London

We saved the biggest city for last.  Our hotel was on the south bank, and since we’ve both seen the big attractions before (Buckingham, Tower of London, Westminster, etc.) we decided to focus our two days in London on the south side.

We started off with a play, Macbeth, at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.  This was possibly the highlight of my whole trip.  It was amazing.  The acting, the music, the participation with the audience (do you see the “groundings” standing for the whole play as they would have done in Shakespeare’s time?), the open-air theatre (using only words to indicate the time and weather, e.g., “The night has been unruly”)… it was all so engaging and powerful.  I loved it!  (And Luke enjoyed seeing Billy Boyd, Pippen from Lord of the Rings, playing Banquo.)

St. Paul’s from the South Bank

Big Ben from the South Bank

Borough Market, a food market in Southwark, 5 minutes from our hotel

Enjoying a raspberry tart from the market

Descending to the Tube.

Fantastic Indian food at Bangalore followed by the musical Once at the Phoenix Theater in London.  It was a great show for the last night of our trip.  Very entertaining, quaint, and moving… a unique theater experience for sure.  We loved it. 

A final stop at the Sherlock Holmes Pub on our way back to the hotel.