Where is this smoke they talk about?

The weather was glorious! After I'd dropped Ben off where he needed to be, I had the best part of a day to play with. What did I do? I headed straight to my favourite museum of course, The Victoria and Albert. I have so many memories of visiting when I was younger with my parents, I've been countless times. And yet every visit, I find something new to love. 

This time, I found a wooden front of a house, relocated since I last visited. And with it, an enormous set of wooden steps from a different house, removed from their original home because of damage and replaced in the museum so they can be kept safe and their craftsmanship admired for generations to come. Astounding.

I found a room dedicated to the designer Alec Cobbe, who has produced hundreds of invitations, menus and programmes for everything you can imagine - museum openings, music evenings and even Prince Williams 21st Birthday! His work is stunning, the hours he must spend on every piece are unimaginable. The display is temporary, but is there until April and is well worth a visit.

After a couple of hours I stopped for a drink in the cafe, and taking advantage of the glorious sunshine sat bundled in my coat in the courtyard. There's an installation around the little water feature at the moment, and I have to be honest I didn't really like it or understand it. However, according to my Mum, who was there a few weeks ago, it really comes to life in the dark, so maybe it's worth a late afternoon visit.
 

After my break I went on a hunt for my favourite part of the museum - the theatre section. On the way I stumbled across photography, and particularly liked this early photo of a scientist in a lab. Note the fez. I may start wearing a fez in the lab, see how it goes down...

The theatre section is gearing up for a new exhibition on Shakespeare, so it was a bit noisy with workmen, but I still enjoyed my wander. Having seen War Horse a few weeks ago it was lovely to admire the model of Joey so closely. I also popped into the jewellery section, which is ultra modern, all glass and spotlights. I snapped a picture of this glittering tiara before I noticed the no photography signs, and rapidly stuffed my camera back into my handbag,

Once I was museumed out I wandered down to Harrods to buy Ben something to cheer him up after his long day. You'll have to wait and see what I picked up, but rest assured there is a fun, if slightly silly post coming your way in the near future. Soon enough it was time to meet Ben for dinner. The glorious weather persuaded me to walk, so I had a good wander, taking in the sights and the hustle and bustle of a big city. It was nice to see Chinatown gearing up for Chinese New Year, and the smells wafting from restaurants were almost enough for me to call Ben and make him meet me there instead. Almost, but not quite enough.

Before my visit, I sent out a few pleas to various Londoners to help me out with somewhere to eat. A particular thank you goes to Miho and Caroline for their incredibly helpful lists of ideas. It was a tough choice, and there was a lot of uhming and ahing about what sort of food we fancied. Eventually, the answer was simple. Meat. So we headed to Bodean's in Soho, and didn't regret it one bit. Ben had half a BBQ chicken, which he completely demolished, and I had a half rack of the babyback ribs with sweet potato fries. The ribs were amazing, falling off the bone in the most delicious, sweet sauce. The sweet potato fires were something else, super crispy on the outside but soft and buttery inside. My one gripe with this place was the cocktail I had - a bramble. It was sickly sweet, and didn't have the tangy kick I expected. Overall though, fantastic. Huge portions, great value for money. I've since read that some of their cocktails are fantastic, so maybe I just picked a dud.

We ended our evening at the Aldwych Theatre to see the new Andre Lloyd Webber musical, Stephen Ward. I have to say, we thoroughly enjoyed it, and it got better the further through the show you got. Based on a true story of a London physicians involvement with the Profumo Affair, it has some really catchy songs and the cast is very strong. That being said, it is only based on a true story. Lloyd Webber is clear in his opinion that he thinks Stephen Ward as wrongly convicted, a scapegoat, and the show supports that in the way it tells the story. I don't think this takes away from the show though, it's interesting to see it from this viewpoint. We'll have to wait until 2046 when the papers from the case are released to know the real truth. But in the mean time, go and see the show, and quickly! There were only eight or so rows full the night we went, I don't know if this is regular or just a one off. If it is regular, I'd go soon, it won't be around for long! We bought tickets in the circle but were moved to the stalls for free because it was so empty. A great deal!