"All the world's a stage"

Yesterday, my friend and I went into London to check out the British Library, Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral, and the Globe Theatre.

In the British Library, I got to see famous pieces of music such as a draft of Handel's Messiah from 1741 and other composers' works from Bach, Mozart, and Handel. There were musical works, literary works, historical works and much much more! My mom would be happy to know that there was print of Jane Austen's Persuasion from 1816 because Jane Austen is one of her favorite authors. There was also one of four copies of the Magna Carta from 1215 in this exhibit. It was written on one piece of sheepskin and contained over 3500 words! All of these amazing pieces were in one exhibit.

After visiting the British Library, we went to Borough Market, which was full of great smelling food vendors. We stopped there for lunch and had delicious burgers while listening to a street performer play guitar.

Borough Market Vendor

Southwark Cathedral is located near Borough Market and we headed there after lunch. Southwark Cathedral is the church that Shakespeare attended and there is currently a memorial inside in honor of
him. It is a beautiful Cathedral.

Our last stop of the day was the Globe Theatre. There was a self guided audio tour where we learned more about Shakespeare's plays, the history of the theatre, and other neat things. We walked around the exhibit and listened to our self guided tour until our group tour of the theatre began. During our group tour, there was a dress rehearsal taking place of The Taming of the Shrew and we were not allowed to take pictures inside of the theatre. However, it was a fantastic experience to see the history of the theatre and how it was rebuilt to keep the historical accuracy. We got to sit inside the theatre and take in all of its' greatness!

Shakespeare by James Cochran (Jimmy C)

My friend and I stumbled upon the mural above on our way to see the Globe Theatre. It was such a fun mural to see and it was created by a graffiti artist known as Jimmy C.

It was an excellent day and I learned a lot too! I am continuously amazed that I am able to be here studying, learning, and exploring new places.