Goin' to the Shunt Yard

Friday, July 9
London, Day 4
This may have been our longest day. We did a lot and loved every minute of it.
My first choice was a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Glenys, our petite guide was extremely knowledgeable about the theatre and its history. The backstage and upper reaches ended up off-limits due to an unexpected rehearsal to replace one of the actors. Not a problem - Glenys filled in the time quite nicely and led us into the seats to watch some of the rehearsal. I bought a few souvenirs in the shop before we left, very happy with the tour.

It was too hot a day to linger on the river bank,


so we hopped onto one of the fast river ferries for the trip down the river to the London Eye.












That was really fun, providing unexpected views of the city.













We grabbed a bite to eat at the (anything but) Zen cafe, a noisy and hectic tea room.

Refreshed, we managed the walk across the Milenium Bridge to Westminster Abby.






















At the far side of the bridge was a wonderful bronze of Boadicia in full war regalia. Got a few good shots of her.














Westminster Abbey was truly awesome in it's age and burden of history.























The building itself felt almost overpowering with footsteps echoing on the marble floor and arches towering above. After the opulence of St. Paul's it seemed austere but the grandeur of the burial sites and memorials was unmistakable. So many of the greatest of British figures were buried or commemorated there. We visited the graves of Queen Elizabeth and Mary, of all the many kings and nobles, of the great scientists like Darwin, of explorers and politicians, poets and authors. Too many to relate - it is something that must be experienced in the moment. Facinating to see and to read. Another thing that I loved is that momuments and death masks that survived the great fire in the 1660's were there to see in their scarred state. We stayed until visitors were ushered out for the start of a service. I should also mention that the docents at Westminster were particularly kind and accommodating, helping us to find Darwin, for instance, to make sure that we were able to visit him before that section closed. Lesson learned from previous sites that closed down by sections.
I had been in touch with a cousin, Yvonne Sell, who agreed to meet us at the end of her workday on Grosvener Street so we hopped on the tube and headed for Belgravia. Woo-whoo! Another amazing part of London! Wasn't I just keen on looking her up at the brilliant white building that we found at the end of our journey, and thinking how much fun it was going to be walking in all grubby at the end of a touristy day to an immaculate foyer and asking for her. Ack! As luck would have it a text arrived just as we mounted the stairs, instructing us on where to find her at a pub tucked away in a mews 2 blocks further along.

No mistaking Yvonne - we recognized each other immediately as Cadeaus (my mother's family) and got on like a house afire over a couple of ales for her and Jan and cider for me.

So much fun to meet Tim's little sister, youngest of the Sell brood and another strong independent female member of my extended family. She is a management consultant by trade and a rock climber for fun. Neato! We kept it brief as she had to pack for a weekend of climbing and we were due at the Shunt Yard by 9.
Jamie worked the box office for the Shunt Theatre and had invited us to see their play Money, highly recommended by Erin. So off we went on the tube again to Tower Bridge station. We had to walk a number of blocks through questionable underpasses beneath the tracks. But the twilight and the lighting kept us feeling safe and comfortable. We arrived in time but with no time to eat so we grabbed seats at a atable inside and waited for the show to begin. What a show it was! A contemporary piece of collaborative experimental theatre, Money challenged audience members to go along for the ride, to trust and cooperate through scenes of repetitious und loud machine sound, darkness, characters whose lines and actions were not entirely obvious, but were intriguing nonetheless. The main theme was one of greed, the recurring question "what do you want?", and while the answer appeared to be "money" there were suggestions re love, belonging, family as well as references or swipes at corporate corruption, Nazism, and indidelity. And probably much else that I can't recall at the moment. Great fun! Thoughtful, clever, provocative and along with the astonishing machanistic tri-level performance space and set,completely brilliant. We were exhillerated and exhausted by the time we emerged at the end. Too tired and too late to buy Jamie a drink. So we said thank you and good night and headed backl to the Ibis. With the trip to Salisbury demanding early rising the next day, we were anxious to turn in and get a good night's sleep.