October 8
Once again, with a certain trepidation, we boarded the Tube headed for a walking tour of the National Gallery. Yesterday’s rain had given way to crisp fall air and clear blue skies. We were elated as we exited the Tube with no further trauma. I had found a walking tour on the Internet which was supposed to meet near the Tube exit. We asked policemen, tourists, and Londoners about the tour group but to no avail. Since the museum wouldn’t open for a while, we had time for an “American” breakfast at the Embankment café: bacon (ham), eggs (watery scrambled eggs), hash browns (triangular pieces), toast (white Wonder bread), butter and jam.
The walk through the nearby garden later was the best part of the breakfast experience. Following our map we found our way to the National Gallery.
Once inside we found time for two audio tours, one overview and a Manet to Picasso tour. We were both amazed at the fantastic collections of paintings. I thought that the British Museum housed all the paintings that we were seeing. The National Gallery was only supposed to be a filler before going to the Globe Theater. It became a wonderful surprise of paintings we had always wanted to see: VanGogh’s Sunflowers,
.png)
Monet’s Japanese Bridge, Rousseau’s Surprised, and so many more. We were still excited as we crossed the Thames to the Globe Theater.
As You Like It was beyond all expectations. We had the best seats in the house (third level balcony) complete with seat pads that we rented. I did envy the groundlings a few times because they were so close to the action, but they had to stand for the entire performance.
The cold wind whipped around the open theater but it was upstaged by the performance. The cast in authentic period costumes put on a performance in the original English which captivated the audience. Their enthusiasm was proven by three curtain calls. Barbara and I agreed that it was the highlight of our London tour even surpassing the National Gallery experience.
After the play, we stopped at EAT (The Real Food Company) for meat and chicken pies with some good beer. Later we returned to the hotel without incident finding some wine, cheese, and crackers at a local market along the way. We relaxed in the hotel room without the disappointment of watered down gin and celebrated another great day.