Day 125, 6 November 2012, London - Day 2 of London Pass extravaganza. Need to ensure we spend the equivalent of £50 per day on entry fees to ensure we get maximum value... managed £145. Great stuff. London Bridge Experience and London Tombs, Britain at War Experience, HMS Belfast, Old Operating Theatre Museum, Borough Market, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (No. 3).
We started this incredible day at the London Bridge Experience and London Tombs. Now we learned a lot of history about this bridge, but the main thrust of this location under the current London Bridge is essentially about scaring tourists to death. Especially Viviennes! In fact, I may be the only person to even visit the London Tombs (full of zombies and body parts and sneaky dressed up ghouls pinching us in the dark) who didn't actually see anything because I was so scared! James was brave and brought up the rear of our tourist convoy through the tombs. Spooky pookie. Next stop, in order to calm down, we went to the Britain at War Experience located near the London Bridge Tube station. This was super interesting and we both learned a huge amount about how regular folks lived during the Blitz and the rest of the war - rationing, farming for food, sheltering in tube stations (where they could even reserve a bunk!) We sat in a home bomb shelter called an Anderson shelter and walked through a representation of a bombed out movie theatre. Very moving. We moved on to museum ship HMS Belfast, now permanently moored on the Thames. In June 1944 she took part in Operation Overlord - supporting the landings on the beaches of Normandy. We were just there a couple of weeks ago and once more we are having history flashbacks - standing on the deck of a ship that was actually there. It was particularly fascinating seeing the hammocks and mess areas - even one for the ship's cat. We then moseyed along the banks of the Thames and found ourselves in the Borough Market - it was a cold, wet, dreary day and the fact there were any stall holders at all was admirable. (www.boroughmarket.org.uk) So we coughed up a couple of pounds for a brownie and a Bakewell slice before making our way to the Old Operating Theatre Museum near Guy's Hospital. Wow. This was a real step back in time - to the bad old days before anaesthetic or any understanding of germs and infection. Utterly fascinating nevertheless and one of the most astounding things about this tiny museum is the operating theatre had actually been lost. The hospital was moved, rooms were blocked up, entrances covered... and there it stayed until the 1960s - just a skylight that seemingly led to nowhere. Using the records and marks left by furnishings on the floor, the museum was created 50 years ago. So glad we went. So glad we didn't need surgery in the 1800s! http://www.thegarret.org.uk/visit.htm
It was getting late and dark by then (4 pm) so our last stop for the day was Shakespeare's Globe theatre. This is the third Globe theatre in London. A modern recreation using all the materials and techniques used in the original. Our only regret after touring the theatre was that the season had finished and we wouldn't have the opportunity to see a production. C'est la vie (and it saved us some money!) We walked over the Millennium Bridge to get back into the centre of town. The bridge was to celebrate the Millennium and has quite a bouncy feel about it even on a calm night - it can feel quite alarming in a strong wind apparently. In any event, we saw this gorgeous view of St Paul's and decided to call it a night. Chelmsford, off we went. Farewell, Goodnight, Sleep tight.