1/23/14

Monument 

So today we did our "London Walk" we started at the Monument which commemorates the Great Fire of London. The fire was in 1666. The Monument stands at 202 feet high. 

St. Paul's Cathedral

(Me, Madeline, Madi, Hannah, & Audrey)

(Hannah & Me)

Story behind this: A nice elderly gentleman took the lovely group picture above. He told us that he is a photographer and in order to get the best picture you must relax your face. So for all of you who would like to learn this special tip here it is: you jump, blow out, and then smile) Here is our attempt to do what he said.

Standing outside of St. Paul's Cathedral was awesome and I hadn't even stepped foot inside. History: Construction started in 1675 by Christopher Wren and Lorenzo Gafa. This was the fourth cathedral built on this site. The first one was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. This was the first cathedral to be built after the English Reformation in the sixteenth century. Henry VIII removed the Church of England from the jurisdiction of the Pope and the Crown took control of the life of the church. This building has witnessed Christian Worship for over one thousand four hundred years. In the 14th century jubilees were initially celebrated within the Catholic Church. In a Christian context, Jubilees are certain years in which forgiveness of sins is focused upon. Royal jubilees are a more joyous occasion, celebrating and marking major period in a monarch's reign. We got to see exactly where Elizabeth II entered for her Silver, Golden & Diamond jubilees. One time they had an organ play inside the cathedral instead of her "trumpets" she was so appalled by what it sounded like, that they never played the organ for her jubilee again. 

Yes, this is still at St. Paul's Cathedral. The stairs above were crafted in a unique way. The steps are only supported by each other and stick into the walls. Scary to think about! This was the only place inside the cathedral where we could take a picture.

View from above

So our tour started and they explained how after our tour we will have the opportunity to climb 500 stairs to see a view. I did not expect the view to be this amazing. They handed us a little pamphlet about the cathedral and there was a section warning people that the stairs are steep. It went on to say that if you are afraid of heights or small spaces then they would advise you to not participate in the walk, or climb I should say to the top. There was an option to watch a film that could show you the same view. After walking around London the film was sounding pretty good. But, who comes all the way to London to watch a film! Not me! We finished the tour and began our climb. They were not joking when they said 500 stairs, and small spaces. The pretty stairs in the above picture were not the ones that we climbed. We climbed cement stairs, and twisty medal stairs. The medal stairs were small with little holes so you could see all the way to the bottom. It was quite the experience and so worth the view when we got to the top!

 (Hannah, Me, & Hali)

View from above