Today was the longest day so far. On my way to class I stopped by Starbucks – only because the British version of Starbucks (Nero Café) was in the opposite direction from the Victoria Tube – grabbed what ended up being coffee – they had no tea! – and walked with Aubrey to campus. The two of us have become very good friends and she’s a wonderful person. We agreed to meet at Eat – the place with the meat pies – for lunch. Class was wonderful today. We talked about Henry V. I hadn’t been able to get a hold of a copy of the play but I pretty know it by now. When Clemson did it Chris was Henry and I helped him with his lines and saw the production multiple times. In my British Cultural History class we watched the Kenneth Branough version and talked about it and how it differed from the original script. Tomorrow, though, I am leaving early to grab that play and the others I’m going to need.
After class I met Aubrey at Eat, had lunch, hopped on the tube and headed for the City of London – as opposed to the City of Westminster where Wigram House is located. This is the center of the financial district but also the old part of London that was destroyed in the Fire of London. We began at the tube stop where we met our guide. He took us to St. Paul’s Cathedral but not before we stopped to look at a church across the street which had been bombed during the Blitz in World War II. The church itself has been gutted but the steeple still remains. I can’t remember the name of it at the moment. It was left standing as a reminder. It was really beautiful. St. Paul’s was beautiful, too but it was obviously so much bigger. While the Westminster Abbey was the Royals’ church, St. Paul’s was the people’s church. During WWII this church protected by four or five firemen and women who literally stood on top of the dome and made sure the place didn’t catch on fire. There is a memorial to all firefighters not far across the street because of this, although it has the names of all London firefighters who have died on duty.
After St. Paul’s we crossed the Millennium Bridge – which appears in the new Harry Potter movie. When it was first opened it so many people walked across it at once that it wobbled and had to be closed down the same day so they could fix it. To this day, we were told, Londoners called the Wobbly Bridge. After you cross the bridge you are right in front of Tate Modern. This is really cool because on the other side you have St. Paul’s. Old and new. Ancient and modern. Quite impressive. We walked through Tate briefly but didn’t look at any of the exhibits. I plan on going back later in the trip to go through it.
Next it was onto the best part of the day in my opinion… *drum roll*… THE GLOBE!!!! I was so excited. You can see across the Thames before you get on the bridge and I about had a fit when I saw it. If you ask Aubrey she would probably say I did have a fit. I mean, it was right there! Shakespeare was the reason I was in London and here I was at the Globe. I’d even be back to see a play there! The only disappointing thing was that it’s surrounded by all these other buildings which look like they’re trying to squish it. I had always thought that the Globe that stands there now was the second one because the first burned down in a fire. Nope. It’s the third Globe. The second, for whatever reason, was torn down because authorities had a problem with it. Like I said, I don’t know that the deal was. About 50 or 60 years ago an American came over expecting to find it. He was a real Shakespeare buff. He built the Globe that tourists come to see now. YEAH! An example of an American doing something good for England! I really wanted to run up to it and hug it but that can wait until I go with my class to see As You Like It.
The next cool thing we saw was a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship The Golden Hind. My immediate thought was: Hey! I know a relative of yours! Of course, I’m referring to Clemson’s own Tim Drake, who was a student of my mom’s back in the day and is now working at the university himself. It was pretty cool to be able to pull this history back to an actual person I knew.
Next was another church that I can’t remember anything about other than Shakespeare’s brother is buried there and then it was on to an area with a bunch of shops that use to be where the boats would come in to dock. I think they did this when they needed repairs or were unloading, or something. I really thought I would be able to remember more of this information but it was a long day. Once we looked at this we walked past the City Hall and then onto Tower Bridge – NOT the London Bridge! Tower Bridge was created to be a part of the Tower of London which was originally the castle of the king of England. Then it was a prison. It was very impressive but I didn’t get to see all of it, like the Bloody Tower. We did, however, get to see the Ravens being fed. That was cool. These ravens are tied to a myth about the tower which says that if the ravens leave the tower, the tower will fall and the king will go with it. Ever since Charles II heard this the ravens have never been allowed to leave. Their wings have been clipped, although if I got fed large chunks of meat every day, I don’t think I’d leave either – sorry, Lesley.
Our tour concluded at the place where the beheading of a few of Henry VIII’s wives were executed. The way to remember how all of his wives died is: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Now don’t ask me who they all were. When our tour concluded we went in to see the crown jewels. I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of those which was sad but to be honest they really are something you have to see for yourself. Soon after the place closed – everything closes at around 6PM here, except the pubs, of course! Aubrey and I headed back to Wigram, freshened up, and then went back to The Old Monk pub where we had gone on our first day. I had a Strongbow cider and a sandwich. It was great but the cider made me really tired. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch which had been at 1PM and it was then around 8PM.
Now it is time to go to sleep and get ready for another day. Tomorrow I have class and then at 6PM it’s the London Eye!
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