Thames Festival – London in the evening

After my visit to Greenwich I returned to Westminster pier and encountered the Thames Festival in full swing.  The waterfront from Westminster to the OXO Tower (that was as far as I walked) was packed with people and stalls selling all manner of things. Although crowds aren’t really my thing, it seemed silly not to go have a look at all the stuff that was going on.

Crowds on the green

Parliament in the evening

Southbank and the Eye

Embankment

All’s well that ends well

On Sunday I had my trip to the National Theatre at Southbank to see a production of All’s well that ends well. While it was a good show, I didn’t come away quite so buoyed up as my visit to the Globe but I think it had less to do with the cast and more to do with the story. As you like it is one of the pastoral comedies and has a very light touch but All’s well that ends well is one of Shakespeare’s tragicomedies and as such, some parts of it had a slightly darker tone.

There were some quite funny moments, many of them featuring the character of Parolles but it is definitely one of the Shakespearean stories that makes me wonder why on earth the lead female character would want the lead male character.  Helena goes after Bertram in spite of his disdain for her, his abandonment of her, his wooing of another and generally dodgy attitude towards women.  I have similar issues with Hero and Claudio in Much ado about nothing.  He treats her with contempt for sins she had not committed and yet she still marries him.  I don’t get it. 

Apart from that, it was a very enjoyable story and the real highlights were the set design and costumes.  And that probably makes me sound like a geek but the set was fantastic and the costumes ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous and every historical era in between. I don’t have pictures of either of these things because you can’t take photos inside the theatre but here are some pics outside showing Britain’s continuing love affair with looming concrete edifices.

 

National Theatre

NT from the second level

NT forecourt with entertainment

NT grass garden and theatre goers enjoying intermission

As you like it

Although I haven’t posted any of my pictures from last weekend (and I had a lovely trip to Greenwich) I thought I’d put up a couple of pics of my visit to the Globe Theatre to see a production of the Shakespeare comedy As you like it. It was great fun and I really enjoyed it.  It’s been ages since I’ve been to the theatre and it made me wonder why I don’t go more.  The actors were excellent and the play very amusing.  If you visit London during the Globe season (usually June to October) I suggest getting tickets because it’s well worth it. You can buy groundling (standing) tickets for 5 pounds (it’s just occurred to me I don’t know where my pound symbol key is), with the other tickets ranging from 15 – 33 pounds.  I had a 15 pound ticket which is classed as limited view but because most of the action happened toward the front of the stage I didn’t really miss anything.

filling up before the performance

it's a bit blurry but this is best picture I took of the stage

You’re not allowed to take pictures during the performance, so this is all I can share about the inside of the theatre. There is also a short run of Love’s labour’s lost on at the Globe before the end of season that I might try and see as well. And to continue on the Shakespearean theme, tomorrow I’m going to the National Theatre at Southbank to see a Sunday afternoon matinee of All’s well that ends well.

Weekend of markets

The weekend is the best time to enjoy some of London’s markets, so I decided to visit two different parts of London and sample their markets this weekend. This first post is about my visit on Saturday to Borough market and the Southbank.  The weather is still holding here, for the most part, but the temperature has dropped a few degrees.  Saturday was a lovely sunny day to be wandering around Borough and Southwark.  I caught the tube to London Bridge station and from there headed to Southwark Cathedral just down the street.  It is a beautiful Cathedral and although it has a long history, I know it as the starting place for the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. 

Southwark Cathedral

from another angle

Right next door is Borough market. It’s all about food. If you want to know where to get a an Ostrich burger – Borough market is your place.  And these trips to the markets would be cheap sightseeing days, if I didn’t buy so many snacks…(not that I eat Ostrich burgers).

Borough Market

It was actually more crowded than it looks. The market was packed full of people, many of whom brought wheelie suitcases to fill up with food.  In fact, many people here (tourists mostly I’m assuming) seem to shop with suitcases.  Doesn’t matter if it’s Piccadilly or Regent Streets, Borough or Shoreditch markets.  I don’t know why you would want to buy that much stuff (although groceries make a bit more sense) and I find them annoying because they are dragged really slowly in everyone’s (my) way.

I also visited The Clink Museum which is nearby. It’s a privately owned museum documenting life in the early prison called The Clink that existed in the area for hundreds of years.  While it was an ok way to spend half an hour, I wouldn’t recommend making a special trip. It wasn’t the best put together display I’ve seen recently and some areas had signs that were just laminated and tacked up on the wall (including a blurry picture of puppies printed off a computer entitled The Police Animal section – and that was it, just the picture). Clearly at some point there was money put it into researching and creating the displays but it’s beginning to look a little worn around the edges.

The Globe Theatre

On my way from Borough market to the Tate Modern I walked past the Globe Theatre. I wandered in to pick up some info about tours and shows (which run till early October), so will definitely be going back another day to check it out some more. And here’s the Tate Modern. I know it’s fashionable to be in love with this place but I am a much bigger fan of the Tate Britain (which is currently running a William Blake exhibition I want to go see).

Tate Modern

 

Tate Modern main hall

The Tate Modern is housed in an old electricity station and it’s a fantastic space. One of the entrances is to the top of the picture and the galleries are to the right.  Housed on multiple levels, you’d think they would be tiny considering how much open space there is here, but they’re not.  It’s room after room of modern art exhibitions. And it also has some great views across the Thames looking towards the city.  Here’s a photo I took through one of the windows of the Millennium Bridge and St Paul’s.

view from Tate

Up next is a trip to the east end to visit the Spitalfields and Brick Lane markets in Shoreditch.

More Southbank images

I took more pictures of Southbank during my trip to Brisbane for the Game On exhibition.  Here’s a few of the other good ones.  It was a beautiful day to be out and about.

Surely every large city has one of these by now?

The wheel is right by the river, conveniently situated right near the tour bus drop off point.

Brisbane river with citycat and central library in view

I like being in cities with a river flowing through them (even if it is an interesting shade of brown).  The central library is the partly blue building hiding behind the bridge and flyovers.

The older Queensland Art Gallery

We also now have a Gallery of Modern Art nearby but I don’t have picture of that building yet.  This is the one I grew up visiting.  Some of the artworks are so familiar it can throw me off when they get moved (as galleries tend to do with their collections from time to time).

Southbank images

Southbank, Brisbane that is.  I know the phrase Southbank conjures up idyllic pictures of Paris and the Seine, or maybe London and the Thames (yes the Thames can be scenic).  But no, I have pictures of Southbank, Brisbane.  It’s the best I can do for now.

These pictures were taken on a trip to Brisbane a weekend or two ago.  It was a beautiful sunny day (it was also quite hot too).  I couldn’t tell at the time which pictures would turn out because of all the glare, but some of them are ok.

This first one is of the bougainvillea archways at Southbank.  They provide a shady and colourful walkway through the gardens to markets.  Although you can’t see a lot of flowers in this picture, the bougainvilleas are a rich vibrant purple colour that look absolutely lovely when in flower.

The next one is another view of the bougainvilleas.  In this one you can see some more of the purple flowers.

This picture is of a sculpture near the State Library.  You can see the towers of the CBD in the background.

These are just a few of the pics I took on the day, I’ll post some more another time.