London Revisited

Date of Trip: 13 Aug

Since the last trip to London, I've purposed to return to St Paul's one day.

Arriving early in London, Jacq, Kevin and me took the tube straight to Tower Hill and wander around the vicinity of the Tower Bridge. The last time I cross this famed landmark was 12 years ago. It was also summer then and the sun was glaring and hot. Then, I was on a Hop-on-hop-off double decker bus amidst the crawling traffic, still too young to appreciate these English things. Now that I've walked across it, maybe next time I should visit the gallery on top of the tower.

While the weather forecast presented a rather grim day of heavy showers, the weather has been kind if not sunny, perfect for comfortable long outdoor walks. Making our way from the Tower Bridge to Tate Modern, quite a few interesting sights greeted us. Having stayed in the hostel nearby during my last visit, the area is not new to me. But this contraption that seemed straight out of a children's fantasy is still fascinating to look at.

This highly reflective walkway reminded me a lot of Aberdeen.

We passed many other attractions on our walk parallel to the Thames. There is the unassuming London Bridge, Southwark Cathedral by the railway track, Borough Market which is London's oldest food market, the Clink Prison Museum with an iron instrument of horror dangling above the dark narrow alleyway and Shakespeare's Globe to name a few.

Interestingly, Tate Modern and St Paul's sits directly across the river on opposite bank with the Millennium Bridge between them. Bypassing the Tate, I head for St Paul's, hoping to catch the Super Tour. As we neared the impressive ecclesiastical structure, cattle and donkeys (meaning worse than cats and dogs) begun to pelt from on high. We hastily retreated into the doorway, inscribed with the verse,

'This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven.'

Apt indeed for a place so wonderfully made. More so, for even now many may find His presence there should they seek. Breathtaking as the interior of the Cathedral is, we are forbidden to take photographs. I did saw someone painting with watercolors at the South Transept facing the magnificent dome, second only to St Peter's in Vatican City. Maybe I should do that some day. I'm sure both the sweeping grandeur of building as well as the many minute and intricate details make excellent painting subjects.

One of the highlights of visiting St Paul's is the Galleries. Ascending the 528 steps leading to the Golden Gallery is not for the faint hearted. Initially, the refurbished steps are wide and spiraling, until a far narrower one leads into the Whispering Gallery (257 steps up and 20 meters from the Cathedral Floor). Waking along the perimeter on uneven floor with paintings and sculptures of Saints and Prophets above and beneath you was quite an experience. If I was traveling alone and have the time to spare, perhaps sitting there and contemplating the things of Faith and the life of our forebear would be most edifying. Although it was said that a whisper spoken against one wall of the Gallery can be heard 32 meters away on the other side of the Dome, we didn't quite put it to the test.

From the Whispering Gallery overlooking the altar and pulpit, the way to the Stone Gallery (376 steps up and 53 meters from the floor) was more challenging and narrower. Once we reached the gallery, the awesome panoramic view of London greeted us.

I like how the street seems to curve like an S from this height. However, I felt the imposing fences an unwelcome boundary, caging us in from an unbroken view of the rich city. Thankfully, this was not an issue with the Golden Gallery.

The dome of St Paul's is actually a dome within a cone within a dome. The inner dome being that of the sanctuary's painted ceiling, the cone supporting the heavy Ball and Lantern and the outer dome visible from outside. The way from the Stone Gallery to the Golden Gallery (85 meters and 528 steps up) was the most demanding yet, far more than that which I encountered in Oxford. Indeed, we have to thread the narrow, steep and winding walkway between the outer dome and the cone before finally reaching pure heaven. There, howling winds threatening to send you flying and the unobstructed view of an important settlement for more than 2 millennia welcomed you. This is London.

The London Eye and Westminster is visible near the horizon.

This direction is the cathedral's main entrance, facing Fleet Street.

Here we have Tate Modern, right across the bridge. The towering chimney looked no more than a match stick from this height. Now, this reminded me of Neil Armstrong's statement, 'I put up my thumb and it blotted out the planet Earth.' I suppose even our blue planet is a mere speck if you are far and high enough.

The Tower Bridge can be seen in the top left corner. London Bridge is in this picture as well, although harder to spot, being hidden among the buildings. (It is not the 2 more visible bridges in front.)

I would love to make the climb again on a fairer day when the sky is blue. How much more impressive would it be then? By the time we descended back to the cathedral floor, we were sweating and ravenously hungry. With the Super Tour starting in minutes, we endured the hunger for another hour and half, contenting ourselves with savoring the juicy histories and stories behind the cathedral at least twice razed to the ground before this incarnation whose dome survived the blitz by grace of God and the relentless efforts of the Cathedral Watch.

The tour took us through the cathedral's history and interior. The Quire and High Altar is beautiful. The colorful mosaic on the Quire ceilings depicting biblical scenes, particularly the creation, stand as an interesting contrast with the plain white simplicity of the Nave ceilings. Among the many memorials around the cathedral, most of them are military personals. The memorial for the Duke of Wellington stood as one most lavishly made.

Two irrelevant but funny things about these man of renown's statues. Anatomically, there is no space for their substance between their crouch. I don't suppose we'd draw men with a V shape between their muscular and manly legs. Secondly, the statue for William Turner does resembles Robbie Williams in certain angles. It was a pleasant surprise for me to know that Lord Frederic Leighton's tomb and memorial is here as well.

Of the many tombs and memorials in the dimly lit cathedral crypt (which my friend describe as similar to White House), Florence Nightingale's memorial is among the most well placed. Although hers was dwarfed by the huge stone tombs in the adjacent chambers, what was the honor to be flanked by the actual bodies of two military demigods, Lord Nelson to the west and Duke of Wellington to the East. Great honor for a great woman indeed!

Christopher Wren's tomb, the person behind this wonderful architecture is simple but powerful. There is nothing like the inscription, 'Reader if you seek his monument look around you'.

While I could spend a whole day or week or month just within these hallowed halls, our drumming bellies and the rest of London's sight and sounds beckoned. Originally, we planned to hit another museum in the afternoon, but seeing that we came out of the cathedral late, we opt to just wander the streets of London. Walking leisurely from landmark to landmark without the pressure of visiting a set target was more pleasurable than I expected. Blissfully wandering around almost aimlessly is also a good way to experience such an overwhelmingly eventful city.

Trafalgar Square was especially packed with the Zoolanders doing their rehearsal for the Trafalgar festival. Moving from the crowd, we made our way to Westminster and the Big Ben.

Across the House of Parliament is the Westminster Lion, another one for my lion collection.

A few steps away stood another modern attraction, the London Eye. The giant fairy's wheel does resembles bicycle's wheels.

The price for a ride in these capsules can be steep. I wonder how many of these are in the World. I know at least 3 now, there should be more.

The evening was spent with Chris, a kin I haven't meet before (as far as both of us can recall). He took us to Harrods as all of us were feigning shy and undecided about where to go. While I care little for shopping there, I do see it as a potential place for future visit. To simply just observe the different details and decorations in the variously themed room should keep me busy and happy enough.

After dinner in China Town, we amble from Trafalgar Square to Westminster for the second time in the day until we eventually ran out of time have have to rush for the bus.

Looking at the Big Ben at night, did I hear someone mention Peter Pan? It was a great trip while so much of London remains to be seen. There are still so many museums and galleries waiting to be visited.

It is great to meet you, Chris. Thanks for bringing us around. I suppose the next time we meet might be years away, in Sydney perhaps.