London Day Two

Cheerio, my phone needed a charge and it's raining a bit so I figured it'd be a good time to blog. So, today I went over to Saint Pauls Cathedral to check that out. There's no photography allowed except for one staircase off to the side so I'll try to describe it the best I can. First off, it is a massive building. I'd guess it would take up an entire city block if London used city blocks which they do not. It's like the city planner took a big bowl of noodles, dropped it on the floor and said make it look like that. Nevertheless, its huge. It took me ten minutes of walking around it just to find the door. But eventually I did. So I go inside, get my ticket and an older fella came over and started chatting me up. His name was Thomas, he was giving an 11 o' clock tour. Tom the tour guide. I had twenty minutes to wander so I strolled around and took it all in. Everywhere you looked was highly detailed, intricate and symmetrical. It was an obsessive compulsers dream come true. Nothing was off center. There are sculptures of people, paintings on the ceiling, which felt like it was a mile up and all kinds of columns and engravings.

11 eventually came around so I found Tom and about twenty others waiting for the tour. Since Tom was older and because its a working church we had these closed circuit headsets so everyone could hear. First we went to a little side section of pews that has had a church on site in one form or another since the year 604. 604, Tom repeated that so I will too. In that particular section they have little hangouts with the queen and other fancy pants Brits from time to time. Next we went to a staircase where he explained how the architect Christopher Wren was really into math. You can definitely tell because of how symmetrical everything looked. He explained that the stairs only go into the wall a few inches and that each stair supports all the rest, and if one was taken out the whole thing would become unstable. Here's a picture.

Next we headed over to look at the choir section. He talked about the organ and the seven and a half thousand pipes that are located all around the cathedral. He told us about the boys choir and how they are highly trained at reading, writing, arithmetic and obviously music. It sounded like a strict upbringing. A lot of clapping erasers and being hit with rulers. He didn't say that exactly, that's just what it sounded like to me. But at the end of the day they get into the best colleges and have those special privileges that very few people have. It was pretty cool to AIT in these intricately carved wooden pews that people have sat in since 1675 or so. Next he talked about the ceiling mosaics. There was a certain style they followed that I can't remember right now but basically they take pieces of glass no bigger than a fingernail and smush it into plaster. Then they leave it uneven on purpose. They don't smooth it out, so that way it sparkles when the light hits it. Next we went over how the Germans dropped an explosive during the blitzkrieg that landed right where the alter would be. Sounds like it caused a good bit of damage so they had to repair that part. When they did repair it they thought of a few improvements. One addition that Tom made a point of mentioning was a memorial to the 28,000 U.S. military personnel that were stationed in Britain during WW2 who lost their lives. They had a big inscription as well as a book under glass with everyone's name. I thought that was a classy move to honor them in what is arguably one of London's most revered and respected landmarks. Its good to have allies like that in the world and it made me feel good too.

Alright, I'm almost done, there's a lot to cover. Next we went over the dome itself and the paintings that show scenes of the life of Saint Paul. Think of the Sistine chapel, it was kind of similar. Finally the tour went to its last stop, for some quite literally. The crypt underneath the building. Down there are a few smaller chapels for ceremonies like knighthood, weddings and of course funerals. There are a lot of dead bodies down there. All of which are famous people. The Duke of Wellington is down there, Admiral Nelson is there, Sir Christopher Wren, who built it is down there with some of his family members. It was interesting to say the least. The only one missing was Winston Churchill. He's buried on his families land somewhere in the country. Instead they put up this cool looking gate in his honor that I wished I could've taken a picture of. That concluded the tour. After that I grabbed lunch in the Crypt Cafe just a few dozen yards from the crypt itself. Have you ever had lunch in a room full of dead bodies? Well now I can say that I have. Overall it was an interesting tour and I'm glad I did it, highly recommended, ask for Tom. Cheers!