Our second day in London took us south of the Thames, and we explored the neighborhood around Shakespeare's Globe before heading back north to explore some of the oldest pubs in London.
I'm still kicking myself for this, but I completely forgot my good camera on this particular day! PERHAPS because of the wicked bartender from the night before? So all of these pictures are either taken on my iPhone or on Kristin, Julie or Jen's phones!
We started off the day by taking the tube to Mansion House and walking across the Southwark Bridge. You can see Bankside and Shakespeare's (new) Globe theater in the center and on the left.
Look out, London. The Skid Row ladies are on the move!
Me and my bestie-cousin-roomie on the Southwark Bridge.
The sassy queens (and I literally mean this... we had tiaras) were rocking the Southwark Bridge.
Our first and very brief stop was the original site of Shakespeare's Globe Theater! WHAT? How cool! Every time I'm in London, I try to see something I haven't seen before and this was certainly something! What you see here is the projected outer wall of the theater.
Here is a good map of what we are looking at. The picture above this one is in the bottom left side of this map.
Do you see some cobblestones in the center of the picture (and beyond) that are slightly different colored? That's on purpose. That's the exact location of where they found the archeological remains of the original Globe Theater. They found all of this in 1989. As they say on the sign, "The remains lie approximately two meters below the present ground surface and are protected by a specially designed preservation system. The materials used will allow natural movement of groundwater (which protects the remains) and will prevent any contamination from ground level. The system is designed to preserve this part of this internationally important site."
Oh London, you are so funny. Not far from the Globe, but on our way toward Winchester Palace, we spotted this.
On our way to Winchester Palace, we decided to stop at the Clink Prison Museum. The Clink is the MOST notorious medieval prison in all of London! It was open between 1144-1780. Phew.
This was a really fun little museum and as you can see, wasn't super expensive.
You are entering the original site of the Clink, the prison that gave it's name to all others.
Outside of the payment spot is a sign that reads, "Ring for jailer." Bay REALLY just wanted to ring this bell. So she told the guy at the desk that she was going to ring it, but maybe he didn't believe her? She was definitely testing him! Of course, she eventually rang the bell (like she's doing here) while never breaking eye contact!
This way to the gaol!
These mannequins were... something! Is this supposed to be Joe Biden!? Or maybe Christopher Walken?! I kid! He was Henry of Blois, a bishop of Winchester, brother of King Stephen and a grandson of William the Conqueror. Apparently, as a son/brother of a king, he was named Bishop of Winchester and got to build himself a palace!
This is so cool! Remains of the Clink Prison wall for 100 years (from 1680 to 1780!)
There is a decent sized room that shows plenty of examples of the torture devices used at the prison throughout the years. You know... like the boot and chastity belts and stuff! In this case, they're giving examples of the branding they would put on their foreheads before displaying their heads on pikes. V was for vagabond (uh oh, would I be put to death for being a vagabond???) and M was for malefactor (or wrongdoer), etc.
The fake blood was a nice touch on the chopping block.
Julie was mouthing off about King Charles again so they threw her in the Clink!
YES! Superlative, check!!!
Literally adjacent to the Clink was the very old remains of Winchester Palace. The incredibly still intact Rose Window on the western wall of the Great Hall is likely from the 14th century, although a Great Hall of this Palace has been here in some form since the days of the Bishop Henry of Blois. So... 1100s.
Interestingly, this was once one of the largest and most important buildings in all of London. What you see above (that appear to be small windows) were actually the doors to the pantry, buttery and kitchen. There were two courtyards in the palace with many buildings surrounding them, such as a butchery, a brewery and of course... a prison!
We made our way over to the Old Thameside Inn where we had a couple of cocktails and a snack, and although the site is historic for being a former spice market that dates back to the 1500s, I did not manage to take a single picture when we were there! I don't think any of us did! After our break, we walked back along Bankside on the Thames and saw the NEW Globe Theater. It's only been around since 1997, but they had to fight like crazy for the thatched roof that you see above because there are STRICT laws against thatch roofs ever since the great fire of 1666!
As we kept walking along the Thames, we could see the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral across the river! And a bunch of cranes. Are there ever NOT any cranes in London??
Ahhh. I never miss an opportunity to see one of my favorite churches in ALL of the world!
But of course, you cannot take pictures in St. Paul's on Sundays during any services, unfortunately. So this is all you can get. They were having an organ concert while we were in there which was really lovely. It wasn't an official service (as in... not a mass) but it was official enough to have the "no photography" signs up.
Well in that case, we should probably hit up another pub.
The next stop was YE OLDE CHESHIRE CHEESE, which I think is my most favorite name of any pub on the planet.
This thing has been around FOREVER. It was rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire of 1666 which started just down the road from here. The Great Fire of 1666 western extent wasn't far from this spot, but sadly, the YOCC was destroyed in the fire because it had been a wooden building. And get this - YOCC was a known stomping ground of Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain! (Side note: This sign will sadly need updating soon, insert sad face here!)
Saturday, 30th April, 1859, Charles Dickens, pen name "Boz" operated out of the Cheshire Cheese Pub while producing his journal "All the Year Round."
Hopefully Dickens wasn't super tall. Cause Jen had to mind her head at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese!
There has been a pub on this site since 1538, so Julie and I needed some photographic evidence that we were here, in the deepest depths of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. This is a really wild pub because it's spread out across multiple levels, and aside from the ground level, there are no windows or doors to the outside. There is literally no light from the outside in here. And it winds up and down and all around. The site of this pub is thought to be formerly a 13th century monastery (the room we are in here is thought to be a part of that monastery) and appropriately, an 18th century brothel.
At Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, they sell magic water for fun people! Although I only had a Coke here. So. Not as fun.
REBUILT. 1667.
Soon we were moving on, hoping to get a spot at the Seven Stars. We walked through the Bell Yard to get there and Jen took this super adorable picture.
Once on Carey Street near our destination, we noticed there were FOUR iconic phone booths. Only there were also only four of us, so we had to take two separate pics and stitch them together. If we have weird looks on our faces, it's because we had seen a guy peeing in a phone booth across town so... cool.
Julie leads the way, anxious to hit up the OLDEST PUB IN ALL OF LONDON (you know, because the fire didn't reach this far.) Sadly though... the place was packed. This pub is from 1602 - the year before the end of Elizabeth I's reign! There is even SOME speculation that Shakespeare himself may have enjoyed a pint or two here. But that's pure speculation, of course. Because this pub is behind the Royal Courts of Justice, it has long been known as a place where lawyers celebrate their victories.
Unfortunately, because the Seven Stars was so packed with no spot for seating (and although it had tables outside, there were no chairs - and we were hungry at this point), we had to move along. We walked through the campus of the London School of Economics, and I spotted this gem. My buddy Grant loves maps and globes, as do I - and I love that someone slapped an upside down massive globe here. This is known as "The World Turned Upside Down" (ok Hamilton fans, sing it with me!). It challenges the bias that the earth's "north" pole is well... north, or facing up.
After some dinner, we headed back to the hotel where we did little undereye masks - you know. So we look like the hottest 40 somethings in all of London the following day for the Skid Row show. I think it worked. Stay tuned for all of that!
