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Published: October 5th 2008
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After a couple hours delay departing the US, we finally landed in London. Anxious to not lose all of my site seeing day, I fumbled my way onto the tube and to my stop and found my hotel. The tube system seemed easy enough, but the first day is always the roughest when you don’t know what you’re doing. I was; however, already loving my tube pass card. It was about 11 am and my room wasn’t ready, so I dumped by bag and headed out for some site seeing before my body told me I needed sleep (wasn’t able to get much on the flight). I headed off to St. Paul’s Cathedral. I always try to see the big cathedrals in an area. So often they are the places of great architecture and history.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
My goal at St. Paul’s wasn’t necessarily a tour but to climb the stairs in the dome and get some great views of the city. It was a bit overcast, however. The church was fairly busy so I did some walking around inside. No photos are allowed inside. Beautiful building, massive, overwhelming structure. It is a bit brighter inside than most of
the large Catholic cathedrals largely due to the white marble used which brightened things up a bit. In contrast, it has dark, almost ebony colored wood in places as well as dark stone on some of the tombs. Really adds great contrast with the white marble. St. Paul’s is a Christopher Wren masterpiece. Wren is the architect of much of the major buildings in Britain of the late 17th and early 18th Centuries. If a building was built during that phase (and many were due to the fire in London which devastated the city), Wren had a hand in it. St. Paul’s is the classic cathedral with empowering dome. The Duke of Wellington’s tomb is inside and definitely the most impressive of those housed there.
Then, it was off to my dome climb. The climb is divided into three parts (free of charge). The first section gets you to the whispering gallery which is to the interior of the dome where you can whisper on one side and the acoustics take it to the other side. You have a great view of the inside of the dome and below. Not for those afraid of heights. The stair climb of
257 steps was fairly easy with nice, low, wide steps. No pictures allowed still. However, the second part of the climb changes dramatically. There, it’s an additional 119 steps to the outside of the dome and to nice views of the city of London. I say nice views because there are bars up that you need to photograph around. Those stairs were a bit more of the traditional type that you see in a building of this age. Iron and built for one person at a time. The last part of the climb is 152 more stairs. These are what I’m used to expecting. High steps for those of us who are short, and they’re spiraling and not for the claustrophobic as only one person can fit. I was also really wishing I had kept working out following my sister’s wedding last month. However, the view was worth the climb and is great of the city. Nothing is blocking your photography. I was regretting a bit doing this climb on an overcast day but with travel, you just never know about the weather and there was going to be other things I was going to do to get some views
of London on my vacation. Enjoyed the views awhile, got my interior compass straightened on where things were and then headed back down, walked around St. Paul’s interior a bit more and then tubed over to the London Tower. I was definitely getting the hang of the tube system. Very easy to use. Love the pass card.
London Tower
The London Tower is a UNESCO Heritage Site and made up of several other buildings, also called Towers, in a large complex/fortress like setting. It was originally built in 1078 by William the Conqueror as his castle. It has an imposing wall around the outside and is located on the Thames River and very near the Tower Bridge. It also has sections of it dating back to the Romans in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It was used as a place of residence by British royalty for many, many years, however, it became more of a prison and a place to hold people before they were executed around the 14th century. Its infamous “Traitor’s Gate” was the gate through which folks were taken by boat into the Tower, many times never to see the outside again. The Tower became a
place of torture and death instead of a royal residence. The Tower is home to various buildings inside including the White Tower. It is also home to the Bloody Tower where it is believed that the young princes were murdered around 1483. Several famous names spent time in the London Tower including a couple of Henry VIII’s wives who were executed there, Queen Jane Grey, the future Queen Elizabeth was held there for a time, as well as several other famous names of British history. Most never left.
London Tower has also been home to Ravens. Inside the White Tower is an arsenal of weapons still kept on display. The Royal Guard remain in residence and there was a changing of the guard occurring while I was there. The Crown Jewels are also on display in the Jewel Tower. Incredible to be walking around such history. When you think about the steps you’re walking and the fact that names famous from history walked those same spots, it’s quite incredible. You see the square were so many executions took place, many of innocent people caught in a power struggle. And it’s just plain old! Great for us history buffs.
At this point it was late afternoon and I knew the British Museum was open late on Thursdays so decided to tube there and get a feel for what was housed there in anticipation of a longer tour tomorrow. Of all the items on my agenda for my London vacation, the British Museum was at the top. However, when I got there and found that I could not harbor up much excitement on my first view of the Rosetta Stone, I knew it was time to go get checked in and take a nap. I was pretty tired.
After checking in and a much needed nap, I made my way that evening to Hyde Park and the Hard Rock Café to get my obligatory meal and souvenier whenever one is located in a city I’m visiting for the first time. Yeah, yeah, I know. The Café does have a great view of the Wellington Arch, however, and the hostess who sat me was once an exchange student in South Dakota so we chatted about that a bit. What a small world.
By this point, it was late and time to get some rest for a busy Friday. It
was a great opening day and despite flying in, I was able to spend some time exploring. I was so excited thinking about my next day, however!
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