I'm back home and have lots to tell. I was fun and exhausting at the same time, but oh so worth all the aching feet!
The flight was uneventful and the journey in London Underground was as well. The Tube was an experience, though — tight, dirty and incredibly noisy. I was also appalled by the lack of escalators or lifts because hoisting the 22 kilo suitcase up and down the stairs was not what I'd expected to do on my first day (or on any subsequent day) of vacation. Later I learned that Picadilly line is one of the old ones, the new lines have wider cars and lifts are more frequent, but still... that sucker was heavy!
Before taking a train to the event site with my gracious hosts on Friday I took a walk in London and visited the Museum of London. I bought a new book about textiles in archaeology and took pictures of (mostly) textiles in the museum. Spindle shafts, whorls, a knit cap and a foot of a stocking among others. (I haven't had time to upload pics from my camera so this post will remain picture less for now.)
Updated to add some photos I took in the Museum of London.
Thimbles and sewing needles. I want a thimble like that, I wonder if some of my metalworking friends could help me make one.
German scissors from 1500's. Love, pure love. These took my breath away, they are that beautiful. Seriously! Look at that detail:
I really, really hope that the photos of the foot of the stocking came out well! Even if they did I am tempted to contact the textile curator and ask permission to examine the piece to write a pattern from it.
There was a knit cap beside it, but there are better quality photos online so I didn't devote many pixels to it. I've heard they have a whole drawer of flat caps. I could spend days there counting stitches and documenting the techniques used! Will someone please give me a grant to go study 16th century knit headgear in UK? Pretty please? All joking aside, I am seriously considering asking permission to study those caps and spend some weeks of my vacation in the museum.
The event itself was not as big as I'd thought it would be, but my disappointment stemmed mainly from the fact that some of my friends from Ireland were not able to come. I'd very much hoped to see them again. The coronation itself was beautiful and the rest of the activities were interesting.
I got to hang out with friends from Finland I hadn't seen for a very long time and that was good. I've missed events in Aarnimetsä and now that I'm back in Scandinavia I'll make sure to go to at least one local (not Kingdom level) event at least once a year in Aarnimetsä.
On Sunday I took a train up to Edinburgh with my hostess and thus ends the first part of my vacation.
To be continued...