An Atypical Tourist

Matilda, based on the book by Roald Dahl

I love to travel and I love to do the touristy things but what I really love is getting off the beaten path and doing non-touristy things.  Which is why, on my first full day in London, I was taking the Tube out to Leytonstone for a voice lesson with Jane Streeton.  Who goes to another country for a voice lesson?  I do, apparently.

And it was on Jane's recommendation that I bought a ticket for a West End musical, "Matilda."  West End musicals, those are typical for tourists in London, yes?  Of course, part of what really excited me about going was that the theatre was at the Seven Dials.  What's the Seven Dials, you ask?  It's an intersection of seven streets and the reason I wanted to see it was that the area was mentioned in an Agatha Christie mystery (I have a little bit of a thing with Agatha Christie mysteries; as a teenager, I collected them and I still have quite a few).

The Seven Dials

 

 

Apparently, I'm also the kind of tourist who will seek out a location mentioned in a book, even if there is nothing else to recommend the location.  No historical fact, no great happening.  It was in a book, that's good enough for me.  When I was still in Bath, I reveled in walking down streets that had been mentioned in an Austen novel.  Milsom Street, Westgate Buildings; part of the reason I chose my hotel was because it was off of Laura Place.  Later in my stay in London, I sought out Gracechurch Street and Cheapside, because Elizabeth Bennet's aunt and uncle had lived there.  I like knowing that these places existed and are real.  It makes the stories and novels seem true, as if they really happened or, at least, could have happened.

Even Matilda could not escape this peculiar facet of my tourist persona.  Sure, I heard about it from Jane (Streeton, not Austen) and she recommended it based on the press reviews, but the other reason I was excited to see it (aside from the theatre being in the Seven Dials) was that it was based on one of my favorite childhood books, "Matilda" by Roald Dahl.  If you haven't guessed by now, I'm a bit of a bookworm.

The Borough Market

Well, after my waxing eloquent on literary locations, I'm almost rather embarrassed to say, later that day, I went to the Borough Market in Southwark 'cause I saw it on TV, well, Netflix.  Yep, it's mentioned several times on a Jamie Oliver show and since I like farmers markets and buying locally, I felt I just had to check it out.  It was bustling and lovely and I wish I could go every week.  I actually spent an inordinate amount of time in the Market, trying to get my bearings.  I kept getting turned around and coming out of where I didn't want to be.  Looking back on it, it was a little like The Maze (another book!), except with food.

Speaking of food, I found the best pie stall (http://www.pieminister.co.uk/) and the cutest, most delicious shortbread owls you have ever eaten.  Mmmm... so tasty!  I think I need to start making pot pies at home.  Especially if I can recreate the Heidi (goat cheese, spinach and sweet potato); I definitely want a copy of their cookbook.  Both of the stalls sell online and deliver but not overseas (pout), unless you are David Beckham, in which case, Pieminister will deliver to the US (then again, if you are David Beckham, you can pretty much get anything you want, anywhere you want).  There was also a nice little stall selling chai tea but I can't remember the stall's name.  It might have something to do with my spilling my chai all over their table and, after helping them clean it up, fleeing in embarrassment.  Or not.

Southwark Cathedral

Before I left Southwark, I spent some time at the Southwark Cathedral, first sitting outside, listening to the bells peal, and then stepping inside the cathedral for a quick walk around the sanctuary.  Incidentally, Southwark Cathedral, though not mentioned in any book I've read, still has numerous literary connections, associated with Chaucer, Dickens, Jonson, Harvard and Shakespeare, to name a few.

It's not an optical illusion - the church is crooked.

Southwark Cathedral was the first church I visited in England.  A graduation ceremony had just ended so the sanctuary was filled with chairs and people lingered here and there, chatting, taking photos.  I did my best not to get in anyone's way, while taking a few photos of my own.  The cathedral has a unique feature.  Most churches and cathedrals built with a traditional or medieval floor plan, are built in the shape of a cross with the entrance at or near the base of the cross.  Though Southwark also follows this model, the cathedral is slightly crooked.  When you stand in the nave, looking towards the altar, or along one of the side aisles, you can clearly see the sanctuary turning ever so slightly to your left.  It's not a mistake, the building hasn't settled and although it was heavily damaged in the Blitz, that's not the reason either.  No, the building was deliberately built crooked to remind us of Christ's body, broken on the cross.  To me, this is yet one more example of how cathedral and church architecture was used to aid worship.  I know any place can be a sacred space but there is something about the lofty space of a well-built cathedral, the arches drawing my eyes up, the very shape of the space, that seems to speak to my soul.

And so it was, after taking a moment to pray and light a candle, that I left the cathedral feeling refreshed after my long day traversing London and went home, to feed my soul in another way.

 I ate my Heidi pie.

My first view of St. Paul's, across the river from Southwark.