Saturday...my last Saturday in London. Well, not technically that is. I still have one Saturday left on my way back from Amsterdam I am stopping off to stay one final night next to the airport before heading home to American on 10/31.
Anyways...back to this Saturday, October 23rd. I started the day slowly and was out of the house around noon. My only objectives for the day, were to go to St. Paul's Cathedral and Temple Church in Central London. I decided to go a different way than normal on the Overground and Underground thinking it might take less time. Not the case. The Central line was out of service on the Underground that weekend so I ended up taking the Overground to the National Railway to the Underground at Liverpool station. What a mess. There were so many people at the Liverpool station and I had to 'top up' on my Oyster transit card. The machine wouldn't take my 20 pound note so I had to stand in this ridiculous line to have an agent help me. But once I go through there it went pretty smoothly. I wasn't going to let this little inconvenience annoy me like I normally would have. I had a moment, for a few seconds, and was over it. I mean c'mon...it's Saturday and I don't have any time frame at all to deal with.
So I finally got on the Underground and in two stops I was at St. Paul's station. I figured I should probably eat something before heading into the Cathedral knowing there was quite a climb up the steps to get to the top of the dome. There was a Cafe' Nero's just outside the station and I popped in seconds before it started to rain. And in typical British form, it started to drizzle and then came a down pour. The forecast said it was supposed to be clear all day so I didn't bring my jacket or my umbrella. Go figure! I knew that it would only be a matter of time before this shower passed, so I took my time with my lunch. Perfect timing I had so far...but just in case any other showers decided to visit, I popped into a news store and got a back up umbrella.
Now it was time to head over to the Cathedral. I was a wee bit chilly and should have brought my jacket with me this day, but knew if I did that I would end up hot and sweaty and having to carry it around. I'd much rather be chilly than hot. Before heading towards the chapel, I popped into a Starbuck's and grabbed a tall Chai Latte to warm me up a bit. Approaching the Cathedral, you're overwhelmed by how massive of a structure it is. It's the second largest Cathedral next to the Vatican. After finishing most of my latte, I finally made my way up to the entrance and went in. My goodness the place is massive and gorgeous. I often get slightly angered whenever I enter places of worship this grand thinking about all the monies put into it as well as how much it costs for the upkeep. Those monies could be spent elsewhere for so many different charities. Okay, stepping down from my soap box now.
Once inside, I opted to not get one of the voice guides since I tried one at Hampton Court Palace and it annoyed me since I couldn't figure out how to fast forward the darn thing. I took my time in walking around to just take in the sites. The decor of this place was amazing with gold leafing everywhere. The dome section was breath taking and very hard to describe. Looking up in amazement I couldn't believe how beautiful this was as well as how I was going to make the walk up to the top. Oi! I walked down into the crypt which had some important British people buried as well as some sculptures and such dedicated to other famous historical figures...none that I was too familiar with. After the crypt, I headed back up to the cathedral floor looking for the access/stairs to the dome.
Door found, I made my ascent towards the top. Now mind you, there are three levels in which you can go towards the top of the dome. The first landing is the Whispering Gallery which is the base of the dome and 30 meters (98.5 feet) from the Cathedral floor. Still located inside of the Cathedral, one can sit and admire the artwork of the dome as well as whisper and hear whoever is talking from across the other side of the dome. After catching my breath and cooling down from this first climb...I chose to take the next set of stairs upwards to the Stone Gallery, 53 meters from the Cathedral floor (177 feet). Now it doesn't sound like a lot at first, until you actually make the climb. The first set of steps where small in height...the second set were regular height steps and I found myself getting out of breath. But, I was going to press on and finish my climb. Once you get to the Stone Gallery, you step outside and get a most beautiful panoramic view of London. I'm glad that it was somewhat clear and you could seriously see for miles. So beautiful. I walked all the way around this part of the dome and contemplated making the final ascent up to the Golden Gallery, 85 meters from the Cathedral floor (279 feet). Knowing that the views were the same, I had had enough stair climbing and decided to make the trek down in a spiral (man that was a little dizzying) and on towards my next point of interest.
Finally down, I headed out towards Fleet Street and on towards Temple Church. I knew it would be a little bit of a walk and welcomed the journey. I love walking around new places and just taking in the views of where I am at. I'm naturally a voyeur at heart so I just love to look at people, places and things.
After walking for a wee bit, I came across a beautiful set of buildings and thought that maybe I had arrived at Temple Church. I popped into a store to get some water to hydrate and asked if that was what I was seeing. Nope, I had stumbled upon the Royal Court buildings and needed to back track a little to get to the Temple Church and grounds. So I got my map out and saw where I needed to go and went back and down towards the Embankment on the Thames. Now if any of you have ever tried to find the Temple Church...you will understand how difficult a task this is. See...the church itself is nestled in between a bunch of buildings and not visible from the street. I walked down to the Embankment and up towards Temple station (Underground) before realizing that I was somehow missing it. I decided to walk into this beautiful gated area to see where the darn church was located. I ended up running into a very nice Argentinian couple who was also looking for the church. Looking at my map, we knew we were close, but every person we asked where it was at didn't know. So the three of us walked back up to Fleet street and found ourselves back at the store I had popped into earlier. Looking again at the map, we had to back track again my original route making a right onto Tudor Street towards the inner Temple grounds. Once on the grounds, we then had to weave in and out of buildings just to find the church. By far one of the most difficult places I have ever had to find. Once we got there though, we were excited yet disappointed to find that the church was closed to the public for a wedding. REALLY? However...it was the end of the service and we were told that if we waited, we could enter after all of the wedding attendees had left. It was kinda cool to stumble upon a nice wedding and I was quite surprised to see how the Brits dress for such occasions. I truly felt like I was at a wedding from the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. Hee hee.
Once inside, I was surprised at how small the church was and that the Knights Templar effigies were located in a smaller portion of the church. However, it was beautiful inside and I'm glad that I finally got to make it and see such a historical location. I am a huge fan of Templar history and seeing such an old, historical location made me happy like a kid in a candy store. However, I was tired from all the days walking and climbing that I was more than ready to get back on transit and make my way home. I still needed to chill out for a while before getting ready to head out for the night to see my old friend from my club days, Marc Jellybear.
Once home, I plopped down on the bed and waited until it was time to get up and get ready.
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