The Duke

Tags

Canada., duty, Royal Family, UK

Found this clip an interview or interviews with HRH Prince Philip who is now 97. He has been in the news lately, more so than since he has retired from public duty. A long life of public service and here answering questions on life.

Advertisements

Sister Wendy Beckett

Tags

Art Historian, artists, Carmelite, Sister Wendy, UK

I just learned that this afternoon Sister Wendy died at the age of 88. She rose to fame in the early 1990’s. She was hired by the BBC to present Art and she did so in front of a camera, without any script or notes in the most natural way. She was an Art historian and had an in depth knowledge of Art and she spoke well, bringing Art to people in a simple manner, inviting you to observe and get the deeper meaning in what the artist was trying to convey. She spoke on all kinds of Art works did so in an intelligent enlighten manner.

I often looked at her video on YouTube to get inspiration for my own presentation in the Art Gallery or when speaking with school groups. She was a gem for the Art World and for us all. She lived at the Carmelite Convent of Quidenham in Norfolk. You can see Sister Wendy on one of her presentation. YouTube has many other videos on her presentations.

Thank you Sister Wendy.

 

 

Would you believe -20C

Tags

70th, Birthday, Cornwall, Duchy, HRH, Royal, UK, Wales

Today is the 14 November and we have hurricane grade winds at 100Km per hour, the ferry service to the mainland is suspended and the Sea Bridge at Borden is closed the wind on the bridge is around 120Km per hour. Because of the wind the wind chill factor is around -20C in mid-November, unbelievable, this is February weather. Last night we had a snow fall and then torrential rain which resulted in a mess on the roads. I had to drive to my dentist in Cornwall this morning it is only 15 minutes away but the wind and the black ice on the road made it treacherous. So we decided we cannot take this anymore, and we will be flying to Portugal this Sunday and we are extending our vacation for psychological reasons which Dr. Spo can explain I am sure.

The good news is I have yet again perfect teeth, you know that Colgate smile. Dentist was very happy with me, best patient ever!

Speaking of Cornwall, today is the Birthday of HRH the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, Prince Charles who is 70 years old. His Mom is giving him a big party at Buckingham Palace tonight.

photo credit Chris Jackson in the Gardens of Clarence House, London.

HRH Prince Charles surrounded by his two sons, their wives, the grand children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and HRH the Duchess of Cornwall. We forget that he is a grandfather now. I met him in Acapulco in 1974 at a reception given by the British Consul aboard a Royal Navy ship, he was doing his military service at the time. It was my 18th Birthday and he would have been 26 years old. We spoke in French, he is a fluent speaker.

He has already taken over the day to day management of the affairs of the Royal Family, his Mum has delegated to him quite a lot of functions, one being the management of the family’s budget and spending. He is known to be on the economical side of things and prudent in fiscal management. The Queen takes is advice on decisions, he is also more and more involve in affairs concerning the Kingdom and has access to papers and discussions with the PM which is all necessary given that he may be called upon to step in and could not be left out of the loop. It has all been done with a great deal of discretion. His son the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William is also groomed to take on more duties to familiarize himself with his future role in the next 20 years.

 

terrible mistake

Tags

Canada., Helsinki, NATO, Putin, Russia, Trump, UK

The Summit in Helsinki, Finland was a great victory for President Putin of Russia. Donald Trump made several mistakes which destroyed American Foreign Policy, weakened your credibility in the world and increase the influence of Russia.

It all went to hell at the NATO summit where Trump insulted his allies and then made demands because he views himself as the ruler of the world. The contribution of the USA to NATO is 67% but all other countries also contribute annually not only in money but in equipment and personnel, often far more than the USA.  Each contribution is not a due to the USA but to the organization as a whole. No one will increase its annual contribution to 4% as demanded by Trump, not even the USA will do that, total bluster with no substance. As for the contribution of 2% it is a goal for 2021 not today.

The trip to the UK was a total disaster, PM May must have wondered why she invited Trump who insulted her publicly, called her incompetent, suggested she sue the EU to get her way, that cannot be done, simple which tribunal would have jurisdiction to hear such a lawsuit. The EU like the UN is a club and each member must live by the agreement of membership. There is no one to be sued. Trump called for PM May to be replaced by the awful populist and incompetent Boris Johnson former Foreign Secretary who by supporting Brexit with lies has done Britain a grave disservice. Trump then went so far as to threaten PM May by saying that the USA would not sign Trade deals with Britain if they did not leave the EU. You do that to an old ally? Well Trump did it to Canada.

Then the incident with HM Queen Elizabeth II, Trump was 12 minutes late, an inexcusable delay when you are a guest and you make your host wait for no apparent reason. This was a provocation engineered by Trump to show that he was the great one. Having worked on such visits myself, I know that it is impossible to be late unless it was decided to be late. Then by standing in front of HM the Queen while she was escorting him at a review of the guard, Trump knew the Protocol, it had been explained to him, but he thought he could disregard it as he had in the past by pushing and shoving other Heads of State at international meeting because he believes he is more important. This lack of common decency and courtesy is what the World sees, this is what America looks like, this goes well beyond one man, he is the President of the USA and his behaviour is beyond reprehensible.

Helsinki was a terrible mistake, by agreeing to a one on one meeting with President Putin, Trump failed to realize that the Russians recorded the meeting and will use what ever he said at that meeting in the future against him as a bargaining chip. This is the oldest trick in the book of diplomacy, you never meet one on one, you always have others with you to take notes, its diplomacy 101. Trump cannot remember what he says and blabs uncontrollably, in all likelyhood he told Putin things he heard at the NATO summit or in conversation with other allies, not understanding that Putin the old spy master made a note of it all.

Putin got an incredible gift at this meeting, after 18 years of hard work, he got the President of the USA to declare that the world would be governed by the two great powers Russia and USA. Even in 1945 the world was divided between UK, France, USA, USSR. China is surely a greater economic power than Russia whose GDP is smaller than Canada. Trump said that there could be a good dialogue and understanding like in the days of the Cold War (1946-1989). I do not remember any such cooperation during those years, it was in fact a deadly game and enormous rivalry with the USSR (Russia). In 1962 a year Trump is old enough to remember, the world stood on the brink of complete nuclear war with the Cuban missile crisis provoked by the USSR.

Trump also said that he believed Putin instead of his own Intelligence agency, this declaration is an act of treason, Trump sided with the real existential threat to the USA and the Western World, Russia. Russia is not our friend and never was, the principle of the Rule of Law, Democracy and Free Elections are foreign concept for the Russians. The unlawful occupation of Crimea, and the aggression in the Donbass and Georgia, the full military support for the Assad Regime in Syria, and meddling in other parts of the World should tell us that Trump is wrong in supporting tyrants like Putin.

Trump now has sent a clear message to the allies of the USA that America cannot be trusted. It is impossible to know if America would come to the help of fellow NATO members in case of Russian aggression in the Baltic States or elsewhere in Europe. This is very dangerous for the peace of the world.

What we see now is that the famous talked about check and balances of the American system simply do not work, you have a rogue President who is not respecting the US Constitution he swore to uphold. The USA today is on a downward slide not only in prestige but in influence around the world. China and Russia are ascending and States like North Korea are profiting from this confusing lack of direction at the White House.

Will the November Elections change anything in the USA, its a gamble but like all gamble the results may be less than satisfactory, no one should bet on how the American public will vote.

From the New York Daily News 17 July 2018.

Looking at my readers

Tags

2017, 2018, Australia, blog, Canada., followers, France, Germany, Holy See, Italy, life, mexico, Netherlands, PEI, readers, Spain, Turkey, UK, USA, Vatican

I am looking at the stats for my blog and who is coming to read and maybe comment on my blog. Interesting stats, about 18,000 readers a year from around the planet, in some cases I wonder how they got attracted to my blog and why they would come back and comment or read again and again. I also noticed that those countries who do not appear at all on my list of readers are countries where either they have highly controlled internet (police state) like Belarus, Iran or are countries where the internet does not exist because of poor infrastructure and lack of reliable electric supply, like the Congo or Afghanistan. What intrigues me is readers from the Holy See (Vatican) which has a population of 921 people and is the smallest European Country totally surrounded by the City of Rome, must be some Cardinal no doubt. Then there readers from tiny places in the world like the Seychelles Islands, a group of 115 islands forming one republic in the North West corner of the Indian Ocean.

The largest group of readers are from the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, France, India, Turkey, Brazil. I also have 225 followers of my blog.

I always find it interesting to see how many diverse followers I have to my blog. People like to read what goes on elsewhere in the world and try to imagine maybe how life is in parts of the world they have not visited.  I am happy for their readership and who knows maybe they will want to visit or read more about Canada’s smallest Province Prince Edward Island and its small population of 150,000 persons.

For the readers, you all know that I write mostly about my home and life in general, maybe some observation about something that strikes me as odd or of our time.

Now to the last few days of 2017 and onwards then to 2018 with all of its many surprises.

 

Love this book

Tags

autobiography, Cold war, John LeCarré, MI5 MI6, The pigeon tunnel, UK, USSR

I am just finishing The Pigeon tunnel; stories from my life by John LeCarré, published in 2016.

The Pigeon tunnel is LeCarré’s autobiography, he was being interviewed on the CBC, Writers and Company by Eleanor Wachtel last week and spoke about it. She reminded him that in 2013 he had said this was is last interview and here he was giving another one to her.

LeCarré is his nom de plume, his real name is David John Moore Cornwell, he was born in 1931 in Poole, Dorset, UK. He served in the Security Service MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service MI6 between 1958-1964. He has published numerous books, many have been made into movies, etc. In 1964 LeCarré left the service to work full-time as a novelist, his intelligence-officer career at an end as the result of the betrayal of British agents’ covers to the KGB by Kim Philby, the infamous British double agent (one of the Cambridge Five).

Kim Philby, now that was a name I heard repeatedly during my time in the Canadian Foreign Service. We were made aware of the deviousness of the USSR during the Cold War and how we always had to be on our guard. Philby died some years ago, he did a lot of harm to the intelligence community and is seen in Russia today as a National Hero for his service to the USSR.

I come late to the books of LeCarré during my career everyone was reading them. I only read one book of his some 15 years ago and nothing since, not because his books are not good, no they are very good read. I was just reading other authors and not in the intelligence novel genre.

I love The Pigeon tunnel, a real page turner of an autobiography about his life from childhood to adulthood, about his father Ronnie who was quite the charmer and con artist always one step ahead of the Law, his mother Olive and his brother Tony. LeCarré also has step-siblings. He was married twice and has four sons all did very well for themselves.

I think I love this book, because for me it brought back a lot of memories of events and people, some of whom I met and knew. It was a fascinating world. His novels on the other hand are works of fiction, his characters are modelled on real people but the rest is all made up, of course his previous career in MI6 helped with the inspiration, though it is fiction sometimes it is close to the truth. LeCarré in his autobiography does explain that in his novels he is to this day bound by his Oath of Secrecy, as we all are not to reveal what we saw or know, let the politicians blab.

I now want to read his latest novel A legacy of Spies published recently. It tells the story of retired spies who 30 years after the events are called back by a new generation to explain why they did this or that, the young generation does not understand nor know what happened then. We do live in the PC age, Canada is a good example not a month goes by now that the Trudeau government thinks it has to apologize for the past, sometime very distant.

 

 

Dates, Anniversaries

Tags

Anniversary, Canada., Rome, UK

Today on the 18 April 1881 in London the British Museum opened. What a great institution it is.

Also on the 18 April 1506, the construction on the new Saint Peter’s Basilica started, it would last  100 years and a further 30 years was required to do the interior decorations the interior was decorated by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. In 1561 Michelangelo was asked to come and work on the building, he designed part of the dome but died before it was completed. The old Saint Peter which had been built in the 4th century AD was destroyed, the building was so old and in a state of disrepair, it had become unsafe.

Here is a fresco in the Church of San Martino in Rome showing the inside of the Old Saint Peter’s basilica before it was demolished.

Some 35 years ago on 17 April 1982 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which is enshrined in our Constitution.

Queen Elizabeth II signs the Proclamation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on Parliament Hill, sitting at the table is Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau.

 

 

 

 

 

Things or Topics unrelated

Tags

Canada., divorce, EIIR, Felice de Fredis, Hanover, Hungary, Laocöon, Mariage, show business, UK, USA, Vatican, Zsa Zsa Gabor

Today this photo was published of the Sovereign and the Heir. HM Queen Elizabeth II is 90 years old this year and HRH Prince Charles is 68 years old. If the Queen lives another 10 years, which is quite possible since her own mother HM Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother lived to be 101, that would mean that Prince Charles would be 78 yrs old when he would ascend the Throne. He already assumes quite a few of the responsibility of the Sovereign and is delegated by his mother for many tasks. Queen Victoria quickly passed on to her own children many of her own responsibilities after the death of her husband Prince Albert in 1864, she was then 45 years old, she lived until 1901, but did not do very much, her state of mind not being the best, though the fiction was maintained by the British Government that all was well.

HM King George III (1738-1820) also relinquished all his duties to his son HRH Prince George, the Prince Regent in 1810, he would become in 1820 as King George IV. Though the Prime Minister controlled all the affairs of State.

This means that HRH Prince William who is now 34 years old could easily be in his sixties when he becomes King one day. His grandfather HRH Prince Philip is 95 years old. They do live into grand old age in the Royal Family, most be the good German genes from Hanover.

Now for something completely different, the New York Times today reported that the last of the Gabor sisters, Zsa Zsa died of heart failure.

Zsa Zsa Gabor was 99 years old, born in Hungary in 1917 perhaps, was Miss Hungary 1936, immigrated to the USA in 1939 and had been married 8 times. At a US Lawyer’s Convention she was the guest speaker and famously said that ”A girls best friend was not diamonds but a good lawyer”, she knew what she was talking about.

When my parents lived on East 70th street in Manhattan many years ago, my mother had met and knew Jolie Gabor the mother of the three Gabor sisters, Magda, Eva and Zsa Zsa. Jolie ran a Jewellery shop and daughter Magda was often there. Zsa Zsa had a talent for promoting herself and marrying rich men.

Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1939.

I also saw this photo this week of a tomb of a famous person, which you can see if you visit in Rome the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli (St Mary at the Altar of Heaven) located on the site of the Temple of the Augurs, completed in the 12th Century. It stands on the Capitoline Hill where the most important temples of Rome once stood, like Jupiter best and great.

The church has many famous people buried there, as is the custom in most churches in Rome. This tomb is to the man who discovered in 1506 the famous classical sculpture of the Laocöon and his sons , which is now housed in the Vatican Museum.

The story of the Trojan Priest Laocöon and his sons is a classical one, this art work was praised in antiquity by Pliny the Elder. The group is life size and a very impressive sculpture, it originally stood in the Palace of Emperor Titus on the Palatine Hill.

The group has been “the prototypical icon of human agony” in Western art and unlike the agony often depicted in Christian art showing the Passion of Jesus and martyrs, this suffering has no redemptive power or reward. The story of Laocoön, a Trojan priest, came from the Greek Epic Cycle on the Trojan Wars. Laocoön was a priest of Poseidon who was killed with both his sons after attempting to expose the ruse of the Trojan Horse by striking it with a spear. The two giant snakes are sent by the gods to punish him.

The group was unearthed in February 1506 in the vineyard of Felice De Fredis near Santa Maria Maggiore; informed of the fact, Pope Julius II, an enthusiastic classicist, sent for his court artists. Michelangelo was called to the site of the unearthing of the statue immediately after its discovery, along with the Florentine architect Giuliano da Sangallo.

Pope Julius acquired the group on March 23, giving De Fredis a job as a scribe as well as the customs revenues from one of the gates of Rome. By August the group was placed for public viewing in a niche in the wall of the brand new Belvedere Garden at the Vatican.

When Felice de Fredis died he was buried in the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli and today when you visit the Church you can see his tomb.

This is what I like about those Roman Churches, so many interesting things to see and read about, knowing Latin does help a lot.

London and Southampton

Tags

Chelsea, Islamic Art, Kensington, London, Museums, UK, V&A

One thing we both noticed during our trip through Ireland and then the UK is how foreign workers most of whom are EU Citizens work in the service industry. Gone are the days when Irish or British worked in that sector. It got us thinking that in the  event of Brexit, Britain will find itself in a very difficult position, all those EU workers in the service industry would go home or move to other EU countries. What will Britain do to replace them? The Brits are not going to take those jobs there has been in the last 30 years a culture change and you will find Brits working abroad but not at home and not necessarily in the service sector. In Hotels, restaurants, etc. staff is from a variety of European countries, not a Brit in site. It will be interesting to see how this situation evolves.

While in London we also stopped at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The V&A covers 12.5 acres (5.1 ha)[3] and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world. The museum owns the world’s largest collection of post-classical sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world.

The V&A has its origins in the Great Exhibition of 1851, with which Henry Cole, the museum’s first director, was involved in planning; initially it was known as the Museum of Manufactures, first opening in May 1852 at Marlborough House, but by September had been transferred to Somerset House. At this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection. By February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed South Kensington Museum.

The official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting. This was to enable in the words of Cole “to ascertain practically what hours are most convenient to the working classes”.

It is an immense museum and you have to choose what you want to see in the various galleries, one can become overwhelmed by the wealth of the collections. We picked to visit the Asian galleries on our visit and looked into Islamic Art. What is on display is of very high quality and is beautifully curated. It is also very well explained and the collections are part of established British policy to bring back to London treasures of conquered lands which at the time came under British rule. You can say the same thing about the French, German, Spaniards, etc who also had colonial empires. This is why museums in Europe have such extensive collections of Art from abroad.

Ceremonial dagger encrusted with semi precious stones, carved ivory, enamel, a gift from Fath Ali Shah of Persia (Iran) to Captain John Malcolm of the East India Company in 1810.

Gold and pink sapphires bracelet, Madras, India.

Chintz costume, a man’s morning gown made from Indian painted cotton, very popular in England, France and Holland around 1660. It is recorded in Samuel Peppys journal that he bought himself one around 1661. Much later chintz will become popular with ladies.

Fine stone carved window panels, exquisite design, Iran. This fashion of carving appears also in India, Syria, Egypt.

  

 Men’s Mughal Costume, was based on the Jama a tailored gown tied at the side and the Paijama trousers loose at the top but tapered at the lower leg. An elaborate turban (Pagri) was also worn at Court and a long decorative waist sash (Patka). Fine kashmir wool shawl were often draped over the shoulder, a fashion started by Emperor Akbar (1542-1605).

There were many other objects to see, making the visit most interesting. All this in only one part of the V&A museum.

We then went to lunch or Brunch this being Sunday with our friends J. and David Nice.

The House of Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882 in Chelsea

The Thames at low tide.

On the Thames this sculpture by Korean artist Ik Joong Kan, entitled Floating dreams. It is in front of the New Tate Modern Museum.

A small front garden of a house in Chelsea.

A street by our hotel in London

Now comes the time for our last leg of our trip, going home from Southampton on the Queen Mary 2. A 7 day crossing of the North Atlantic our destination New York.

London and Southwark

Tags

Globe theatre, London, London Bridge, plays, Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare, Southwark, theatre, UK

I was going to visit JP and Guido in Bermondsey which is in Southwark (Suthick), an old acquaintance of mine Marcus Gheeraerts painted this scene of their restaurant in 1570 in Bermondsey. I think the Spanish Armada had arrived in town at that point. The famous JP can be read at https://itsmyhusbandandme.wordpress.com I would rename his blog Adventures in Bermondsey.

You can see the Tower of London on the other side of the Thames. This is more or less the period of Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare. Unfortunately JP was not in London the day we came by. So we went to visit the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, the project championed by actor Sam Wanamaker.

A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named “Shakespeare’s Globe”, opened in 1997 approximately 750 feet (230 m) from the site of the original theatre. The exact location of the original Globe Theatre is not known.

I would not have visited this site if it had not been for Will, he wanted to see it and this was our chance. Since English is not my mother tongue, I have great difficulty understanding Shakespeare and grasping the meaning of his plays, I think Corneille use to say It’s Greek to me. I always say why can’t they make it into modern English for all to grasp. Nonetheless, it was a fascinating visit and I learned a great deal about the period and life in London at the time. Tours are given and the guide gave us a very good description of how plays were performed and who came to the theatre then. It was a theatre for the masses and people were packed like sardines inside. The whole business was to present a play and make as much money as possible by selling as many tickets, it was rough and ready entertainment for the age, in a brutal world.

The South side of the Thames was a suburb of London and fell outside of the Lord Mayor’s purview, so you could present plays and other spectacle like bear baiting and dog fights and have all manner of immoral and illicit entertainment which would not have been tolerated in London proper. London then was a very small town starting at the Tower of London and ending at Westminster, a small area easily walkable. The only bridge across the Thames was London Bridge which was always congested with traffic. It was easier to hire a barge and row across.

This maquette of London shows the Thames frozen solid which would happen some Winters, with all kinds of activities taking place on the frozen river. The South bank or Southwark.

It was a difficult time politically, Queen Elizabeth I was very suspicious of all around her to the point of paranoia, she saw plots everywhere. Wars of religion was still a fact of life between Catholics and Protestants and Puritans and Presbyterians were constantly agitating for a narrow minded social agenda either in Parliament or at City Hall. Actors and theatres were a favourite target and the threat of closure was always present. Under Oliver Cromwell in 1647 all theatres will be closed and some demolished, bigotry and fanaticism in London led to such extreme measures.

Writing plays as Shakespeare did could also be very dangerous, at any time you could be accuse of fomenting sedition which meant arrest and death for the author. Shakespeare was careful to always tow a prudent political line and flatter the Monarch so as not to become a target. He also sought the protection of powerful patrons and financiers. Complete original manuscripts in the hand of William Shakespeare do not exist, there are no substantial surviving manuscripts, so his plays are known from printed editions done during or just after his death. Seven years after his death, two of his friends and fellow actors, John Heminges and Henry Condell produced a collection of 36 of his plays, this became known as the First Folio.

In other words London and England at the time was a nasty brutish place. Contrary to what was shown in the movie Shakespeare in love, Queen Elizabeth I never came to the Globe. The theatre was brought to her in her Palace at Whitehall, this for reasons of security but mostly because the prestige of the Sovereign did not permit that she would stoop to the level of actors who were in the same class as prostitutes, criminals and other miscreants. The first English monarch to come to the Globe will be HM Elizabeth II in 1997 at the opening of the reconstructed theatre.

The highly symbolic painted decorations of the stage would have been easily recognized by people at the time of Shakespeare, above the heavens with the gods, the spheres and the constellations, below the stage was Hell with its malign influences. In between was the resultant disarray of earthly existence, its trials and follies, tragedies and comedies played out on stage.

The exhibits at the Globe are very interesting from explanations on costumes and how they were made, to the make-up worn by actors, most of it made from highly toxic and poisonous ingredients, lead mercury, arsenic.

Also describe the crowds attending, there were various prices for seats and high prices for those special boxes by the stage reserved for wealthy nobles. Then there was the pit the area directly in front of the stage. People packed in so tightly you could not move. Our guide described for us what you could experience. People did not wash and were covered in lice, bad breath and strong body odour, because you could not move or leave during the show, you simply relieved yourself where you stood. People brought food and drink and spoke loudly during plays. In the upper balcony of the theatre all manner of immoral encounters occurred, the guide being a sensible fellow left it to our imagination to fathom what might have happened up there.

Here is a view of the more expensive boxes for Nobles with painted interiors. The Globe is not a big theatre but in Shakespeare’s time 3000 people could be packed inside for one performance. Today only about 1600 people can attend due to fire regulations.

Stage is being set-up for the 1927 silent movie, Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer with accompanying orchestra.

While at the Globe book shop, I picked up Catharine Arnold, Globe, Life in Shakespeare London and The time traveller’s guide to Elizabethan England, by Ian Mortimer. I enjoyed them both.

A wood model of what the final reconstruction of the Globe and adjacent buildings would look like, most of it has been re-built, I am not sure if the rest will be completed.

The area today with the famous Shard building in the background. All in all a fantastic visit and most interesting.

Will and I on the footbridge crossing back the Thames at St-Paul’s Cathedral.