Toy Museum

After a lazy morning yesterday, we headed out to find London's toy museum per Claire's request, as it's her last free day before returning to a school schedule.

What a lovely sunny (but chilly) day, too! We navigated the tube without a hitch; kids like to ride it, Ava beelines it to any open seat, settling in with her black, sparkled boots, pink leggings, pink dress, purple coat. Colorful in a sea of dark colors.

It's fun to see a wide array of hairstyles again; India's women virtually all have long hair. It's also fun to see a wide array of clothing styles. At McDonald's on Thursday I noticed how beautifully dressed in an eclectic way some lovely women near us were...then I glanced out the window to find the London School of Fashion across the street. Maybe I'll enroll and get a new wardrobe. (Testing to see if my husband is reading this.)

Back to toys...we were at a loss to find the little street upon which the toy museum rests and asked someone on the street. They were from France but pulled out a map and oriented us and voila, a few minutes later we were wandering through a narrow old house with five floors of old toys, some dating back to the 1800's. Coolest, in our opinion, were the doll houses, many of them furnished down to the tiniest ladles and irons.

Some of the toys had black and white photos of little boys and girls who'd owned them, others had tags telling about the kids who made them or knitted doll dresses, etc. What a wonderful way to share information from the past.

Naturally we hit the toy shop, Ava's sole motivation for climbing all those stairs. We came home with marbles and a toy farm set.

On the way home we stopped for pizza making items and a bottle of wine...have discovered olives wrapped in anchovies. I'm in heaven. And a great cheese selection. (India doesn't do cheese the way Europeans do.)