Wonderful London!

We’ve been to this fabulous city a few times. We are keen to see and experience a few different places, of course peppered with some old favourites.

Our first new experience is lunch at the Piazza Restaurant at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

The Piazza is on the rooftop of the Royal Opera House. They have a wonderful lunchtime special menu. You can choose 2 courses for £26 or 3 courses for £34.00. It’s a little bit hidden away. To find it, you go into the Royal Opera House. You go up a flight of stairs and then the escalators. It was a positively delightful experience, and we’d love to come back on a sunny day.

While we are here in Covent Garden we make our way to Neal’s Yard. Another hidden jewel, that we would have missed if we hadn’t known where to look. Neal’s Yard is known as one of London’s prettiest streets. It’s a colourful little courtyard, even on a wet day. Each of the shops embraces sustainable and ethical commercial practices.

The Infinity Chamber is a very cool concept. It’s all about taking five minutes out of your day to spend some time indulging in restorative light therapy. The Chamber is located in Conduit Court on Floral Street. It’s also here in Convent Garden. It’s another spot that would be easy to miss.

We called in to say hi to the King and Queen while we were here. Sadly, they were Australia bound.

A visit to the Globe Theatre was another first for us. We watched a wonderfully contemporary performance of The Taming of the Shrew.

Built in the late 1590’s the Globe has always been associated William Shakespeare. Named the Globe after the figure of Hercules carrying a globe on his back. A flag of Hercules with the globe was raised above the Theatre. It displayed the Latin motto “tatus mundus agit histrionem” or “all the world’s a playhouse”.

Disaster struck in 1613. The Globe was burnt to the ground due to cannon fire. It was intended to announce the arrival of the King at a performance (yikes)! It was rebuilt by February 1614, but in 1642 parliament ordered the closing of all theatres. By 1644 the Globe had been destroyed and the land sold.

In 1970, Samuel Wanamaker, an American actor, set up the Shakespeare’s Globe Trust. He pursued his dream of reconstructing the original Globe Theatre. The new Globe Theatre opened in 1997. Historians, scholars, and architects had worked together for almost 30 years to get it right. What an excellent job they have done.

The atmosphere is so good at the Globe, it’s great fun and the performances outstanding. Prices range from £8 to £75. It depends on whether you want to stand in the audience (with the great unwashed 😂) or where you sit.

A couple of ticks on items on the bucket list ✅and there is more to come.