After the seminar ended, I hopped on the Tube and headed to London Bridge so that I could do Rick Steves's Bankside Walk. I began at the bridge (which I crossed to see the monument to the Great Fire before returning to the south bank), first coming across Southwark Cathedral, which I visited. The self-tour pamphlet was a bit lackluster, but the Shakespeare memorial was certainly worth seeing (I particularly enjoyed the nods to his characters in the stained-glass window above the statue...can't argue with a stained-glass skull). Shortly after the Cathedral, I spotted the Golden Hinde replica, which seemed oddly crowded (apparently it was Pirate Fun day!). Then I continued down the bankside until I made my way to the Globe again. I had planned to do the tour today, but since the actors were in rehearsal, photos would have been prohibited, so I will go on another day. Finally, I ended my walk at the Tate Modern, which I wandered for a while. My favorite piece was a large-scale installation called "Thirty Pieces of Silver" by Cornelia Parker. She collected random silver objects at thrift shops and boot sales (or yard sales, depending on where you're reading this), had them run over with a steamroller, and hung them in thirty circular clusters from long wires attached to the ceiling, almost like a mobile. (One section was particularly mobile after a small child knocked over the cord separating the spectators from the piece and the cord snapped in toward it...) I was also surprised by the number of people who brought small children to the Tate Modern, especially those who were running around and yelling. (And by "surprised," I mean "disgruntled," of course...)
After I made my way back along the bankside and took the Tube home (I needed to stop by the local grocery store before it closed tonight), I went into town again to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was a sight to behold! I wandered around the exhibits for three hours and still felt like there was so much more to see. I started with the classical exhibits (China, Japan, Renaissance Europe, India, Iran, Classical Sculpture), then visited the current exhibit on Fashion, which was really fun. My favorite pieces included a Victorian wedding dress and a modern twist on the "little black dress" made of a petticoat and eighteen bras. (Yes, I took pictures...it's better seen than described...) They also have a new exhibit about Theatre and Performance, which was like a picnic for me! It featured so many different objects on display, ranging from a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio to one of Pete Townshead's destroyed guitars to a full-scale exact replica of Kylie Minogue's dressing room. (By the way, I never realized how short Mick Jagger is...judging by his costume on display, we are about the same height...and Elton John isn't exactly a giant either.) Because I am a dork, I was most excited by a prompt book from the 1700s. The story is much better with exact dates and whatnot, but I really don't want to run up to my room and check my notes, so just know that I will add more details regarding the prompt book later...my favorite detail, though, was a note about having a stone ready to drop in a pool of water backstage, since one character drowned herself during a scene. There was also a Victorian prompt book in a primitive three-ring binder with page-marking tabs sticking out from various scenes. (Copious amounts of mockery from my friends and colleagues for considering this the highlight of my museum experience...GO!)
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