It snowed when we left Edinburgh, creating landscapes where the sheep only stood out in the snow by being a slightly different shade of white.

Back in London, we visited the Borough Market for fish and chips, goat milk ice cream (cherry, almond, and pistachio flavored), and doughnuts.

The afternoon was spent at the V&A museum where we went through a very-well done exhibit on the history of Opera and another on Balenciaga. The video clip they showed of Strauss’ “Salome” was particularly striking.

Sunday, New Year’s Eve, Amy and I set out to find Persephone’s Books, a store that publishes out of print books by female authors. Alas, it was closed!

We walked about instead, coming across a park well-associated with the Bloomsbury group:

The park is next to a children’s hospital. This glove, which is stone, honors the tokens mothers left at the fence for their children who were kept inside.

We walked to St. Pancras’ Station to check out the architecture, then along Regents Canal towards our lunch destination, Dishoom (which was quite tasty! Definitely a place to return to).

Just before we met up with the guys, Amy and I came across the House of Illustration, a gallery founded by Quentin Blake (the illustrator for Ronald Dahl). We only had time for a turn through the gift shop, but it was a fruitful stop. 🙂

Back to the flat for naps and preparations for the evening’s festivities. London sets up ticketed areas for the best fireworks views, so we bundled up and made our way towards the Strand.

Essentially, it was a lot of crowds, lines, and standing around. We had to be through the ‘gates’ by 10:30, but there wasn’t much to do on the other side besides wait. I spent some of the time on the ground in a sea of legs thanks to Amy loaning me the wee camping blanket I gave her for Christmas.

The fireworks were cool – it was an impressive show, but I’m not sure it’s worth the hassle of dealing with the hoards.