bankside and other pretty things

so christopher told me to update. update i shall.
so far i have been doing a lot of drinking and a lot of walking. mostly those two things. unlike chris my schedule is pretty free (at least comparatively), so i've been doing a lot of meandering and wandering, mostly without my camera, because i'm a dope. i've seen two plays so far - "the exiles" by james joyce at the royal national theater, and "the comedy of errors" at the globe. exiles was just so good - really traditionally staged, but a very moving and modern look at love and sex and isolation. it was mostly such a kick to see what a massive, imposing building (kind of monolithic and ugly, actually) was dedicated to three stages. it was a wednesday night, it was the smallest theater, and there were a good 200 people there, of various ages and classes. i. love. this. city.
before comedy we took a tour of the globe, which was very satisfying in that "cross it off my list" sort of way. the show was also very good, and groundling though i was it was an enjoyable experience. what i loved even more than the show, however, was exploring bankside, the neighborhood along the south bank of the thames. it's beautiful - a little san francisco, a little seaport-minus-commercialism. apparently it's only in the last 20 years that real estate has blown up there, and the new buildings they choose to put up are almost universally lovely or interesting, and the preservation of the old alleys and flats - as well as 1000-year-old borough market - is amazing. i loved it.
here are some pictures of some of the above. i hope you're all having as much fun as i am on the continent/in ireland, and that you'll all come visit!






<3resa