Day 9: Back to London/The Globe Theater

I took the train from Bournemouth back to London and checked in at the Westminster Hotel. Didn't have the charm of a nice B&B but it was clean and in London, not the outskirts. There was also a nice view of a city garden. I'm not sure what they are called there but it is a fenced-in, private area with flowers and trees for the tenants of that specific building/property.

Being that it was my 2nd to last full day in England, I had to hit The Globe Theater. It is a must see for enthusiasts of the Elizabethan/Shakespearean age. This is a replica Globe built by hand with Elizabethan tools using documentation, drawings, and the archaeological remains of the Rose Theater. It took 10 years to complete and is the only structure, in London, that has and is licensed to have a thatched roof (it does have a hidden sprinkler system).

I'm typically not one for tours as I like to wander at my own pace but I am glad I decided to take one of the Globe. The guides were very animated, knowledgeable, and entertaining. I learned tons of "fun facts" about the theater-goers of Shakespeare's day. If you weren't able to afford a bench seat, you were standing on the main floor at the foot of the stage in the center of all the seats around you. Let's call it the pit. Apparently the pit was also the loo. Yes folks, that means the toilet. There was much drinking and rowdyness at these productions that lasted for several hours. If you had to go out of theater to relieve yourself, then you had to pay another admission fee to get back in. Well many people could barely afford to get in as it was and others didn't want to miss anything and there was this nice dirt floor...you get the picture.

Imagine the stench wafting around from the pit coupled with the fact that most people only bathed at Christmas and Easter (it's said the Queen bathed monthly). Additionally, people would chew on gloves of garlic to "ward of illness". Yuuuuck! No wonder Queen Elizabeth remained a virgin!