Tourist Leisure Attractions: Shakespeare Globe

Mike's a big Kylie fan so it was off to London's Victoria & Albert museum to see: Kylie - The Exhibition.  We went with our friend Bob who's also a Kylie fan!  Yes, that's Kylie's poster outside the V&A.

Bummer!  Don't we just hate it when we find taking photos isn't allowed!  So we haven't any to show for our visit.  It's enough to put you off Kylie.  Here's the ornate V&A restaurant where we refreshed before...

...taking a look at the John Madejski Garden at the V&A, which was popular in the warm April sunshine.

Moving on then, a short tube ride to Blackfriars later and we found a pub with outside area to enjoy a pint sitting in the sun.
London's pretty easy to get around, see our resources section for London and UK travel websites.

The Millennium Bridge cost £18 million and links the north and south banks of the River Thames from St Paul's Cathedral to the Tate Modern.  It's infamous for the wobble it suffered when first opened in June 2000 which cost another £5 million to fix.

Checking the info board under the Millennium Bridge.

That's St Paul's Cathedral in the background as we started to cross the bridge.  Now come on Mike, don't be scared, they've fixed the wobble now.

Despite Mike's best efforts, we can report that there's no sign of a wobble now on the Millennium Bridge.  As for Mike, his wobble could be put down to that earlier pint!  As we approached the south side we spotted our next destination, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, located here with a big yellow arrow.

Shakespeare's Globe was completed in 1997 at a cost of £30 million on virtually the same spot as the original.  It's next door to the Tate Modern.

For £9 we had a guided tour of the Globe Theatre which lasted around 40 minutes, following which we were able to wander around the exhibition next door.

Once inside the Globe we followed our entertaining guide to the lower area and heard all about the international artists playing a summer season of plays.

Building work was still in progress so we had to contend with some banging and crashing.  Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.

Here's a long shot showing the entire stage area at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  It's amazing that all plays use just the one table and chair for props - very minimalist.  Thereby hangs a tale.  Our tour...

...of the Globe finished in the upper area.  Mike wanted to get up on stage and recite 'To be or not to be', but Belinda pointed out he'd need to be exceedingly well read.  Oh, that way madness lies.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre had recently been used in an episode of Dr Who, so it was fitting to see a section devoted to this.  Visit our UK tourist resources for the Globe Theatre website.

No Mike, you wouldn't be able to jog very far in all that Shakespeare clobber, now change back into your present day clothes!  After our tour, we wandered around the interesting exhibits.

We spent around 1½ hours at the wonderful Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, including the tour.  Back outside now with the River Thames and Millennium Bridge as a backdrop.

The whole Southbank area was buzzing, at the end of an enjoyable day out in London.  Well, we can't have too much of a good thing and all's well that ends well.  (OK, now done with the Shakespeare quotes!).