Victorians Victorians

Sing title of this entry to "Notorious" by Duran Duran

catchy right?

Our Victorians class was split up into two days which was fine with me because that meant we would be hanging out in Kensington and hopefully spotting celebrities or at least some pampered, posh dogs. The rich have the best pets.

We began investigating Victorians by looking at the strip of museums near South Kensington station. Peter explained during our walk to the V&A that the catalyst for the incredible growth from a population of 70 in Kensington to thousands was the Exhibition of 1861 in Hyde Park. There were nearly 14,000 exhibitors and over 6 million came to the event. All the proceeds from this grand spectacle went to build the now beloved museums such as the Victoria and Albert and Natural History Museum, which was the earliest. It was built in 1863 and was based on a 12th century Rhineland Cathedral. But what I found absolutely hilarious was that since it was constructed as a house of worship, a giant statue of Darwin stands where the pulpit should be! To the Victorians, Darwin was more important that God.

Praise be to Science

All these museums followed the Victorian principle: if there is free space decorate it. This trip also completed my life because we went to Royal Albert Hall where scenes from the infamous Spice World movie were shot! Obviously a group photo had to be taken, with peace signs proudly displayed. Unfortunately we were informed that peace signs can also be seen as flipping the bird in this country, so the photo is quite racy.

Girl Power!

We also saw the Albert memorial in Hyde Park, Queen Victoria was just obsessed with her dreamy husband and after he died she created this "art" in his memory. This monument basically summed up the Victorians. They were so proud and smug about their accomplishments and everything had to be ornate, opulent and overdone. If it looked expensive then it must be. Th statues around the monument bothered me. They were supposed to represent the 4 continents (morons) and they are so stereotypical/ignorant. The Americas statue has a bunch of buffalo and bare breasted women with feathers in their hair. Ya that totally summed up the continent.

Get over yourselves Victorians

I was pretty ruffled but nonetheless the rest of the day was fine, we walked through Kensington a bit more then ended class.

Thursday at 2:15 we met outside High Street Kensington and went to visit Linley Sambourne's house. Once a popular cartoonist for Punch, he and his wife Marion created a picturesque Victorian home that was well preserved by their children and into the present. I thought the house was cluttered but in a fascinating way. There was always something to examine or investigate, it was almost like a treasure hunt.

After our tour we went over by Holland Park and had a walk about the Leighton house, which was owned by Frederic, Lord Leighton a famous artists in the Victorian period. His residence was quite a contrast to the stuffy Sambourne home, quite simply it was stunning. It's unique architecture and interior design make it like nothing in all of London. It has an Arabic theme in most of the rooms, and water fountains and domed ceilings covered in tiles create a heavenly, exotic feel. It looked like it would be the most divine house to have a party in. What I loved most were the gorgeous ceramic tiles, by William De Morgan. I wish there was a way I could get such finery and such a home, I would throw some legendary soirées to liven up all those stuffy Victorians.

So blue!