London One More Time

Yesterday I had a free day and a few pounds in my wallet, so I decided to hop a train into London for the day.  On my definite "wants" to do for the day was St. Paul's Cathedral, but doing it up proper this time instead of doing a quick look around when walking through the crypt to the loo.  But before I headed there, I wanted to do a good wander around the city and just take in the sights.  (One of my favorite things of traveling is seeing how other people live in other parts of the world, which is why I am always going on about kids climbing on castle ruins, etc.)  So I spent a couple hours just wandering around, getting "lost".  I put that in parentheses bc I had a map and crossed quite a few tube stops, so don't be worried.  I didn't always know where I was, but I was always just loving the buildings, the people having lattes in their cute little coffee shops, and going into their high end grocery stores.  I didn't take many pictures, which I tend to not when I'm alone.

When I first set out, the day was chilly and grey, like most days here.  However, after a few minutes in London, it became very warm and sunny.  Here's my proof of a beautiful sunny day in London:

This pic was taken in Sloane square, just outside the tube station.  Have I mentioned how much I love love love the London underground?

I also spent some time at Hyde Park, which Steve and I walked through together on our time here.  The difference is that when we walked through together, it was definitely wintertime for the flowers.  When I walked through yesterday, it smelled of honeysuckle and roses, all of which were budding or blooming!  That just tells you how mild it has been here, something that people keep telling me is super unusual.  I'll take it!

I also ate my breakfast here in Hyde Park after ducking into a Waitrose, a high end grocery store that I'd heard a lot about here.  Well, it has nothing on Whole Foods, especially the Whole Foods here.  Brits love their cheese, but WF took it to another level, having a massive (MASSIVE!) cheese counter AND a cheese curing(?) room:

I was in total awe here. It's been awhile since I walked stupidly around a grocery store, but this one did it to me. 

And how could I NOT get a meal here?  I love to eat at WF anyways.  It was such an eerie feeling to be sitting somewhere that felt familiar and completely alien at the same time.  Loved it!

I also went back to St. Paul's Cathedral and spent almost 3 hours there, taking in the Cathedral, walking the much touted 267 steps to the Whispering Gallery, and taking a guided tour through the Cathedral.  It was the highlight of my already awesome day.  Sadly, I couldn't take any pictures in the Cathedral, but here are a few highlights:

• The whispering gallery made me appreciate what schizophrenics must hear.  I could hear a multitude of voices, some soft and some loud, that belonged to people whom I had never seen but were saying very odd things.  Eerie.
• Really, 267 steps that are like 1-inch high is not something to be warning people about as being difficult.  I mean, really.
• When offered the choice of taking the free guided tour vs the free audio tour, always take the guided tour.  We got to go places that are off-limits the rest of the time.  For instance, the Geometric Staircase (google image search it) was incredible.  It's a spiral staircase where each stair's weight is supported by the stair underneath it.  We also sat in the quire, where the choir sings.  The benches there were from the 1400s.  Glad I didn't scratch them!
• Hearing the story of how the English received the book of names of Americans killed in WWII while serving on/based from English bases was a little different than what I had heard before.  The difference lay in the sentiment...my guide presented it as something the Americans forced the English to do as partial payment for the debt that the Brits now forever owed to America.  I prefer to think of it as the Brits were so grateful that they wanted to keep the book in honor.  I think my guide had a chip on his shoulder anyway, since he kept singling out the Americans in the group to watch the steps and that we may have to go up a couple steps if we can manage... (and thankfully I didn't trip on any steps.  I just knew I was going to reinforce his ribbing)
• BTW, that book was names was really really big.  I asked the guide and he said they have a facsimile book that family members can look through to find their loved ones' names.  He said it's one of the more touching parts of his job.
• The Churchill gates in the crypt do not mark where Churchill actually rests, they just stand in memorium.  Churchill is buried at his family crypt at some place not St. Paul's.
• St. Paul's was famously a target during the Blitz and was hit by several firebombs, but each bomb fell in a location where no valuable artifacts/art was damaged.  For instance, if one of the bombs had fallen about 10 feet west, it would have irreparably damaged the beautiful Byzantine mosaics on the ceiling that had no arch support.  As it was, the bomb fell exactly where there was support and no damage was really done.

I can keep going about St. Paul's, but I'd never stop.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.  The view from St. Paul's steps is a little funny:

Can you see some of the tents to the side?  Some sort of Occupy protest, but each tent seems to be protesting their own things. I saw a PETA tent, a Greenpeace tent, and one tent asking for your end of the year bonus.

I thought this was a little funny; people watching and tent watching.  It works.

After St. paul's, I headed up to Camden Market, somewhere I had read was a cool, funky place to go shopping.  It was definitely funky.  

I didn't stick around here for too long since most of the shopping available was rip-off merchandise, which makes me a little uncomfortable.  Anybody from the Goeller family remember the Great Nike Watches Sting from DC trip 1996?  I sure do!  :)

After Camden Market, I headed to Whole Foods, but those pics are up above. It was a wonderful day and a great way to say good-bye to London. I'm quickly drawing to the close of my time here in England, which has gone by way too quickly.  Upcoming posts:  Canterbury/Seven Sisters Weekend, English Healthcare Experiences, Edinburgh Weekend, and English Differences.

Also there has been much talk from Steve about doing some posts from our trip, but those have yet to materialize....