I started my journey around noon, as usual, and chose to start at the Southwark Cathedral and work my way up the lower Thames River until I ended in Trafalgar Square. It was a beautiful day...perfect for being out and about exploring the city. I almost forgot about Southwark Cathedral until I came upon it. I remember Joe telling me that I should go there and that it was on my list of places to see, but was looking for my way down to the river embankment when I saw the beautiful building.
Inside the cathedral, it was beautiful yet not as opulent as St. Paul's. It was gorgeous nonetheless. I walked around marveling at its beauty until I made my way towards the back where they used to hold trials for some Protestants during the reign of Queen Mary I. Southwark is the oldest church building in London and stands at the oldest crossing point of the tidal Thames at what was the only entrance to the City of London across the river for many centuries.
As I made my way out of the Cathedral and towards the embankment, I came upon my favorite sandwhich shop, Pret. They unfortunately didn't have my favorite baguette (brie, tomato and basil) so I opted for tuna instead. When I exited the building, I noticed to my right that there was some old ruins that had been incorporated into the new buildings and decided to check it out. There, on the other side of Pret, were the ruins (what was left of them) of Winchester Palace. Winchester Palace was a 12th century palace and residence to the Bishops of Winchester located just south of the river Thames in Southwark. Southwark was the largest town in the old diocese of Winchester and the bishop was a major landowner in the area. He was also a power in the land (Winchester being the old Saxon capital), and regularly needed to be in London on royal or administrative state business. For that purpose, Henry of Blois built the palace as his
Now it was time to eat my sandwich, looking out upon the Thames, and then journey on to Shakespear's The Globe. Now for those of you who know, The Globe is not the original Globe but a reconstructed version completed in 1997. The original was burnt down when a cannon was used in one of the plays and caught fire to the thatch roof some centuries ago when the cannon was set off. Luckily all 3,000 people were able to get out with one gent having his rear end catch on fire. There were no original building plans, so the new Globe was built according to sketches and historical documents. I took the one hour tour and I'm glad I did. When I come back, I would love to see a performance there for there is not a bad seat in the house.
Next up was the Tate Modern to see the Gauguin exhibition and have a desert on the balcony of the Members Club. Thanks to one of the Street Action board members, I borrowed his membership card and got into the Gauguin exhibit and Members Club for free. Gauguin's works were stunning...such amazing colors used and I was quite impressed. The only other exhibit that I went into was the Surrealism area. That was great to see such works as Pollack, Picasso and others. I do love art, but found I had had enough after those two exhibits so I made my way up to the Members Club to have a pastry on the balcony while I enjoyed the view out across the Thames.
I think I was about 4.5 hours into my journey by this point when I began my walk towards the Waterloo station to catch the Underground up to Trafalgar Square. I had heard the Argentinian couple I met a few days before talk about how they had been there and since I hadn't yet gone, decided to go. It was very cool. At the heart of London, the square is a monument to former naval men with Nelson's column greeting you as you enter the surroundings. In the rear of the square is the National Gallery which I was not able to get to. Being the beginning of rush hour, and not wanting to get caught up in the tube traffic, I sat on a bench and read the evening paper. When I was done, I didn't think that I was actually at the square (don't ask) so I got up and started walking towards Big Ben (saw him in the distance). I stumbled upon the Queen's Life Guard buildings and took a couple of pictures. With the Houses of Parliament across the street, I took some more pics before crossing the street. After I walked a block or two before heading back towards the Underground to get back home. I was exhausted, it was now dark, and my feet and knees were tired.
All in all it was a fantastic day and I'm sad that my journey in London is coming to an end. I still have two more days to go, but I really do love it here and need to find my way back very soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment