London and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre …

 

DSC_0383 (Medium) After spending two weeks predominantly in the medieval towns of France, the evening lights greeting us as we touched down in London signalled we’ve arrived in the big city.

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To reach Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, we walked across the Millennium Bridge, the first DSC_0051 (Medium)bridge  built over the Thames since the Tower Bridge of 1894.  Shakespeare was one of five actors who took shares in the company in order to form the Globe Theatre.  The Theatre, faithfully reconstructed based on DSC_0031 (Medium)the original open air playhouse from 1599, is the largest exhibition devoted to Shakespeare’s work. Referred to as the beating heart of theatrical London, it remains a working theatre and when we passed through we saw sword fighting re-enactments and costumes displayed.

 

Next door to the theatre is the Tate Modern, a gallery of 20th century art which DSC_0065 (Medium)includes works from Picasso, Warhol and Dali. Warhol’s piece on Marilyn Munroe describes its two recurring themes. The first image reinforcing her presence in the media and the fading image suggestive of the star’s mortality.

From modern day we traced London’s past at the Museum of London.  The Museum overlooks a portion of London’s Roman and Medieval walls and includes relics, costumes, maps and models. DSC_0090 (Medium)It details the history of the 1666 Great Fire of London which is the genesis of fire insurance. The Museum also includes the trophy awarded to the winner of the London Marathon.  The marathon’s original route started from Windsor Castle in 1909, now snakes its way through the centre of London.  The picture doesn’t adequately portray the grandeur of the silver laden trophy which is probably two feet in height.

 

We visited Westminster Abbey for its evening DSC_0335 (Medium)service. The Abbey is where most of the nation’s kings and queens are crowned and buried. The stained glass reflects the monarchy’s popularity and, from the outside looking in, the windows were a contradictory way to appreciate their beauty. 

Leaving Westminster Abbey we had a terrific view of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye.  We can see these landmarks from DSC_0316 (Medium)our hotel room window although it’s hard to beat this close up view!

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