -
The V&A gift shop
Zara
- Eat -
Kensington Crepes
Polpo
Honest Burger
- Visit -
Science Museum
Victoria & Albert Museum
Sloan Square
- Beauty -
Richard Ward Salon
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