St. Paul's, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge...

In the narrow, winding hall leading to the whispering gallery.
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So the other night, in case you were wondering, we rescued Amber just in time from museum overload.  We didn't manage to get to the orientation until 2, since the group flight was delayed...thus she was there until 5.  Ouch!  Poor girl, the Egyptian urns were no doubt getting quite dull towards the end, there...

This morning I got up early for the mandatory sightseeing tour...the entire group of people in our program was packed into huge buses, and whirled around London...Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, London and Tower Bridge, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace...a drive past Harrod's, Mayfair, Hyde Park and the Marble Arch...etc. etc....all in about 3 hours.  Haha, so needless to say, I'll definitely have to go back and check it all out in further detail.

Waiting for the train on the Underground...
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We got a head start to that end, actually, when Amber and I (Laura's sick, poor girl) took the tube to St. Paul's.  Amazing!  Unfortunately, the top two galleries weren't open today due to extremely high winds (apparently it would be bad press if somebody were to fall off), but we saw some spectacular things, regardless...The final resting places of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul's; the Duke of Wellington, who famously defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo;  Lord Nelson, the admiral who brought the French and Spanish armadas to their knees at the Battle of Trafalgar; as well as John Donne, William Blake, and so many other artists, writers, musicians, generals, priests, and notable figures...I loved the history; There were tombs from the 1500's that had been brought in after the rebuilding of the Cathedral, starting in 1675, after the great fire.  To stand next to or even touch something so old was remarkable.

The ceiling of the dome (taken on the sly--they don't allow cameras!)
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We ascended from the crypt to the main floor, and the vastness of the place is indescribable.  The detail and hard work that went into making this wonderful building is amazing; mosaic floors in the crypt, stone carving everywhere, tons of stained glass, arches, woodwork, you name it--Amber and I couldn't help but wonder:  how did they do it?  It's so hard to envision something so magnificent being built entirely by hand, without machinery like cranes, bulldozers, and forklifts; and yet more brilliant and awe-inspiring than pretty much everything we make today with said cranes, bulldozers, and forklifts...

Harrod's at night. HUGE place! They even have themed rooms, like, "The Egyptian Room"...crazy.
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The Whispering Gallery was awesome.  On the first gallery of the giant dome, if you stand opposite someone, you can whisper to the wall and they'll hear it.  Talk about great acoustics!

On the way out, we stopped in a small chapel meant for prayer and confession.  Amber and I knelt quietly there, taking it all in, and everything under the sun ran through my head...I couldn't help myself, I had tears coming down my face.  Silly, I know, but it just happened.  I understood why people believe...ages ago, they built churches like this--massive, beautiful churches--as a way of expressing the passion they had for those beliefs...I imagine there could be few emotions more powerful than that.

Bright lights at Piccadilly Circus!
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After St. Paul's, we took the tube to Picadilly Circus, and had a look at what shops were around there.  Of course, being a total tourist, I took some snapshots of the bright electric signs there...it was like London's answer to Times Square, haha.  Although obviously London was there first...so maybe it's the other way around.

At any rate, I learned an interesting tidbit today...Fun Fact:  Although the true origins of the word Piccadilly are unknown, there are a couple of possiblities.  Some speculate that during the 1700's, the leading maker of the piccadil, a fashionable type of collar, lived in the area.  But that's not any fun, is it?  I much prefer the possibility that many a "dilly", which at one point in time meant something akin to a hooker, was prevalent in the area...thus "Pick a dilly"...and potentially London's first red light district!

On the neverending stairs...
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Stopped and had lunch at a nice place called the Gourmet Pizza Company.  Great food, and not too expensive, fortunately.

We eventually ended up in Knightsbridge, and checked out some stores...including Harrod's.  That is one fancy department store, let me tell you!  They have everything imaginable...and we didn't even get a really good look at everything!  We just skimmed the bottom floor, taking in the various themed rooms and extremely expensive goods.  We flirted with the idea of a sundae at their ice cream counter, but soon realized that ice cream would put us back about £18 apiece.  No ice cream is that good!

Claustrophobia, anyone? The hall in St. Paul's dome...
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I'm back from a pretty long day, now, and settling in for the night.  Hope you all had a good one, and aren't quite as tired as me--next time I go up St. Paul's Cathedral to the galleries, I'll have to count the steps...but let me assure you, there are a lot.

Keep in touch, and much love!

Chris