Noel's Adventure(s): January 24: COLD!

I had a pretty basic day today. Got some work done in the morning and afternoon, went grocery shopping, etc. Then, at 5, I had to meet my Theater (or rather "Theatre") professor in a pub by the Thames for class. Only in England! Anyway, some friends and I left early to explore the area. We got out of the tube station near St. Paul's Cathedral and walked across the Milennium Bridge. It was beautiful. We were there just around when the sun was setting, so there was just enough light to see, but it was dark enough that all the lights around the river were shining. It was COLD though! To top everything off, it had to be "misting," so no rain was actually coming down, but there was heavy mist everywhere that the wind blew sideways, so my hair was wet by the time we made it to the pub. The professor took us around to kind of familiarize us with the area-the old Theatre district. We passed Shakespeare's reconstructed Globe, which was fun. I really, really hope to see a show there before I leave. In the 16th century, the area we walked would have been full of taverns, bear baiting arenas, gambling dens and brothels. These places were allowed to exist because, being across the Thames, they were technically not in London, and thus not under the jurisdiction of the councils that would have banned them (they did eventually get banned when the Civil War started in 1642). We also walked to the National Theatre, where we'll be seeing Hamlet tomorrow. It's just a big concrete building that they shine colored lights on to make it less ugly. After an hour of walking, the professor let us run home to thaw out. I'm really excited about Hamlet tomorrow night!