Advertisement
Published: July 17th 2014
Edit Blog Post
The Globe
The Globe We're currently in Edinburgh, but on Friday, July 11th, the second day of our London Passes, we went to the Globe Theater and the Tower of London. The Globe is a modern reconstruction of what historians think Shakespeare's Globe Theater would have looked like. Nobody knows exactly what it looked like because all theaters from that era were destroyed in the 17th century. We went on a tour of the theater and learned about the original theater as well as the modern reconstruction. It is an outdoor theater (though it does have an indoor section), and we sat in the seats inside the theater for part of the tour. The seats are in a circle around the stage, and there is standing room only on the floor. The roof is made of thatch, and they needed to get special permission - thatched roofs have been banned for hundreds of years because of the risk of fire. Although we did not see a performance, it is a working theater, and actors were rehearsing for that afternoon's production. After tournament the Globe, we briefly visited the Tate Modern and then went over to the Tower of London. We'd thought we might go to
Rebecca Globe Stage
Rebecca in front of the Globe Stage one more place after the Tower, but we were wrong. We spent between 2 and 3 hours there and could have stayed longer. When we walked into the Tower entrance just before 2:30, we saw a sign advertising Yeomen Warders tours of the Tower and showing that the next one was starting at 2:30. So we decided to take the tour. Our guide was great. He talked about the history of the Tower and told stories of people who had lived, been imprisoned, and been executed there. After the tour, we walked around the tower. We went into the Bloody Tower, the White Tower, and the Jewel House. The White Tower has an exhibit of life-size wooden horses and royal armor. This is the oldest exhibit in the world, as it was initially opened in the 17th century. Obviously it's changed a bit since then, but it was still very interesting. The Jewel House is the home of the British Crown Jewels, which is a large, beautiful collection of objects used mostly for coronations. By the time we left the Jewel House, it was almost 6:00, so it was time to go.
Saturday, July 12th was our last day
Max Tower of London
Max in front of the Tower of London with valid London Passes, and we made the most of them. We started at Westminster Abbey, where we spent about 2 hours following the recommended path and listening to the audio guide. It's a beautiful place, with numerous statues and monuments, some in the main area and others in smaller chapels along the sides. We couldn't take any pictures inside (no photos allowed), but there are pictures online if you want an idea of what it looks like. After leaving Westminster Abbey, we headed straight for the Churchill War Rooms, which was the British government military headquarters during World War II. It contains the Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and his War Cabinet met. It also contains the Churchill Museum, with information, pictures, and artifacts about Churchill's life. Many of the rooms are the way they were during WWII or have been reconstructed to look like they did at that time. It's a really interesting place. We spent around an hour and a half there, and like many other places, we could have spent longer. But we wanted to make it to the last of Jason's Canal Tours of the day. On our way to the Underground from the War
Rebecca Tower of London
Rebecca in front of the Tower of London Rooms, we walked through Horseguards Parade, which was cool. And we got on the Canal tour! The tour takes place on a 108 year old boat that was initially pulled by horses down the man-made canals! On the tour, we learned about the history of the canals in London. We started in Little Venice and went down to Camden Locks. Camden Locks has an outdoor market with semi-permanent stalls and all types of food, so we got cornbread, handmade pasta, and Danish mini pancakes. That night, we ended up staying with some family friends, and we had a good evening spending time with them.
On Sunday, July 13th, we spent the day in Greenwich, in London. We went to the National Maritime Museum, which includes the Royal Observatory with the Prime Meridian. We saw exhibits on time and longitude and the technology sailors used when trying to figure out their longitude (which is much harder to find than latitude because it is arbitrary and there's no natural means of finding it). We also went to Flamsteed's house and, of course, the Prime Meridian. Max was especially excited to go to Flamsteed's house since he remembers going there 15 years
ago, being told to look at Pluto through the telescope, and seeing Pluto the dog. He was traumatized when there was a pitiful black and white picture of Saturn instead. But standing on either side of the Prime Meridian was fun, and it was a great place to visit overall. We got a late lunch/ early dinner at the Greenwich Market before heading back to the family friends to watch the World Cup.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.277s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 7; qc: 43; dbt: 0.064s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Melinda
non-member comment
London
Love reading about your London tours. Sounds like you are taking in so many wonderful historical sights.! Love you bunches! xox Melinda