Rob and I took a trip into London for a few days at the weekend. I do love wandering around London, I think it stems back to the days when I used to work in the City many years ago. I don't think I've ever worked in any other place since, that holds the same buzz, excitement and promise of so much to see and explore.
We used to meet up with friends after work and go for meals, drinks, the theatre and shows and we used to say we'd try and see as much of it as we can, while we lived just a train ride away. Twenty six years later and still that same train ride away, we are still exploring and enjoying London.
When we celebrated Rob's birthday and our silver wedding, our girls surprised us with vouchers for a tour of the Globe and an afternoon tea. That was the main reason for our visit this time around. Unfortunately I was poorly for a few months in November, December and January, so we had to postpone going, then life became too busy for a while, especially with a brand new puppy, so we only just managed to get round to organising things.
It felt good to be visiting the Globe in the year of Shakespeare's birthday celebrations. I'm a big fan of Shakespeare having studied his plays for A level and my love for his work has never dwindled. I'd been to the Globe with my classes when I used to teach, but being there without thirty children in tow, this weekend's visit was much more relaxed as you can imagine. There were lots of school groups there amongst all the hustle and bustle and I will admit that I didn't envy the teachers!
The Globe is a busy working theatre and we were really lucky as a rehearshal for Macbeth was going on while we went in the theatre. We weren't allowed to speak or take any photos, but it was great to watch the company practising different scenes and watch the director at work.
We also visited the Shard and had a lovely meal at a restaurant there. We were lucky as it was a clear day and evening and the views were far reaching and stunning. As we had dinner, we watched the clouds reaching in over the outskirts of the city and a storm brewing. We had a table facing the window and watched the lightening and rain in the distance. Later after dusk, the whole city lit up before us, another iconic view.
We stayed overnight in the Shard too and had a glorious view of the city. When we first woke early in the morning the tops of the city buildings were shrouded in mist, another sight to see. It soon lifted and was another bright day.
Another lovely trip, some of it down memory lane, but making many new memories too...
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