A laid-back pub and some sightseeing

Today we spent most of the afternoon in a very laid back pub. Some sightseeing as well and a very beautiful lit up London by night.

Sunday
It was not until noon till we arrived at the south bank of the Thames. I really wanted to visit the Globe of Shakespeare, but since I was the only one, I decided to go alone. Before entering the building, I enjoyed a nice chicken bagel near the Wobbly Bridge and bought a ticket for the exhibition and guided tour. Luckily, they accepted my student card, so I even managed to get some discount. The exhibition itself was interesting, but most of the facts of Shakespeare`s life and plays I actually already knew. The guided tour was definitely worth it, since the woman who guided us through the theatre was very enthusiastic and spoke with a beautiful British accent. She told the group about some of the Globe`s history and gave us a glance of the main stage of the Globe, which is located in the centre. This stage is completely in the open air, with a thatched rooftop only covering the audience benches and most of the actual performing stage. She told us that in the 16th century the flag on top of the Globe informed whether or not a play was going to be performed that day. The buildings across the river at that time were only 2 stories high, so most people could see from their homes whether or not they could go the theatre that afternoon. This mostly depended on the weather, because of the absence of a roof. Nowadays, there are many bridges in London, at that time there was only the London Bridge. Therefore, many people mainly crossed the river by boat to reach the Globe.

I would really love to see a play there sometime. These days, plays are only performed during the summer, because the fall and winters are just too cold for an outdoor performance. Well, anyway, the tour was fascinating and the Globe really beautiful to see.
At around 2 pm we went to a pub in Hoxton Square. This is the place to be on Friday nights and Saturday nights apparently. We met up with friends from Friday night and an Australian woman who coincidentally was also in town for a few days. We had some drinks and some great gnocchi or something with tomato sauce, gorgonzola and who knows what more, but it was so very delicious! Really cheap as well, so totally worth it. The atmosphere in the pub is really laid back and there was even a dj there, quite remarkable for a Sunday afternoon.

The rest of the night we walked through the main shopping streets of London, near Piccadilly Circus. We even got very near to the hostel I stayed in last time I was in London. Oxford Streetand Regent Street have already been adorned with December lights, which gives the city a very romantic look. We made some great pictures there! Also passed by West End, where we tried to get a hold of four theatre tickets for the Phantom of the Opera, but unfortunately the only tickets still available were more than 40 pounds…each. Tempting….but no. We`ll probably try again tomorrow to get some cheaper tickets.

Chinatown is supposed to be beautiful as well at night, but I found it to be a little disappointing. It smelled bad and most of the lights from the arches were either dead or missing.
On our way back to the tube station we encountered a very nice kind of Egyptian/eastern tea house, where we had a very good pot of tea! Surrounded by eastern decorations, water pipes and eastern music I really had the feeling I was in some faraway country. Quite an experience! I believe the place is called Momo, somewhere situated near Oxford Street/Regent Street. You might wonder if we tried the water pipe. Well, honestly, I’ve never smoked water pipe before in my life and did want to try of course. However, we were out of luck, it was almost 10 pm and Momo was closing… So no water pipe for us. Instead we took the nearest tube to the hostel.

The day went by really fast, probably because it was not till noon till we actually actively started the day and well, I enjoyed myself yet again, which always makes time fly.