Third Week in London

The third week got off to an outstanding start with a long stroll from the Tower Hill Tube stop, across Tower Bridge – which just happened to be closed to traffic on that Sunday! – and down along the south bank of the Thames. It was a gorgeous day with just enough people out for it to be interesting without feeling crowded. There is a fabulous walking path along the river on that side, so it is a very pleasant area. We did have an end goal for this walk which I will get to shortly…

Just enough clouds in the sky too! Gorgeous walk across Tower Bridge.

On the south bank of the Thames is Southwark (sutherk) Cathedral. There’s been a church on the site since about the 6th century, with the current structure dating from 1000 – 1200. When it was built I’m certain it was the largest building around. Now it is strangely surrounded by other, just as tall buildings. You can’t really see it until you wind your way back into the alley like area! Because of this oddity we didn’t get any decent exterior photos. And my photographer, ahem, decided to take the majority of the photos in vertical rather than landscape, which just look weird on the blog – hence why I try not to use them! So, long way to say I’m not showing many photos of the church here. One other interesting bit of trivia – this the church where a man named John Harvard was baptized and attended services. He later moved to Massachusetts – there’s a little university named for him.

This is the Nonsuch Chest. It was gifted to the church in 1588 and is absolutely gorgeous.

This is the church William Shakespeare attended when he was in London. This is not his grave, but a memorial to him. His brother, Edmond, is buried in this church.

The Anchor Tavern. Legendary in its own right (Samuel Pepys sat here and watched the Great Fire of 1666 burn a vast amount of London, there’s Roman graves underneath it – just a couple of items on a long list of events), but it sits on the site of something very special – this is where the Globe Theatre stood. The Globe was Master Shakespeare’s theatre but it burned down in 1613. He died just three years later.

Our walk to this point was wonderful, but we had an end goal. As is likely rather obvious, I adore Shakespeare’s plays. I know the tragedies and the comedies better than the historical ones and I love them all. So, what better event was there than to get to go to the replica (as exact as was possible – including a thatched roof. There has not been a thatched roofed building allowed in London since 1666) of the Globe Theatre?

If you saw the movie Shakespeare in Love then you will recognize this.

Normally the area in front of the stage is for standing only. With COVID precautions in place there was a very different feel. There were only a few people sitting in our section so no crowding at all, plus it’s open air.

We saw The Tempest – played as Master Shakespeare would have imagined the play to have been presented. Amazing experience indeed!

Late evening photo of St Paul’s. The roses smelled incredible!

The city of Londinium, as the Romans called it, was surrounded by defensive walls. The walls were still used for defensive purposes well into the 1600s. It wasn’t until the 1700s that some of the wall sections were removed, and those were mostly removed to improve traffic access in and out of the city. Over the course of the last 300 years more sections have been removed. However, several chunks are still standing – mostly through Aldgate, Moorgate and the Barbican. We spent a morning hunting down as many of those sections as we could find 😁

Same chunk of wall as the first photo. This is by far the largest bit.

This one had been used to create a gorgeous garden

Yeah, just random bits! The remains of a tower on the right side of the photo.

The remains of an ancient church along side the wall

And a couple of cool things we came across on our walk –

Also known as…Bedlam. The first hospital was located not too far away.

I was nearly done subjecting the Husband to museums (for this trip) – only a few left😁 This week it was the National Gallery. Unfortunately, the National Portrait Gallery is closed for a couple of years for significant renovations – bummer. But I hadn’t been to to the National Gallery before! All of the public museums in London are free admittance, although most ask for donations. With COVID precautions you do have to book a date and time for entry. I hope this process continues as it helps with crowding! There are a few Botticellis, some amazing drawings by Raphael, a couple of spectacular Van Goghs…and the Virgin of the Rocks by Da Vinci – which is even more stunning in person than I could have imagined.

A Wheat Field with Cypresses – Van Gogh. Love this one!

The Virgin of the Rocks – Leonardo Da Vinci

I permitted the Husband a day of rest before dragging him to the Victoria and Albert Museum – see how thoughtful I am? The V & A is an amazing mixture of art and historical objects from many time periods and many different civilizations. It would probably take a couple of days to really take it all in – the place is massive! The main reason we were going was for the incredible medieval section and the Cast Court. The Cast Court occupies two of the largest rooms I have ever been in – but what is in these rooms you may ask? Plaster casts of some of the world’s most iconic statuary, architecture, tombs and many, many other items. In the late 1800s travel was only for the rich so the thought was to bring the world’s great sites to the people. We have had the opportunity to see the real versions of some of these items – the copies are pretty spectacular. And a side benefit is that some items that have been ravaged by the elements in the last 150 years or so (or lost to destruction) can be seen without the later damage.

The craziest things from all over Europe all crammed in together!

We also just took a walk…not that we weren’t walking everyday! But, this was just a walk. After reading a lot of Regency period romance novels in my youth I wanted to walk some of the areas that I had read about. Corny, I know…fun though! We also walked though some more through the City of London, which is different from the London Metropolitan area. Ah, I will never tire of this!

Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand. I believe this is equivalent to the US Supreme Court. It’s not as old as it looks – built in the 1870s.

Fortnum & Mason 🤩 You would think it’s all stuffy and snooty but it really isn’t. They are super nice. Classiest grocery store I’ve ever been in. And Countess Grey might be the best tea I have ever had.

This building is right across the street from Fortnum & Mason. I’m not certain what it is, although I’m guessing it is a business. I just really liked the building and the color!

Stumbled on to this one! The tailors and menswear shops were wonderful to window shop.

And this is St. George’s, Hanover Square. Where every wedding of importance occurred in said Regency period romances!

Our last big adventure was to go to Canterbury. Wow. Just wow. It’s amazing how much of the medieval town is still there. Canterbury Cathedral is stunning. It’s also heart-breaking when you realize all the history that was lost during the Reformation. It was also another case of traveling to a famous historical site, only to find it covered in scaffolding!

Unfortunately this also meant that the ceiling of the nave was also covered. Bummer. The back half of the church was visible though!

The panel of Adam (3rd from the left) is probably the oldest stained glass in the cathedral, created about 1176.

This is jokingly called the bouncer’s chair

The crypt (the underground part of the cathedral) was spectacular. It is the oldest parts of the church. We weren’t supposed to take photos but snuck this one.

This is the spot where St Thomas Becket died. There are several eyewitness accounts that still exist so the exact events are well known.

The floor where the shrine of St Thomas stood. King Henry VIII had the shrine torn apart. He had ordered the bones of St Thomas burned, however it is thought that this order was disregarded and the body was buried elsewhere in the church. The docent I spoke with said they are fairly certain of this and experts think they know where it is but have not pursued proof.

Another fabulous week done. One more week left. Only 72,539 steps – we’re getting lazy!