London - Day 9

It was a wet morning when we set off to St. Paul's Cathedral. Anna was eager to climb to 532 steps to the top. I on the other hand - not so much. Especially after the filling breakfast we had. But, nonetheless we were going.

We arrived just after an entire bus of - you guessed it - Russians! Their tour guide was doing the typical thing which was yelling at them for falling behind ;)

First we climbed to the first dome - the whispering gallery as its known. It's a perfect half circle and the walls are also 5ft deep which means if you are sitting at one end and you place your head against the wall and whisper your friend on the other side will hear what you said - quite clearly actually. Anna and I tried it and it works :)

The guide at the whispering gallery was very informative. For example did you know there were 3 London Bridges? The first fell down (think of the song "London bridge is falling down"), the second was dismantled and shipped to Arizona (yes, as in the State of Arizona!) and the third one which stands today is quite recent. Also, the chapel at St. Paul's was bombed during WWII and when reconstructed was dedicated to the United States of America. The stained glass windows contain emblems from all 50 states. We couldn't find CA and no one could help us since apparently the Brits are as ignorant of our geography as we are of theirs :P

We finally climbed to the top to take some spectacular photos. You can see all of the city from the top. If you have the stamina make the climb as there are very few places in London where you can get such a view!

Shakespeare was on the menu next. We headed to the working replica of the globe theater. I absolutely love Shakespeare! Especially his sonnets! We took a tour of the playhouse which operates several shakespeare plays from April to October of every year. They try to have the performances as accurate as possible including all male casts in some plays. Hmmm... that I would like to see :) We did find out, to our amusement, that it was an American who was responsible for the rebuilding of the globe but he did not live to see its completion.

We headed down a bit along the river to Southwark Cathedral. This is where Shakespeare is said to have worshiped (though some think him pagan). They were closed for an exhibition so Anna wasn't able to go inside and see the statue of Shakespeare (I've been inside before). However, we were pleasantly surprised to find an open air market right outside the church. It had everything you could imagine: bread, pastries, cheese, jams, olives by the barrel, meats, wine and ale, fresh fruits and veggies and of course, chocolate! We browsed and tasted and made a few selections :) simply delicious!

Heavy laden we headed to the most famous bridge in the world (or so they claim) - the London Bridge or more accurately the Tower Bridge as it's called. There is another bridge in London that is known as the London Bridge. Ah, the confusion :) We did the exhibition tour which actually takes you up to the very top platforms that connect the two towers. It offers nice views including the Tower of London (the old castle/dungeons).

So all the while we were exploring it was sunny and hot. We were regretting bringing our jackets and umbrellas but when we came out of the Tower Bridge Exhibition we could see the dark clouds rolling in! So we hurried over to the Tower of London. Both Anna and I have been there before I just wanted to see the crown jewels again. As we were making our way there the rain began...

And when we exited it started to pour. I mean pour!!! Cats and dogs and anything else you could imagine! We ran to the tube but even with our umbrellas and jackets we still got soaked, particularly our feet and legs. At least the underground was nice and dry... and warm. We thought it woul end quickly but no! As we made our way back to the hotel all hell broke lose! Thunder and lighting, gusts of wind and heavy rainfall. We had to wait for an hour at the hotel before it let up for us to run across the street to the Byron for dinner and then it started back up again. So, here we are sitting at the local Starbucks :) I don't think we'll get much else done today...

Anna is attempting to read "A Brave New World" while I write and chat with my sister.

A good friend mentioned that London smells like wet carpet after the rain and I must say I agree... Its going to stick with me! ;)