The V&A Museum, the Royal Institute, and Soho

Two of  my classes on Thursday were cancelled due to a staff strike (score!) and I was done with class by 11 AM. Because I'm leaving London for a full 9 days starting Saturday, I decided to get into the city again and this time check out the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington.

I knew immediately I would like this museum when the entrance was adorned with this beautiful Chihuly glass sculpture.

I was drawn right over to their exhibit on fashion, titled Club to Catwalk. It featured London fashion from the early 1900's to the present day.

If I wasn't feeling already enough at home in this museum, I took a turn right into the Raphael room, and suddenly felt like I had been transported right back into the Vatican museums.

Up another set of stairs led to a hallway filled with beautiful wrought-iron gates.

The shapes were romantic and beautiful--it was one of my favorite parts of the museum!

I then moved on to the glass room, which featured (of course!) more Chihuly, among glass from all over the world.

I passed by this gorgeous hallway full of pristine statues.

Spot of tea, anyone?

The theater room showcased costumes worn on stage by famous actors and musicians, including this jumpsuit worn by Mick Jagger (I of course had to upload this picture for you, mom!).

I then wandered into the jewelry room, where I was able to snap a few photos before being informed that photos actually weren't allowed in this room (oops)...

Stunning!

I almost took a turn to leave the museum soon after that, but then this statue caught my eye.

I saw it from afar and had to see if my judgement was correct. I guess I'm pretty good at spotting Bernini statues, as his are my absolute favorites!

After admiring him for a bit, I took a walk down the road to meet Ananya at the Royal Institute for some scientific fun (being the two science nerds in the group, after all).

(Of course only after stopping to snap a picture here and there...)

The Royal Institute is home to the research labs of Michael Faraday, Humphrey Davy, and many more outstanding scientists. It's a small museum now and is full of interactive games and exhibits on the research that was performed there.

How many people can say Michael Faraday called them a loser?

After getting our fill of nerdy fun, we walked around the Piccadilly area before getting distracted by a beautiful Caffe Concerto. We spontaneously decided to stop for tea and bruschetta.

We spent the remainder of the evening walking around Piccadilly and Soho, poking our heads into bookstores and sweets shops.

Don't worry, we didn't forget that it was Halloween (sort of). All of our costumes were extremely last minute, but I gotta say they turned out pretty well all things considered!

We went out to Ministry of Sound, a famous nightclub in London complete with several rooms of ghoulish fun.

We escaped the zombies and bloodied partyers all around us and a few hours, a bus, and a taxi ride later, we were home safe in our warm beds.