Last Day in London

Greetings from London everyone,

Well, it was bound to happen, the last day in London has come to close. It was another jolly in day in England!

We actually slept in this morning which was much needed. This vacationing thing is hard work! I know, I know...you feel so sorry for us. Once we were able to get out the door we headed to the last big thing on our list that was a must see, St. Paul's Cathedral. WOW! What an incredible structure. When we got there, the clouds even parted so we could get some good photos! Photography is not allowed inside the cathedral, unfortunately. However, I think my iPhone accidentally clicked a couple times.

St. Paul's Cathedral is where Prince Charles and Princess Dianna were married (Westminster Abbey was two small. St. Paul's 2500 seats were filled for the event). We chatted a bit with the ticket seller. She was not at all impressed that the wedding had taken place there, in fact, her response was, "Just look how that turned out." She then went on to tell us that there have been only two royal weddings in St. Paul's. We thought she said the other was Mary I of England who is known as Bloody Mary, but haven't been able to verify that. Her point of the story, if you're royal, DON'T get married in St. Paul's. She was quite funny with her dry British sense of humor and made a delightful start to the tour.

One of the surprises for us at Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, and the other chapels we visited, is that the British entomb people right in the church. There are life size stones in the floor the size of a grave that serve as the tomb stone. These are scattered throughout the church (not in the nave - sanctuary area). St. Paul's actually has a crypt in the basement. The Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon is there, as well as Lord Nelson and many other well known British military figures.

The unique thing about St. Paul's, is that instead of a spire, it has a dome, like many government buildings. After viewing the cathedral floor and the crypt, we hiked up 257 steps to the Whisper Gallery that rings the top of the base of the dome inside the cathedral. The view down below is amazing. It's called the Whisper Gallery because you can sit one side and whisper something and the person clear on the other side of the dome can hear you. No telling secrets up there! Next, we climbed 119 more steps to the Stone Gallery which rings the base of the dome on the outside of the cathedral with spectacular city views through the stone columns...and wind that almost blows you overboard! But wait, there's more...we climbed 152 MORE stairs - iron spiral staircase, to the Golden Gallery at the TOP of the dome - 279 feet above the cathedral floor! The views were fabulous and took the little breath we had completely away. So that's a total of - don't forget the steps up from the crypt, 558 steps! Fortunately, we only had to come down 528 of them back to the cathedral. Whew! No one told us that we were signing up for an exercise program!

Our next stop for the day was Covent Gardens. It's an open air arts and crafts market that grew out of a fruit market in ancient times. We picked up a few items, including a one-of-a-kind hand-painted silk tie for Rich. After Covent Gardens we hiked through the city discovering another open-air market of fruits, vegetables, meats, pastries and other goodies. We also came across another gorgeous chapel in which we got to hear the organist practicing.

Next we hiked to Trafalgar Square, a very impressive plaza in front of the National Gallery. Took tons of pictures, even though the light was getting low. The statues and fountains were beautiful. We could see Big Ben and one tower of the Parliament building from Trafalgar.

Since we had not done enough walking, we hoofed it over to the Piccadilly Circus area to do some shopping and have dinner. We know it's not very British of us, but we ate at the world's busiest T.G.I. Friday's. It was newly remodeled, reopened, and packed!


Needing to walk off a few more pounds after dinner, we walked up into the SOHO area and then strolled along Regent Street, one of the main shopping thoroughfares of London (not that we could afford anything in any of the stores). It was fun just watching the people, the buses and black cabs, and gawking at the beautiful buildings.

So, one thing we did not get use to in London was this whole "keep to the left" thing. We did ride in a taxi on the WRONG side of the road. It was a wild ride! If we had been left to our devices, we probably would not have survived our visit. Since childhood, we have been taught to look left before crossing the street. But NO, not in London. You have to look right because the traffic is coming from the other direction. Fortunately, the British knew we were coming and very kindly painted "Look Right" at every crosswalk for us. If it wasn't for that, we would not be heading to Paris tomorrow. Even in the Tube stations, the signs say keep left, not right. When you meet a Brit on the street, they automatically go to their left instead of right. The problem? I went to my right and ran into more people...trust me, this is not a good way to build good foreign relations.

Well, we've rambled quite a bit tonight. Have to get packing. We head to the train station at 6:30 in the morning. If Paris is half as great as London, we're in for a real treat.

Thank you to all of you who have given us such positive feedback on the our blog. It's fun to know that you are enjoying our trip with us.

The last Cheerio! See you in Paris!

Will and Rich