I had most of my London Friday to myself because David and Ariana were off to work, being the responsible citizens that they are.
Left their flat in Bromley-by-Bow in the morning and took the tube to Tower Hill, where I strolled around the outside of the Tower of London and took some boring pictures of that big old...Tower. Walked down to the water and looked at Tower Bridge. The day was windy and sunny, the tourists weren't overwhelming. A Japanese student asked me to take a photo of him in front of the bridge. He had a fancy camera.
I walked along the Thames path, heading west (I think) towards Embankment. In Oxford, I live next to the Thames path, which is quite different from its London incarnation. The Oxford Thames path is gravel, goes by fields, has joggers and cyclists and kids and geese and dogs. Also, in Oxford, the Thames is called the Isis. No, I don't know why.
So, with Tower Bridge at my back, I walked and walked. Through apartment buildings, past churches, past tourists, past Londoners taking their lunch by the river. Past the Monument. Past St Pauls. Past...hang on, past Shakespeare's Globe! Yes, I spied the faux-Tudor theatre across the river as I walked and decided to cross over on the Millennium Bridge (which faces St Paul's) and take a look. It was really neat. Didn't tour around inside, though. I'll have to go back one day to see a play there. Not as a groundling, though. I don't think I'd want to stand for the 2 hours' traffic of that stage.
Back across the river, I walked along and saw the Egyptian obelisk, the London Eye and Big Ben off in the distance. I then veered away from the path at Embankment and soon stumbled across Trafalgar Square. The first thing I spotted there was Canada House. Aww.
Back on the tube, then, to Oxford Circus, prime shopping location (and still in London, not Oxford, despite the name). Things were bought: tights, t-shirt, jeans. I was pleased.
I wrapped up my London day with a trip out to Wimbledon to collect Ariana at work. Didn't see the tennis courts, no. Just the local Marks & Spencer. We had party shopping to do...
Now go to Flickr and see some photos of my walk. The link's on the left sidebar.
3 comments:
Being a groundling isn't so bad. I saw Much Ado that way two summers ago.
But if you can afford it, a seat probably would give you a better view...I guess I managed because I'm fairly tall.
The river's original name (Temese or Tamesis) come from Celtic (Brythonic) Tamesa, meaning 'the dark one'. The downriver name became a contraction of the former part of the name, the upriver (Oxon) part became a contraction of the latter. Association with an Egyptian goddess would be more romantic but I understand that history does not support this.
Beers were consumed at Thomson, wherein your blog was revealed.
Glad to hear that Oxford isn't all palaeography and no play. Getting in to London to party sounds like an essential survival strategy.
I saw Much Ado as a Globe groundling two summers ago, and although the concrete floor (how early modern!) is hard on the legs for two hours, the trick is to line up early and rush the stage when they open the doors. Then you can lean on the front of the stage for the entire show. It adds to the "authenticity". :-)
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