Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall

Thursday
This morning we went to the special exhibition "Constable: Making of a Master", about the English landscape painter John Constable, at the Victoria and Albert museum. Our hotel was on the northern edge of Hyde Park and the morning was dry, so we walked there, through the park, which took us past the Albert memorial and the Royal Albert Hall. I love Constable's paintings and it was great to see several of his famous works, and see the process he used and the different oil sketches he made before the final result. After a latish lunch, we spent window shopping in Regent Street, Oxford Street and Carnaby Street. One of the stores we passed was Selfridges, and they had just unveiled their Christmas windows. They were fun to see, but I still think October is too soon to begin Christmas! We had a wonderful evening, seeing War Horse at the New London Theatre. I had heard great things about the production from several people, but I think it still surpassed my expectations - it was amazing and so moving. The puppets and their operators were just amazing - their movements were amazingly realistic. Certainly a birthday to remember!