Globe Trotting

Monday, October 18th
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After both of our busy weekends, Lauren and I welcomed the opportunity to sleep in until 8:15 on Monday morning.  We woke up to a beautiful day, and headed off to our second London Architecture class.  This week we were staying close to home, exploring the area of South Ken and "Albertopolis," named after Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.  After a quick lecture, we headed out, walking by Hyde Park to admire Royal Albert Hall and the memorial the Queen had erected in honor of her late spouse.  Our professor also pointed out the area that was the site for the Great Exhibition, a fair held in 1851 that attracted visitors from all over the world and was housed in a giant glass atrium (unfortunately it is no more as a fire destroyed it years ago).  Making our way down Exhibition Road, we popped into the Science Museum, one of the "big three" that is only minutes from our flat.  We had not been in yet, but the second we entered (we were only taking a peek) we knew we needed to come back.  There are so many amazing things to see, including past space capsules and plane models; all I could think walking through the rooms was how the Toll boys would be in their glory there!  We'll definitely go back to see everything more closely!  Our final destination was the Victoria & Albert Museum.  Our professor worked there for two years as a scholar when she was younger, so she was so excited to show us around to all her favorite spots.  We spent the majority of our time exploring the British Galleries, displaying various items from the 18th and 19th centuries.  We got to learn more about the Exhibition and the work that went into making it a success, which it certainly was - the proceeds from the event went to building the V&A in addition to many other surrounding buildings and museums, I can't even imagine how much it must have costed!  After completing a short assignment, we were free to go for the afternoon.
Although by the time we returned to Courtfield we were both exhausted, we knew we couldn't spend the rest of the day inside, so we turned to my Little Black Book of London (thank you, Disney UK pavilion) and decided on the Globe Theater.  This is another one of the endless number of things on our to do list, and we thought it would be the perfect afternoon activity.  After a quick tube ride and a confusing walk, we finally reached the Globe.  We began our tour through an exhibition displaying various things from Shakespeare's day, as well as costumes that have been used in recent productions (of course those were our favorites).  Next was the official tour, where we were led into the theater itself.  Although it is a reproduction of the original, it has been created to look exactly how it would have looked in Shakespeare's day.  We got to sit in the seats, explore the pit, and even climb up to the upper levels.  The highlight, though, was getting to see a group of students performing on the stage (including cute boys to keep hold of our attention).  It was so amazing to see this historic landmark, and get an idea of what the theater experience was like centuries ago.  From the descriptions of our tour guide, although it seems cool in theory, I definitely appreciate our civilized, indoor theaters today.

The Globe!

When the tour finished, we walked back over the Millennium Bridge, one that was built just for pedestrians.  The views were spectacular, with St. Paul's standing majestically in front of us, and the Thames flowing on either side.  We hopped back on the tube (which with our exhaustion seemed much longer this time) and returned to our little corner of London.  The rest of the day was spent catching up on e-mails, enjoying a low key dinner in the kitchen, and finishing of the night with Glee (!).  Tomorrow is the start of our second week of our internships, and we're realizing how we feel like we've been interning for weeks already.  Guess that's what goes along with working 9 to 5...let the work week begin!
    xo Carolyn