We had a grand day out, but V&A Dundee is a major disappointment. The real V&A is one of the wonders of the world, stuffed with beautiful and interesting and unusual things from all over everywhere. I’m sure they could have spared a couple of trainloads, on loan.

Over lunch (at the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre, down the road) we tried to think of disappointing museums which might rival what we had just seen. I couldn’t produce one, but Helen and her sons suggested the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle in Thessaloniki.

The Dundee V&A is on the waterfront, right next to the three-masted “Discovery” which took Scott and Shackelton to the Antarctic. One might have hoped for some light and air. No. The ground floor is entirely devoted to café and shop – it was crowded, and the effect bordered on the squalid. Upstairs there is the gallery of Scottish design (a few things there) and the exhibition gallery – that one contained a show about ocean liners which might have been mildly interesting, but was prohibitively expensive.

There was some knitting in the design gallery – a “Fair Isle” jumper in natural colours, and an exquisitely fine lace hap. The jumper had its sleeves folded across its chest so that I couldn’t follow the sequence of patterns up the body. I stood there looking, though, and felt pleased with myself that I had at last succeeded at corrugated knitting. I put “Fair Isle” in inverted commas because I would, myself, reserve the term for something with some colour in it.

I did learn in that gallery – here’s a tidbit for you – that kaleidoscopes were invented in Edinburgh in the early 19^th century.

Much else to say, but I’m very tired.