little dorrit, borough market and the globe - sunday morning

(above is borough high street with the church of st. george the martyr in the background.)

sunday was such a busy day that i've been at a loss of where to start. i'm glad i managed to write a little bit in my journal each night before collapsing in exhaustion. basically, we walked out of mulberry close (our airbnb) around 9 am and returned around 7:30 pm . . which doesn't sound so tiring, but is when you consider that we were walking eighty-five percent of that time. above is the church of st. george the martyr at the intersection of borough high street and the marshalsea road, which was our first destination today. below is a video of our bus ride when starting out, going from mulberry close (our airbnb) to sloane square to catch the circle line to the monument stop, and then the northern line to london bridge. i had wanted to walk across the southwark bridge as i had figured out that it was the iron bridge little dorrit had walked across going to and fro from the marshalsea prison in charles dickens' book little dorrit (published in serial form from 1855 to 1857), but the queen's lying in state queue crossed its southern end, so we deemed it too hazardous(?!) (i read little dorrit during the spring of 2020.)  

i've included this video as korrina, greg and i were all in awe of the cyclist riding in front of the bus seemingly without a care, and without a helmet (greg goes on in the video that he would never ride without a helmet, yet he does! he would qualify that choice by saying it's because he doesn't ride with traffic when biking to work - he rides along the bike path - but i think he should still wear one).

king's road - the road the bus was driving on . . 

and here is st. george the martyr church along with the john harvard library (and southwark archives) in the foreground.

and off borough high street is the angel court alley with all that is left standing of the marshalsea prison . . (photo by korrina).

"beyond this old wall is the site of the old marshalsea prison, closed in 1842. this sign is attached to a remnant of the prison wall. charles dickens, whose father had been imprisoned here for debt in 1824, used that experience as the marshalsea setting for his novel little dorrit."

korrina's photos of the pavement stones . .

the gate leads to st. george's church gardens . . 

the interior of st. george the martyr church which figures greatly in little dorrit's story, being where she was christened as an infant and where she took refuge one stormy night. after the second world war, the church wished to replace the east window and it was decided that the church's connection with dickens' little dorrit would be commemorated with a small figure kneeling in prayer on the lower left side.

i wrote in my journal: "we arrived just before the 11 am mass which was fortunate as a parishioner offered to show me the figure. it was too small for me to pick out alone." the parishioner was so kind! she was standing at the entrance, welcoming everyone, and patiently brought me all the way in and down the aisle and pointed up towards the window.

it's difficult to see the figure kneeling in the far left corner at the feet of st. george. his sword is pointing down towards her. here's a link to the photo on the church's website.

passing little dorrit court (which leads to little dorrit playground) on borough high street on our way to borough market . . (photo by greg) . . we were hungry and craving a cup of coffee or tea.

the shard . . 

stopping to listen to the bells (probably of southwark cathedral) . . 

southwark cathedral . . 

at borough market . . 

choosing a cannoli . . 

the coffee truck! alas, it must have been the only one as there was such a long line . . 

waiting impatiently . . listening to the birds and the train passing by overhead, and watching the lady make coffee . . 

the market was very busy (i love watching people take their selfie photos) . . and the birds were flying above our heads . . 

we walked up these stairs to eat . . 

greg went down again for salt beef sandwiches . .

coffee, tea, carrot cake . . 

salt beef sandwich with pickles and mustard . . 

and a sweet starling hopping around . . 

on our way to the globe theatre to meet morgan . . 

the neighborhood of bankside . . 

cannon street railway bridge . . 

another cute couple taking a selfie . . 

the iron bridge, also known as the southwark bridge . . (st. paul's in the background) . . 

getting caught in the queue for the queen!

the lying-in-state queue . . (we found out weeks later that a homeschooling friend of ours was in that line!)

water for the citizens and visitors patiently waiting . . 

at the globe!

we had ten pound tickets for standing in the yard . . 

i thought i would tire with standing, but i didn't. the performance was so moving and exciting, and the actors so dynamic, that i was absorbed completely and the time passed quickly.

the musicians played from the balcony on the stage . . 

intermission came and korrina and i took a walk outside . . the theatre is right on the thames . . 

clearing the stage after the show . . 

our obligatory selfie . . it was a very magical feeling to be there.

having fun in the gift shop . . 

i wrote that night: " . . the tempest was fantastic! we had fun wandering around the gift shop too . . picking out coasters, bookmarks, magnets and a book for greg. then we walked across the millennium bridge (passing the queue again!) to st. paul's."

an oyster card holder . . too cute to pass up.

walking to the millennium bridge . . 

all the portable toilets . . 

looking south towards the tate modern . . 

and west . . 

looking northeast . . 

(tiny bubble gum art)

and that was sunday morning, the 18th of september . . i'll have to continue the afternoon later . . my eyes are tired from picking out photos and staring at the computer screen.