It was sunny with cottony clouds as I strolled past the huge crowd at Buckingham Palace waiting for the Changing of the Guard. I had done that along with all the other London tourist attractions ten years ago. 

Today, I was a tourist on a different mission. I wanted to see a real thatched roof, and I knew there was one at the Globe Theatre, a re-creation of Shakespeare’s theatre that didn’t exist the last time I was in London. 

According to the map, I could get there by following the river path along the Thames. I planned to meander like the river, letting the day take me where it wanted, ending up at the Globe.

I leaned on the railing at Westminster Bridge, taking in the view. Boats of all sizes moved in both directions on the Thames. The sun made the river seem as though it was blanketed with glittering sparklers. As I stood back up from the railing, I realized I had been leaning on a small plaque that read:  “William Wordsworth 1770-1850, Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 1802.”

A poem followed and I read a stanza:

 This city now doth, like a garment wear
 The beauty of the morning silent, bare,
 Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie
 Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

Back in freshman English, I thought Wordsworth was boring, but now I was standing in exactly the same spot he’d been when he composed this poem.

READ MORE