If there is one thing I have learned since Covid-19 hit us, is that you should not put off things you want to do — do them while you can. I am so glad we started ticking off things from our ‘bucket list’ in 2016 especially since it doesn’t look like traveling is in the cards for some time to come.
I hope to share the highlights and most wonderful experiences in the next several posts starting with London, England. This is the post I did while we were still on our trip.
On the top of my list of fabulous experiences in London was the Globe Theatre.
It was amazing enough just to visit but the experience of attending Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Globe Theatre was an emprise that I will cherish my whole life!
The actors and the presentation of the play were absolutely fabulous! Fusing music, dance and some serious comedy, brought ‘the Dream’ crashing into the Globe’s magical setting. Naughty, tender, transgressive and surprising — it was truly a festival of theatre!
The fact that we had ‘nose-bleed’ seats and were freezing cold in the open venue, didn’t take anything away from this most exciting experience. When I first learned that inexpensive standing room only tickets were available, I couldn’t even imagine standing for a whole play. However, once you saw how the characters of the play interacted with the audience and that the standing room was right at the front of the theatre, I am pretty sure I would have chosen this option.
To keep the sense of euphoria going, we signed on the tour of Globe Theatre Tour.
The stage (picture on the right) was set up for taming of the shrew.
This being our first time to London, we hit all of the usual sites that one would likely see. Many were interesting but some were just more enjoyable and worth while. The boat tour down the canal was our next favourite experience closely followed by the Hop On – Hop Off boat tour down the Thames River.
We got off at Greenwich and toured the ‘Cutty Sark’ which in itself was very impressive.
It was here that we had one of the weirdest experiences when we stopped for lunch at a hamburger place. We saw this sign (below), went in and sat down.
After a few minutes, we were handed some menus and we ordered our hamburger of choice. After waiting 25 minutes, we asked the server about the 15-minute lunch guarantee displayed on the window. She left and came back and told us that the sign applies to items ordered on the lunch menu only. We told her that we had ordered from the menu given to us. She said that was not the lunch menu. I asked how we would have received the lunch menu. She said that we would have had to ask for it. I suppose we could have pursued the matter further by pointing out that the sign says nothing about a lunch menu (even in the fine print) but, as we don’t mind paying for what we actually consumed, we didn’t bother. This was tougher for those in our party who ‘being right’ is quite important. We look back on this event and laugh (of course).
This is the entrance to the tunnel for the Underground which was opened in 1902 at Greenwich.
On the most rainy of days, I took this picture atop the London Eye. This should have been the ideal photo op, but alas, it was not to be!
While I am glad to have had the opportunity to visit London, if/when travel is safe again, it won’t be the top of my list. Scotland on the other hand … shall we go there next?