Just a little bit of modern art...and a very non-modern theater.

Our second week in London, my students and I took the opportunity to visit Tate Modern, a gigantic museum of modern art in London. The next day, we visited Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which is in the same area along the Thames, but represents the sort of opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum I suppose. These were great visits, because the views from the bridges over the Thames are amazing, first of all. I highly recommend the newest bridge - the Millennium Bridge - which is fully pedestrian and features fantastic views of the Tower Bridge and all the other great structures along the river. London's Borough Market is also within walking distance, and that is definitely a place I would visit again.

See above a massive textile installation by Cecilia Vicuna, an poet-artist I've come to appreciate in the past. These red fabric ropes went all the way to the ceiling in a huge room, to give you a sense of the scale. There were many larger than life sculptures at the Tate, which like the British Museum, is way to big to take in unless you give yourself a day.

The exterior of the Tate is an example of the beautiful modern architecture you can find in London, in addition to the many gorgeous older examples.

This is a massive tower made of radios. The oldest versions of radios make up the bottom, and as you go higher, the versions become more recent.

I am actually not a huge fan of modern art if I'm being honest, but plenty of exhibits did strike me, including this photography exhibit in a collection devoted to Australia by Tracey Moffatt.

These photos were really incredible...there was such a feeling of movement and drama. Very emotionally charged.

Note for teachers: This is a must for Encounters, but you have to stress that they should try hard to engage with art that isn't necessarily a picture of something. Pose questions about the value and purpose of abstract art, reminding them that just because it looks like a mess, doesn't mean it was as easy to make.

This is the exterior of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the Thames. The original Globe burned long ago, but this is an authentic reconstruction, made with virtually all the same materials and mostly the same design (with modern accessibility and safety features added.) It was also moved from the original location, which was just around the corner.

This is a view from the upper level...you can see it is an open-air theater. It has a thatched roof, for which they had to obtain special permission due to fire safety laws. There are sprinklers installed on the roof which need frequent testing, hence the need to scrape off moss now and then.

You have to examine more closely to appreciate the detail here as well. This was made in the exact design and with the exact materials that would have been used in Shakespeare's time, which is pretty amazing.

This is a view from the lower level, in which you can see the stage. The seats are all just open wood benches, and there is a standing area in front that would have been the penny seats. Usually the stage doesn't extend out like this, but they did it for a youth production of MacBeth (which Dan and I would see as well just for the experience.)