In Shakespeare’s time, Bankside was a very rough area. The original Globe was destroyed at the first performance of Henry VIII, when a cannon fired during the play ignited the thatched roof and the theater burned to the ground. Opened in 1996, American director Sam Wanamaker’s reconstructed Globe Theatre is a magnet for Shakespeare scholars and fans alike. The circular theater, recreating the original building of 1598, is all wood, the seating area thatched with straw, while the center remains open to the elements. You can sit on a bench seat under cover (do hire a cushion, it’s worth every penny) or be a groundling and stand right in front of the stage, from Hamlet’s first word to his dying gasps. The theater tour is a must; who can resist doing a little bit of declaiming? “Friends, Romans, countrymen” or “To be, or not to be” – it’s your choice.