05/20/11 Day 12: London

I wish we weren't leaving London today. I had so much more that I wanted to see. Hopefully I'll be able to return one day. It is my favorite city so far. I think the MAX will feel easy to ride after riding the Tubes. Going from the British Museum to Big Ben, we had to make 2-3 transfers. It was insane, but so much fun.

St Paul's Cathedral

If you look carefully, you might recognize this dome from a recent Pirates movie.

Half of our group went to St. Paul's. It was gorgeous, but they wouldn't let us take pictures inside, so we spent more time climbing to the "galleries" than anything else. We were also very sick of cathedrals by that point. There were points on the spiral staircase when I thought I wouldn't  make it. I hate heights. It's the worst on ladders, nearly as bad on stairs that have holes in them so I can see exactly how far I am from solid ground. The view from the golden gallery was worth it though, even if I couldn't see Big Ben's clock tower from there. It was also interesting to learn the history of St. Paul's, especially the Blitz of WWII. There was a huge hole in the floor and parts of the walls were missing.

St. Paul's has existed since 604 AD, when there was a Saxon church on the property. In 1087, it burned down and the Normans built a cathedral in its place. In 1166 it was badly damaged in the Great Fire of London, so Wren designed the current cathedral. Princess Diana married Prince Charles there.

Inside I found a memorial to the American dead in WWII, as well as the tomb of William Blake and John Donne's statue. I climbed a total of 528 steps to get to the Golden Gallery of the cathedral, making the Sir Walter Scott Monument seem short.

the view from the Golden Gallery

The British Museum

We ate lunch at via a grocery store and went in our trio to the British Museum. It was kind of a let down to rush through it, and to see so many international treasures dissected from their rightful homes. But, I did get to see the Venus Statue as well as the Book of the Dead without going to Greece or Egypt, so I can't complain too much.

canoptic jars

Probably most interesting for me was seeing first hand what Egyptian religion looked like. I plan on using what I found about animal worship in my first novel. I also enjoyed seeing the real Rosetta Stone and cuneiform on Babylonian monuments.

Big Ben & Parliament, and the Eye

Big Ben is not the Clock tower, but the bell inside of it

We then went on several colors of Tube lines to Westminster to see the Eye (which we didn't have time or money to ride), Big Ben & Parliament (which we didn't have time to enter) and Westminster Abbey (which closed to tourists the moment we found the ticket line.) I really really need a week, maybe two, to see London properly.


Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey was founded over a thousand years ago as a Benedictine monastery. Edward the Confessor rebuilt it in 1065. Henry III built the present church in 1245. Since 1066, Westminster Abbey has been used for coronations. It is the burial place of Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, Edward I, Elizabeth I, Mary I (Bloody Mary), and Mary Queen of Scots. It is also the home of the Poets' Corner, with memorials to Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Jane Austen, and the Bronte sisters. The Abbey also honors scientists like Darwin and Newton are honored here, as well as politicians like Winston Churchill

Trafalgar Square

Hm...I wonder if this has been bewitched by Blackbeard....

Feeling slightly defeated, we went to Trafalgar Square and enjoyed some people watching while Whitney went to the National Gallery. After stopping for dinner and souvenirs, we met up at the hotel to ride a bus to a hotel at the airport. It is a lux hotel with 45 minutes of complimentary Internet!! Even if I don't have separate sheets anymore, I'm pretty happy.