Hello Again Isle of Wight! Lunch with Friends and Visit to Osborne House, Victoria & Albert's Sumptuous Seaside Hideout!
Isle of Wight
Monday, May 16, 2022
Today was an extraordinary day! A major item on my Bucket List was ticked off today! So here's how it all happened!
A few years ago, through Twitter, I connected with the daughter of Kamala Markandaya, the Indo-British novelist on whom I had done my doctoral dissertation, several decades ago. When Covid restrictions were removed and I found out I was traveling again to Britain, I informed her and she graciously volunteered to host lunch for me and Llew at her home on the Isle of Wight. Now, I had visited this lovely island for the first and last time over 35 years ago and since that time, I had discovered so much more about Queen Victoria, who became my favorite monarch of all time. After reading Antonia Fraser's biography of Victoria, my estimation of her had soared and knowing what a huge part her seaside retreat on the Isle of Wight played in her life, I became quite determined to visit it. However, getting to the Isle of Wight from London is a huge production--it is tedious, lengthy and expensive. And so, somehow, I never returned. This invitation to lunch provided the perfect opportunity to return--I would meet Kamala's daughter and walk in the footsteps of an empress.
Journey to the Isle of Wight:
Llew and I awoke in Paddington at 6.00 am to shower and leave at 6.45 for our 8.07 train to Southampton from Waterloo. We picked up breakfast pastries (almond croissants, chocolate-hazelnuts croissants) and hazelnut yogurt at Sainsbury and decaff coffee from Delice de France. Equipped with breakfast, we boarded our express train for the hour-long journey south. Once there, we needed to take a taxi to the ferry terminal (a good ten-minute drive or half an hour on foot, cost about 7 pounds). The Red Jet Fast Ferry was just about to leave when we bought our tickets (13 pounds each, return) and boarded it. The day was wet again and drizzly but the sea was still calm. We were amazed at how quickly we arrived at West Cowes, the little town on the Isle of Wight where a famous regatta is held each year, Folks say it sports a 1950's ambience throughout and has not changed in all that time. But I soon found out that the same could be said of any seaside resort in the UK--Weymouth in Dorset, for instance. They wear the same, slightly faded, Victorian air about them. At the ferry terminal, Kim was waiting for us in her car. She turned out to be the warmest, most delightful person and we immediately clicked. A short ride past quiet streets lined with neat houses brought us to her own home where we had the pleasure of meeting her husband, Mark.
A Wonderful Afternoon in Jolly, Nostalgic Company:
I had brought Kim a gift from India and together, Llew and I had picked up a bottle of red wine for them. As soon as we arrived at their place, Mark asked us what we would like to drink--I opted for something soft and was given a pear, apple and rhubarb drink. Llew asked for red wine and Mark opened the bottle we had brought as he had intended to serve us a white wine of which Llew is not a fan. Nibbles in the form of olives were provided as, drinks in hand, we climbed a few stairs up to their living room that overlooked the sea. During our chat, I was charmed to see ferries make their way across the Solent from their window.
It is still amazing to me how thoroughly and thoughtfully Kim prepared for our visit. Laid out on the coffee table in front of us were the two new reprinted novels, two publicity leaflets in French for a new translation of The Coffer Dams and my own book, a critical analysis of Kamala Markandaya's ten novels that was published in 2000. In fact, this was a copy that I had mailed to Kamala together with a hand-written letter to thank her for assisting me in my research! I was enchanted and very honored that among her late mother's belongings, Kim had retained these items. Taking pride of place on the table was also a family album containing pictures that went back to Kim's grandparents on her mother's side. We had an opportunity to peruse the album together, comment on the interesting life she had led, talk about her relationship with her English in-laws, etc. I told Kim some of the aspects of her life that Kamala had shared with me during our time together and she filled in some gaps and helped me understand some aspects a little better. Kim is just lovely and Mark added in snippets of his memories of her as a mother-in-law too--all good ones, of course! The time flew by as we took pictures and chuckled and I shared with Kim the reason why I had the distinctive privilege of working with her mother who gave me unstintingly of her time. It was such an unusual time we spent together that I savored every second of it! I mean, just think...how many junior scholars from India have the opportunity to conduct research at Oxford on a British Council Grant? How many have the chance to meet and work with the author on whom their dissertation is based? And how many, decades later, are brought together with the author's daughter in such congenial circumstances? Indeed, I am repeatedly blessed as a scholar and I cannot thank God enough for these rare opportunities that he has provided me through the many productive years of my academic career. These are indeed its high points and I have to sometimes pinch myself that they have actually happened.
Lunch followed with more wine flowing around a table that groaned with a selection of absolutely delicious foods: coleslaw, potato salad, hummus, cold cuts, a selection of cheeses, bread sticks, crackers and fresh, crusty bread, warm and crisp from the oven, with a chunk of butter. Lovely gigantic strawberries and cream for afters--early shades of Wimbledon! Wonderful camaraderie around the table as we enjoyed the offerings. We took photographs at every juncture, even out in the garden although it was still sprinkling from above.
But, all good things must come to an end and we simply had to gallop off to Osborne House which closed at 5.00 pm (as all places do in the UK). So, we thanked our hosts and got ready to leave as we put on jackets and picked up bags. Kim drove us to the spot from where we picked up the ferry (known as the floating bridge) for a less than five-minute sail from West Cowes across the river to East Cowes. From there, it was a long walk uphill--a very long walk although people told us it was ten minutes and fifteen minutes, it turned out to be more like half an hour in what began as a steady drizzle that was so bad, I actually stopped in a Mind Age charity shop and bought a new, small folding umbrella. But a few moments later, in fact by the time I left the shop, the rain had left us. Thank Goodness! We were able to enjoy the gardens at Osborne House on a bright and sunny, rain-washed afternoon.
Enjoying the Thrills of Osborne House:
So, here is a little bit about Osborne House. It is a sumptuous palace located on the waterfront and has its own private beach. It was designed by Prince Albert as a seaside retreat to which he could take his large family of nine children so that they could enjoy family times together, far from the prying eyes of their London staff. The house is in beautiful condition, inside and out (it is, after all, less than 200 years old). From what I gather, it was only ever used by this one family. Once Victoria died in 1901, long after her husband did, it was never used again. By this time, apart from her oldest son, the Prince of Wales who became King Edward VII, none of her other eight children or 30 grandchildren were living in Britain. They had immersed themselves into the lives of other European monarchical families and never returned again to the home they would have remembered affectionately as the place in which they had lovely times together with their parents. In course of time, Osborne House was acquired by English Heritage and it is they who run the place today. We paid almost 20 pounds each to get in and since one can easily spend an entire day here, it is best to arrive early and make a day of it. There is a lot to see. Apart from the house itself (which is simply stunning in its grandeur), there are the surrounding Italianate gardens and the Walled Garden, Victoria's Swiss Cottage and the Beach. There are also cafes and a gift shop, all of which I usually love to browse in...so I was somewhat disappointed that Llew and I had to rush through everything to be able to see it all before the place closed at 5.00 pm. In the end, as there are long walks to get from one bit of the property to the next, we did not get a chance to see Swiss Cottage or the beach---but perhaps we will return another time. Never say never...
As everyone knows, Albert was not only a fantastic husband (the great enduring love story of the 19th century is their marriage) and doting father, but he was a multi-talented person who was determined to make a difference in the lives of the people of England as long as he was the queen's consort. We owe so many remnants of Victorian life to him--the very existence of Albertopolis in London is his brain child. His enormous devotion to all disciplines of education and learning from Science to the Humanities and the Arts led to the conception and creation of so many of the museums of which London can boast. He is responsible for the Great Exhibition of 1851 that showcased the wealth of talents and craftsmanship of the people of the world for it brought to the forefront the glory of the colonies.
In his personal life too, he had impeccable taste and introduced Victoria to some of the great painters and sculptors of their time. His German background (he was a prince of Saxe-Coburg and a distant cousin of Victoria) led to the adoption of so many customs that we think of as essentially English--decorating a domestic Christmas tree each year, sending out Christmas cards, for instance. And, of course, the wearing of white wedding dresses is essentially an enduring fashion tradition that came from petite Victoria wanting to stand out on her wedding day in the midst of a sea of black-clad male courtiers! Indeed, when she adopted the wearing of black as a sign of mourning after Albert was snatched so cruelly from her at the age of 41, she began the custom of outward mourning through the color black. This started a whole trend in matching accessories in her day--parasols, gloves, jewelry made of jet (a black stone), etc. Far from being fusty and prudish, both Albert and Victoria celebrated nudity (as is seen in the many nude painting all over the walls). It was the Victorians, not Victoria herself, the straight-laced Parliamentarians with whom they were surrounded, that were embarrassed by their devotion. These were all the facts I gathered during our visit.
This is how the visit proceeds: you go down endlessly long corridors that are completely lined on both sides with paintings and sculpture. While many of these were gifted to the royal couple, a large number of them were actually gifts they exchanged with each other for their own birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas. The visitor goes through the Reception Rooms where Victoria met her courtiers and visiting heads of state, on the ground floor. The most dazzling room of the initial ones we saw was the Yellow Room which was the family living room and which doubled up as a billiards room. On the top floor, are the bedrooms--I believe that Victoria and Albert were the first English monarchs to share a bedroom (most royalty prior to this time held separate bed chambers). You see Victoria and Albert's offices (they also shared an office and had desks that sit side by side each other--her's had porcelain bell pulls so that she could summon her secretarial assistants when she wanted their help). You see Albert's room--this is the one that Victoria retained throughout her life exactly as it was on the day he died. She was heard having conversations with him in their room and in their bedroom long after he had passed away. It then became clear to her courtiers that she was suffering a nervous breakdown and needed to be given a break from her state duties. After Albert died, she found solace in the happy spaces they had occupied together, far from the madding crowd, on the Isle of Wight.
Victoria's Indian Connections:
When you go back downstairs, on one of the most gorgeous staircases and stairwells I have ever seen, you arrive at a long corridor that is filled on both sides with oil-painted portraits of Victoria's Indian subjects. She had commissioned the Austrian portraitist Rudolf Swodoba to travel around India capturing the likeness of a variety of people as she knew that she would never be able to travel to India herself to see them. Swodoba had done a sterling job and the result is a veritable pantheon of contemporary Indian figures from maharajas to ordinary folk. It was in Victoria's time that the state of the Punjab was annexed and snatched away from Maharaja Duleep Singh who was only five when he inherited the throne and thirteen, when it was taken away from him. Perhaps out of respect for him (or maybe even guilt), Victoria and Albert became close friends of his (he had emigrated to England) and often invited him to Osborne House as their guest. His life-size oil portrait has pride of place in the house in the Indian Wing. As we all know from the film, Victoria and Abdul, she also became obsessed by India and its culture and brought two Indian scholars to her court in London--one of them was Abdul Karim who was her tutor. He taught her Indian history and culture and began giving her lessons in Urdu, a language in which she attained some competence. In fact, so deeply did she grow to love Abdul, that her courtiers became jealous and enraged and did their best to destroy their compatibility.
The Sumptuous Durbar Hall:
Not to be daunted by their censure, Victoria decided to decorate a room entirely in Indian style in an age in which all country estates were decorated in the Italian vein. She would call it the Durbar Hall. She hired the services of an Indian craftsman called Bhai Ram Singh who worked under the supervision of Lockwood Kipling (father of novelist Rudyard) who was then Director of the Mayo School of Art in Lahore (and later Principal of the J.J. School of Arts in Bombay). Singh used mainly wooden moulds to cover the walls and ceiling of a gigantic room with plaster and carton-pierre, a type of papier-mache common in the late 19th century. The end result is a staggeringly sumptuous room that makes you think you are in a royal palace in Jaipur. It was with the greatest of pleasure and pride that Victoria entertained royalty in this room. In fact, she went so far as to hire a number of Indian chefs and started the trend of eating Indian curries at her table. Needless to say, as soon as Victoria passed away, Abdul Karim was sent back to India by her racist courtiers who never acknowledged or appreciated the deep influence he had on restoring Victoria's mental equilibrium. All of these facts come home to the viewer in the amazing Durbar Hall which is also filled with a number of gifts from India that Victoria received in celebration of her golden and later diamond jubilees. I find it so significant that Llew and I are here to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of the current queen who has just surpassed her great-grandmother in queenly longevity by three years so far.
The visitor route through Osborne House has been so cleverly constructed that viewers finish with the Durbar Hall which is certainly the piece de resistance of the house. When you leave, you are outside and ready for a cuppa or more exploration in the garden.
Surveying the Gardens of Osborne Hall:
As Llew and I did not have too much time, we simply went straight through to the front of the house (visitors enter from the back) and were able to take pictures there. The sun had come out, thankfully, and we had a lovely afternoon in which to see that most spring flowers had faded, but that summer would bring fresh delights. Designed (by Albert) in Italianate style, the formal gardens right outside the house, contain a loggia and a fountain (recently refurbished to its original splendour) and the loggia is currently under scrutiny with that aim. No doubt when it is complete, it will also dazzle. Meanwhile, there are examples of outdoor statuary that are marvelous, not to mention fountains that proclaim the glory of English garden design.
From the Italianate Gardens, we made our way to the Walled Garden which Victoria and Albert bought from their immediate neighbors. Here too spring's departure had taken the flowers with it, but last vestiges of giant tulips could be seen. It was too late for us to take the long walk downhill towards the sea to Swiss Cottage--so we nixed the idea. Instead with both of us dying for refreshment, we just about made it to the cafe for cups of tea and a cheese scone. Fueled with these eats, we made our way out of the property, through the gift shop from where I picked up a jar of passion fruit curd! Can't wait to enjoy it with some warm croissants soon.
The Journey Back Home:
And so it was that we retraced our steps back to London. It was just past 5.00 pm when we started the long trudge back to the floating bridge--thankfully, downhill this time, as we were both ready to drop. Five minutes on the floating bridge brought us back to West Cowes (from East Cowes). We then had a good twenty minute walk to the ferry Terminal where we used our Red Jet return tickets to be whisked across the Solent back to Southampton. A taxi ride followed (about seven pounds and ten minutes of a ride) and we were at Southampton train station in time to hop on to the 7.00 pm train to Waterloo. We were just too tired to go out for dinner. Instead we picked up Italian ready meals from Marks and Spencer (Ravioli in Tomato Sauce and Tagliatelle in Mushroom Sauce) at Waterloo and took the Tube to Paddington, back to our friend's place.
Dinner and Chitchat After a Long Day:
Dinner was heated in the microwave once we were home and we really did enjoy telling our friend Bande all about our incredible day. It is not often than one has the kind of experiences we had today and we were both thoroughly satisfied, if fully wiped out, by our adventures.
Tomorrow and the day after will be just as hectic as we will be in Liverpool. It is another early morning rising for us tomorrow, so I shall now take your leave.
Until tomorrow...cheerio.
No comments:
Post a Comment