The sign said this is a portable harpsichord. My husband narrowed his eyes.

“Portable has a different meaning when you have 250 servants,” he observed.  True, dat.

As if we need a reminder that war is absolutely stupid and never solved anything.  Just saying.

M. reminded me that cherubs sometimes mysteriously ended up having the mug of the Duke who funded the sculpture. Or one of his homely sons. This is just NOT a cute winged boy. Here’s the label that went with it:

Leonardo DaVinci had some tiny notebooks. This is one.  I swear it’s displayed upside down.

I was tempted to turn the photo, but I want you to see it. Don’t you think it’s upside down? I mean, seriously, are curators paying any attention? Anyway, below’s the note on it:

I love DellaRobbia.  “Wow,” I said to husband.  “It’s not even in a case. It’s touchable.” I reached out to touch it.”Yeah,” he said. “Except for the sign that says DON’T TOUCH.”

This Chihuly needs dusting. I am not kidding. I’ve seen others this big and this high that look way cleaner than this did.

Who doesn’t like a beautiful Madonna? The baby, well, a face for radio.

Or two Madonnas. This baby looks more like a baby and not someone’s brother-in-law.

I’m sorry. The first thing that ran through my head was the Herman’s Hermits song, “I’m Enn–ery the 8th, I am, Ennery the 8th I yam I yam…”  The second was how many of his wives died untimely deaths. And the third was “Why is the king shooting a bird?” And I don’t mean with a gun.

Oh, the sculpture!

As I admired the male figures, M. commented, “Well, of course, they’re ideals!”

Then again, sometimes, not so much.

Here is the actual, official image of Queen Elizabeth I. Wow.

I adore writing boxes.

“You have your own,” M. observed. “It’s called a laptop.”

Umm. Yeah. Not the same.

Here’s a fun thing we found at the V&A.  It’s a “write your own” exercise.  Read on:

Here’s the image we were asked to write about:

Here’s what one kid wrote:

This was the point at which I became seriously insecure as a writer.