Day 1 having concluded with some setting of priorities on what to see, Day 2 started out with a site at the top of each of our lists — the backstage tour of the Globe Theatre reconstruction.
It made for a great start. The theatre is not far from London Bridge, and we not only improved our city navigation skills — we passed a number of interesting sites on the way there.
The Anchor — the site of a misadventure to be recounted later
The Rose Window — all that remains of the 80-acre Winchester Palace
Replica of Sir Francis Drake’s “The Golden Hinde”
Random sighting
Then, on to the Globe:
It was an excellent and informative tour. The guide explained that that side of the Thames was “party town” back in the day, free from the propriety and rules on the “civilized” side. It was, basically, the red light district, but where even the upper-class would go to cut loose and catch some theatre. Admission was a penny, with separate admissions charged for each level of seating higher or away from the “penny stinkards” standing shoulder-to-shoulder, swigging beer all day, unwashed, chewing raw garlic for health reasons, and with no restrooms available.
A lot of theatrical conventions remain unchanged (though the technology has; a message driven home later when we took the National Theatre’s backstage tour). For instance, people still descend from the “heavens” — but in Shakespeare’s day, the crew would use brightly colored ropes. The last thing they wanted, the guide explained, was for some tipsy bureaucrat to begin muttering about witchcraft.
You’ll note that the sun is shining brightly. We had no rain to speak of the entire trip. There was one overcast day in Salisbury, but the balance were either a mix of clouds and sun or full sun. The weather was cool at the start, even to a frost warning, but it was much warmer the second week. All in all, a lovely time to be in England. I think I’ll be saying “lovely” a lot in these posts.
The complimentary breakfasts at the Hilton Docklands were so satisfying that we found ourselves rapidly falling into a pattern of skipping lunch and having breakfast and supper only. That worked out well, for the most part. It gave us more time to explore.
Lots of construction, with the Swiss Re Tower (also known as ‘The Gherkin’ and ‘The Towering Innuendo’) in the skyline
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Time for a stroll across the Millennium Bridge
The Tower Bridge in the distance
And so, after our time at the Globe, we decided to check out the nearby Tate Modern.
The Tate Modern lives up to its name. It has some stuff I loved and some stuff I could have done without. I feel a bit silly wielding a camera in a museum, even when it’s permitted, so I have only a few shots.
Scenes from the Tate Modern
Much as I love museums, the downside is that we are within a reasonable drive of some of the best in the world from right here at home, as both New York City and Washington, D.C. can be day trips. And we were there to see London and England. So, though I know the museums in London are amongst the best in the world, we found our enthusiasm for museums as destinations flagging. As for the Tate Modern, my son put it well in his own blog — “Needless to say, by the time I got to the self-mutilation videos, I felt that it was time to go.”
Given the long, chilly day and the somewhat threatening skies by the time we left the Tate Modern, we wanted to both head back to our hotel and to eat. But we knew there wasn’t much moderately-priced food available at the Docklands, so I had scouted ahead on the Internet and found Castello’s, an Italian place in Bermondsey, one tube stop before ours. After a good meal, we headed “home” for more itinerary planning and sleep.