Saturday 19th July 2008

Day Six - The Globe Theatre, Science Museum

Back into London today.  It's a very easy and quiet journey into the capital.  We arrive on Upper Thames Street in the city ready to walk across the Millennium Bridge over to the South Bank.  The Globe Theatre is a replica of Shakespeare's theatre and set a few hunded yards away from where it would have stood in the 16th century.  We are in the borough of Southwark and in Shakespeare's time people would have left the city to come over the river and watch a play.  We get guides who take us into the theatre and explain how the building works.  The rain falls for a moment as we are sitting safely in one of the galleries!  Then the sun appears and blue skies appear above us as we climb to the highest gallery to look down upon the stage.  This is a working theatre and the seson runs from May to October.  Just like an Elizabethan audience you can stand as a 'groundling' in the pit or choose to sit on the benches in the galleries. Sam Wanamaker, the American actor, who started the project to rebuild the Globe would have been very pleased with all that the Globe has achieved since it opened.  It is a magnificent example of how theatre would have been performed and lets you see how close an audience was to the action on stage.  But perhaps more importantly it is a living theatre, bringing great entertainment to the thousands who enter its doors every year.

After lunch there is time to go into the Tate Modern art gallery right next to the Globe.  The gallery has a huge collection of modern art, some of it controversial and some intriguing.  The group meet up to walk to Southwark Bridge to join the coaches and drive to Kensington. It is a good journey to point out some of London's sights.  We pass the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey as well as the back of Buckingham Palace.  Into Hyde Park Corner and up past the Royal Albert Hall and down to the Science Museum.

The Science Museum is alive with all sorts of great exhibits.  The history of transport, space travel, the digital age and medicine being just a few.  There is a great area called Launch Pad that is totally interactice and gets kids involved in all sorts of experiments and games.  There is so much to see and all the group have had fun by the time we meet up.  This day has managed to cram history, drama, art and science all in and it has been another great day in the capital.