Victoria and Albert Museum

View from the John Madejski Garden

A few weeks ago, a friend and I went into London to have a nose around the Victoria & Albert Museum. Entry is free, and it's really easy to get to because it has its own exit from one of the tube stations!

There's so much to see that it would be impossible to sum it all up in one post (or even to properly take it all in during one visit!) but here are a few highlights...

British Museum

Yesterday I trawled up to London to go to the British Museum with Ann, my awesome manager (and history buff). I'd been thinking of going to the museum but wasn't keen on going there alone, so was grateful when Ann jumped in and offered to come along--thank you!

We looked mostly at Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts, though briefly breezed through Assyria too!

Of course, it's impossible to go to the British Museum without seeing the Rosetta Stone (if you can see past the crowds around it). This was brought to the museum in 1802 and became key to deciphering hieroglyphs!

Another piece that is impossible to miss is this fragment of a statue of Ramesses II, which came from his Ramesseum (mortuary temple). It really dominates the room--you can't not see it if you're walking through.

I took around 270 photos altogether, so whittling it down to a few for this blog post was difficult. Even then, this has ended up a bit image-heavy, so here's a handy dandy read more...

Weald & Downland Living Museum

In my June Roundup, I promised a post about my trip to the Weald and Downland Living Museum, and here it is!

This post will mostly be photos; I worked hard to whittle it down to just 10 from the 200 I took!

Dad and I went to the museum on Father's Day, as they were hosting a wood fair. The day was utterly roasting hot, which made it a glorious day for taking photos, but not so much for being outside...
...which meant the coolness of inside these historical buildings was very pleasant!

To call this place a 'museum' is actually a bit of an understatement. This 40 acre site is home to more than 50 historical buildings that have been painstakingly taken apart and rebuilt at the museum. Altogether the buildings showcase a 950 year history of rural life in Britain. They also have a pretty nifty, brand spanking new visitor centre, including a shop and cafe, which I believe opened this year!

Bigger on the Inside: Horsham Museum

Today I ended up at Horsham Museum and Art Gallery, which I'd stumbled upon one Sunday (when it was closed).
From the outside it looks pretty small, but once you get past the door, there is a lot to be seen, with many different permanent collections alongside their temporary exhibitions.

Compared to other local museums I've been to, this one turned out to be up there among the best!

The museum is a real aladdin's cave of rooms, each dedicated to one or two of the collections on display, with a couple of gallery rooms (which currently have temporary exhibitions by current artists).

The Big Village Sing & Hurst Museum

As I mentioned last weekend, I would be attending several events from the Hurst Festival programme over the two week duration of the festival.

For today, I had a ticket for 'The Big Village Sing', so off I went into Hurst (along with Mum, who decided at the last minute that she wanted to go too--cue printing off a ticket at around 1am!)

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery: Part 2

I covered the first part of my trip to Brighton Museum & Art Gallery in my previous post.
This post covers some of the upstairs portion of the museum & gallery (which also houses a cafe!)

As I ended the last post with sandals from Ancient Egypt, I'll begin this post with Brighton Museum & Art Gallery's fashion section! It includes fashion through the ages, along with alternative fashion and - as above - international dress. I love the rich colours in the clothes shown above.

Such colours are quite a contrast to this skimpy, black and nude number! (And this is quite a contrast to the stiff-looking Victorian mourning garb found elsewhere in the fashion exhibition!). I like that, within a small collection, visitors can see how fashion has progressed through the eras, but also appreciate the dress of other countries. There is also a collection of outfits that cover alternative fashions. 80's goth, 00's goth, punk and skinhead stands alongside hippie, traveller and teddy boy!

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery: Part 1

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, with token gull

Yesterday, I met up in Brighton with a school friend, V, and we had a nose around the museum and art gallery!
Asides from injecting a little culture into life, this is also another step towards a goal from The List:

010. Visit 30 museums/art galleries/exhibitions

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery is at 19th century building tucked away in a corner of the Royal Pavillion Gardens, originally part of George IV's stable complex!

Bit opulent for horses, isn't it?!

I like visiting this place, although it's been quite a while since I last went in.
Exhibits include:

• Pottery
• Local History
• Natural History
• Fashion
• World Art
• Fine Art
• Loads more!

I took a load of photos, so am splitting this into two posts: Upstairs and Downstairs!
This post covers some of what can be found downstairs...

Of course, I have to start with the lips sofa...