Last Day in the UK! It Rhymes!

The globe from the outside
London, England

Our last day in the UK was pretty relaxed; just wandering. The first stop of the day was the reconstructed Globe Theater. The Globe is on the banks of the Thames, and is pretty true to the original 17th century specifications. The only major changes are in regard to fire regulations; fewer people can enjoy a show at once, and they now have electricity.

We were the first tour group of the day and when we entered the theater it was empty. We managed to take a few good pictures before 100 French high school students joined us. It must have been tour group day because we ran into them everywhere. I would love to see a play here, but in early April, they aren’t showing any yet.

Ice Mice on the Millennium Bridge
London, England

We left the Globe and walked toward St. Paul’s Cathedral over the Millennium Bridge. This is the bridge attacked by Death Eaters in the cinematic version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We were going to pretend to witness the attacks when something else drove all other thoughts from our minds: ice mice. Someone had placed about a dozen mice on the bridge; they were made of ice. I only wish a sign had warned us ahead of time; watch for ice on bridge.

Twinings Tea Shop on the Strand
London, England

We next looped around St. Paul’s, a lovely church designed by the famous architect Christopher Wren. We admired it from the outside and continued along The Strand, stopping eventually at Twinings. Twinings is a tea company and we visited their original shop in London; it opened in 1706. Inside the Strand Shop are few displays of antique teas and memorabilia—oh, and tea!

The shop smelled amazing, and there were many ways to customize your tea purchase. I bought a few tins; they’re beautiful and I may even repurpose them into a craft once they’re empty. The shop was well lit and a pleasure to explore; the front door is still original.

Lincoln's Inn Fields aka #12 Grimmauld Place
London, England

When we left, we wandered over to Lincoln’s Inns Fields. This area was a little less genteel; there was a van distributing food for the homeless. How fitting then that this area provided the exteriors for #12 Grimmauld Place, Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. We snapped our pictures and returned to the more populated streets.

Leadenhall Market
London, England

Grimmauld Place was quite different from the other HP exteriors set we visited: Leadenhall Market. This is a covered market with a lot of specialty shops. The area is very quaint; each address is made of mosaicked tile. One particular sore in the market held our interest: The Glass House. Though it has since changed hands, The Glass House was used to film the muggle side of The Leaky Cauldron. It’s blue now, but the exterior is otherwise the same.

The Glass House in Leadenhall Market
London, England

We also visited a Waterstone’s Bookshop while in Leadenhall market. The internet can help you find any number of books on a particular subject, but I still maintain the best place to find information about the city you’re in is the local bookshop. Here you will find books you didn’t even know existed, sometimes as translations from other languages. It’s also more fun to buy a book in a store than it is online. You can hold it, feel the weight of it in your hand, and peer through its pages before purchasing.

I was on a hunt for a particular Jack the Ripper book, authored by the London Walks guide, Donald Rumbelow. Here on the blog I’ve directed you to Amazon, but that is because you are (probably) not in London. The first store didn’t have the book, but they directed me to another stores in the city; the hunt continued.


Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip
Shakespeare's Globe
St. Paul's Cathedral
Twinings Tea
Waterstones Bookstore
Jack the Ripper Book by Donald Rumbelow