The Events of Monday, June 6, 2011

                Having whetted our appetites for St. Paul’s Cathedral yesterday with the organ recital, we were eager to return. So it was fortuitous that visiting St. Paul’s was first on tour guide Caitlin’s agenda. Jim and I had toured St. Paul’s when we visited Europe in 1993, but the church was nothing like I remembered. As we toured today, we learned of the extensive restoration work that took place in 2001-2005. There was even an area that was left “dirty” to show the contrast. This example helped clear things up immensely. That area was the dirty, dingy gray we remember of St. Paul’s, not the shining, immaculate white dazzling beauty we encountered today.

                Admission to St. Paul’s came with the most high tech audio guide yet. In fact it is billed as a “multimedia” tour. As we entered we were each handed a headset and an iTouch. The tour stops were clearly delineated, pictures of where to go next popped up on the screen, and there was even an interactive map. Virtual tours and other video could be viewed as well. The commentary was informative and easy to listen to, and the accompanying music selection was heavenly. Unlike other churches we’ve visited and toured, St. Paul’s has a message to share. St. Paul’s was built to and exists today to glorify God. This was reiterated throughout the tour. The Christian belief and journey were explained and the invitation was made several times to “taste and see that the Lord, He is good” (Psalm 34:8). Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience, further enhanced by all this new technology.

                Built by Sir Christopher Wren after London’s Great Fire of 1666, St. Paul’s was the first cathedral to be completed within a builder’s lifetime. An astronomer by trade, Wren had never built or designed anything. Yet he left his mark everywhere at St. Paul’s. For instance, the dome is 365 feet tall; to remind the people that God is with them every day of the year. Wren’s approach to the dome structure was unique. He actually built three domes inside one another. The first dome is what can be seen from the cathedral floors. Yet while that dome was proportional to the cathedral, it wasn’t very impressive from the outside. So he built an even larger exterior dome that could be seen for miles around. So this exterior dome did not collapse on the interior dome, he sandwiched a cone between the domes to distribute the weight to massive pillars.    

                The tour began on the Cathedral Floor. The structure, the mosaics, the stain glass, the sculptures and the paintings were all explained. Every detail is exquisite and serves to worship God and lead the worshipper to do the same. After touring the floor, we made our way up the 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery, located at the base of the inner dome. Supposedly whispers spoken on one side of the dome can be heard across the dome. However, that was not our experience. We tried and tried, but the ambient noise was too much. Climbing an additional 119 steps brought us to the Stone Gallery, a promenade around the base of the exterior dome. As we climbed the stairwell became narrower and the doorways lower, a point which Jim learned about the hard way. The stairs began winding this way and that, finally delivering us to a walkway behind some impressive stone lattice work.

                The views from the Stone Gallery were amazing. We were able to identify many of the places in London that we visited and Caitlin pointed out places that we will also be visiting during our time here. There had been plans to visit the London “Eye”, a gigantic Ferris wheel, London’s number one tourist attraction, until we found out it cost ₤30 a head, about $50. Up here on the Stone Gallery we found ourselves eye to eye with the London Eye and suddenly it didn’t seem so important to visit. As we made our way around the Stone Gallery, we found our view at times blocked by…stone. So we were eager to climb higher.

                Another 152 stair steps brought us to the pinnacle of our climb. The Golden Gallery is located above the exterior dome. It is an open platform around the spire that tops the exterior dome bringing the total height to the 365 feet Wren aspired it to be. Here we were 85 meters or around 300 feet above the Cathedral floor and the views were unobstructed and simply amazing. We were able to see the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge we had crossed on our first day in London. And we were able to see the Millennium Pedestrian Bridge that we would cross tonight and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre where we would go tonight. The quarters were a bit snug up there and we circled it twice to be sure we didn’t miss anything. Taking pictures from up there was also a bit tricky. Check out our photo gallery to see how they turned out.

                Finally it was time to descend the 528 steps back down to the Cathedral Floor. However, our descent didn’t stop there. We descended further, down into the Crypt and once again utilized our handy multimedia devices to learn about what we were seeing. One interesting piece was called the Oculus, a multi-media video that moved across three walls of the viewing area, showing many aspects of church life and the church’s history. One portion was of the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana. This was the kids’ first viewing and they were incredibly impressed by the length of Diana’s train which at one point filled all three screens of the viewing area.  Sir Christopher Wren’s marker is simple yet a plaque placed by his son encourages those wishing to pay tribute to “look around” to behold Wren’s greatest achievement. Ornate gates commemorate Winston Churchill, who is actually buried near Blenheim Palace which we visited in early May. Our tour complete we visited the gift shop where Jim and Lindsey found some CDs they liked, and would return later to buy.

                Next on tour guide Caitlin’s agenda was a walking tour of London. Grumbling stomachs however called for a slight change in plans. Midway through the tour we were to visit a typical British tavern. We decided to head there first, get refortified and then embark on our walking tour. Cheered by the thought, we quickly made our way to The Chop Room of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese tavern. This tavern is as it was when it was built in 1667, after the Great London Fire. Rough tables and benches fill the room, and sawdust covers the floor. We were told the sawdust makes it easier to clean up spilt beer. Here we found some of the British fare that had eluded us earlier on our trip. We ordered Bubble and Squeak (fried mashed potatoes and cabbage mixed with peas and beans), Steak and Kidney Pudding (the kidneys here were definitely present), Scottish Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding (only the pudding wasn’t four inches tall as we were told it should be), Roast Loin of Pork (with Cranberry and Apple stuffing), Bangers and Mash (sausages, mashed potatoes and gravy), and rounded out the meal with some veggies and Cream of Tomato soup. The meal arrived and the Taylor “bite and pass” ‘round the table began. It was all very delicious. For dessert we passed on the Spotted Dick Pudding, and settled for Ginger and Butterscotch Pudding served with custard, Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake, and Sticky Toffee Pudding served with custard. Fully stuffed, we waddled out the door to commence our walking tour.

                Our walking tour today was of “The City”, the one-square-mile business center that 2000 years ago was surrounded by the Roman wall and called Londinium. It was here that the movers and shakers of old London, like Dickens and Shakespeare, did their business and drank their pints. And it was here that the Great Fire raged for four days, incinerating 80 percent of The City, 13,000 homes and 89 churches, before burning out near St. Clement Danes church. Surprisingly only nine people died, and remarkably the fire cleansed the city of the plague. Our tour today started at St. Clement Danes church, where the fire ended and ended on the London Bridge, near the monument marking where the fire started in a bakery shop. Rick Steves’ podcast again educated and entertained us as we made our way from stop to stop. Tired from our hike up St. Paul’s dome and our walk across town, we sat on benches near the monument to the fire before making our way to London Bridge for our final stop.

                As the podcast ended, Lindsey moved to put her iPod in her backpack and suddenly exclaimed, “My backpack‼” It wasn’t on her back. Then it hit her, she had left it on the bench at the monument stop. I told her to go get it and as she sauntered away, in step with Caitlin and Abby, I yelled, “Run!” The three of them took off like a shot, weaving their way among the business suit clad Londoners crowding the sidewalk. Jim, Ben and I followed at a slower pace and were relieved to soon see the girls walking toward us, backpack in tow. It turns out there was nothing valuable in the backpack since Lindsey had her camera around her neck and had been listening to her iPod. However, it DID contain our chips and bread for our picnic dinner. Laughing the girls shared that running upstream in the crowd was the most fun they had had all day. Kids‼

                Next we made our way along the Thames River Walk to the Millennium Pedestrian Bridge. When this bridge was built in 2000, it was nicknamed the “Wibbley Wobbley Bridge” as it swayed when crossed by crowds. According to one tour guide, it was officially opened by her Majesty the Queen at 10 am in the morning only to be closed by the London police at 4 pm in the afternoon the same day. Now that it has been shored up, we crossed it safely without incident. Upon reaching the other side of the Thames, we headed to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to pick up our tickets.

                To have the most authentic Shakespeare experience (and cheapest) we purchased “Groundling” tickets for ₤5 each. “Groundlings” were typically the poor who could not afford seats in the theatre yet understood the simple crude humor of the play. They were called Groundlings because they stood on the dirt floor surrounding the stage. So we followed suit. By purchasing the cheap tickets we ensured we would be standing for the entire play, something I was not sure I was going to be able to do after an entire day on my feet. We arrived at the Globe about an hour and a half before show time and the line by the Groundling’s Gate was already forming. We grabbed a spot and proceeded to have our picnic dinner in stages. First we all ate our carrots, not time to go in yet. Then we ate our chips. Still not time yet. However, just as we were pulling out our bread, meat and cheese, the doors opened. Not to fear. Led to another queue, we lined up and finished our dinner. We decided to leave our cookies for the “interval” (intermission).

                Finally allowed into the theatre, we quickly made our way to the front by the stage and staked our claim on our spots. Our position was perfect. Lining up along the left side of center stage, we were able to stand with our elbows resting on the stage. The play this evening was “Much Ado about Nothing”. This was quite fitting as we began our year of travel with a visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and saw “Much Ado about Nothing”, and now we were finishing our trip with a visit to the London Globe and seeing the same play, the way it was intended to be seen. We were not disappointed. We were so close we could see everything. The villain, Don John, sprayed us with spittle as he spewed his hatred for his brother. When the wedding rings were thrown to the floor at the climax of the betrayal scene, they bounced first on the stage and then landed on Abby’s head. A souvenir‼ It was a wonderful end to another fine day in London.