London, Part 7: Golden Hinde, Globe and Gryffindor?

In the final day of Marina and Linda's trip, they managed to pack in as much sightseeing as possible.

They saw a replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, the Golden Hinde. Ah, the life of a privateer! Queen Elizabeth I had the original ship preserved, and it became the first maritime museum...


They went to the Globe theater. These gates were designed by various artists. (The first picture is two pictures I combined.) Each decoration is a reference from a different Shakespeare play...

This timeline shows events surrounding the theaters in Shakespeare's time...

The Globe Theater is a replica of the original, which had been destroyed in a fire. Here is the stage. The columns are wood, like the original, but painted to look like marble. A lot of what we know about the Globe is from travelers' accounts...


A production of The Merry Wives of Windsor was doing technical rehearsals that day. They stayed for part of it, but photography was not allowed. Here is a view of the balconies...

Here is a costume from the Globe museum...

Outside view of the theater. There is an authentic thatched roof, the only thatched roof in London. Thatch is illegal in London because it's so flammable. To have the roof approved, the theater had to have a special sprinkler system set up on it...


After the Globe tour, they crossed the Millenium Bridge and visited Cleopatra's Needle, which is not really Cleopatra's, but her name is easier to say...

Then they went to Covent Garden, which is like a covered market full of stores, craftspeople and performers. From there they searched for the Hogwarts Express station at King's Cross. This is for all the Harry Potter fans...


And that was their day. Marina's parting shot of London was a view from their hotel at dawn...