Mike's Travel Snaps

---from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

St. Paul's Cathedral Charles Dickens ranks among the best novelists of all time, and among Dickens' work his monumentally great David Copperfield is perhaps his finest. St. Paul's is repeatedly mentioned throughout that book, largely due to its distinctive image being painted on the lid of a sewing work-box owned by David's childhood nurse, Peggotty. In the novel, Dickens even gives a possible tourist itinerary of London from the mid-19th Century: We [went] to see some perspiring Wax-work, in Fleet Street...; and by visiting Miss Linwood's Exhibition, which I remember as a Mausoleum of needlework, favourable to self-examination and repentance; and by inspecting the Tower of London; and going to the top of St. Paul's.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Thus, St. Paul's was high on my own personal itinerary of London tourism. There has been a St. Paul's Cathedral on the same site since the year 604, with the current building completed in 1710. It took 35 years to build, and its construction spanned 5 monarchs. The above photo shows the entrance to the south transept (extreme right), far below the dome. Like any of the other cathedrals, abbeys, and churches on my trip, St. Paul's is a regular working church in addition to being a historic landmark. It's requested that visitors don't take photos in the church interior, out of respect for those who may be worshipping inside. So I have no pictures of inside. In the crypt below the cathedral, the architect and builder of St. Paul's, Christopher Wren, is buried (he was the first person buried there). Wren's epitaph includes, in Latin, "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you." The crypt is also the final resting place of the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson.
St. Paul's Cathedral In the photo, you can make out a white stone railing beneath the dome (that "railing" is actually about seven feet high). That's the Stone Gallery, a lower exterior observation level, sitting at 173 feet and 378 steps up from the cathedral floor. At the top of the dome, there's what looks like a gold railing. That's the Golden Gallery (the upper observation area), and it's quite the climb. One must hike 530 steps up from the cathedral floor, at a height of 280 feet. All of the aerial London photos below were taken from this location.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Below the level of the Stone Gallery in the interior of the dome, there is St. Paul's famous Whispering Gallery. This Gallery is at the lowest level of the dome, and it's basically an interior balcony which lets you see 99 feet down to the cathedral floor as well as up to the murals on the dome ceiling (featuring Biblical scenes depicting St. Paul). The fascinating characteristic of the Whispering Gallery is how sound travels around the curved walls of the Gallery. The walls are smooth stone, and the slightest sound made on the opposite side of the Gallery (some 140 feet away) bounces around the circumference of the dome and can be heard with startling clarity. The effect is almost ghostly--you hear voices speaking clearly to your left or right, but in fact there is no one near you. The site has given its name to a scientific effect called "whispering gallery modes," which deals with the refocusing effect of surfaces, and is used frequently in laser research.
St. Paul's Cathedral This is the main entrance and western face of the cathedral. The door in the main entrance is almost 30 feet high, and is only used for special ceremonies (that's a door the size of a football first down!). In front of the cathedral is a statue of Queen Anne (lower center), who was the reigning monarch at the structure's completion. Apparently, the fact that the Queen faces away from St. Paul's instead of facing it caused some talk in its early years.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Londoners popularized a rhyme in the early 1700s: "Brandy Nan, Brandy Nan, they've left you in the lurch/Facing toward the gin shops with your back towards the church."
St. Paul's Cathedral Here's a closer shot of the northwest tower. It seems odd to me, but that's a pineapple topping the tower. Yup, while a cross is on top of the dome, the towers sport a pineapple at their apex. The pineapple, supposedly, is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and hospitality. Hm. Didn't know that. If you're a fan of either architecture or computer imaging, and want to download a simple 3D model of St. Paul's exterior, click here (you'll have to download the program DesignWorkshop Lite to view the model, but it's a free download).	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
St. Paul's Cathedral The southwest tower, seen 173 feet up from the Stone Gallery. This is the tower that houses a clock (seen in the above photo of the main entrance). And, like the more famous Big Ben, the bells in this tower are also named. Great Tom is the bell which rings the hour. Great Paul, by tradition, rings daily at 1pm, as it was once used to call apprentices to return after lunch (it's also sometimes called the "Recall Bell"). And, oh yeah--here's another pineapple.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
The view from St. Paul's Facing eastward from the Golden Gallery. The road moving from the lower left of the photo to the upper center is called Cheapside (an odd name, considering the number of financial businesses in the area). On Cheapside, just above the curved brown building, is the steeple of another Christopher Wren-designed church, St. Mary-Le-Bow. Tradition has it that only people born within sound of the "Bow Bells" are true Cockneys.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
The view from St. Paul's A foggy day in London town? It was actually taken a few minutes after the previous photo. Go figure. This is a southwest view towards Blackfriars Bridge, and beyond, towards the area of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
The view from St. Paul's An extreme telephoto shot from the dome of St. Paul's (basically, a zoom-in from the photo above). That's the London Eye on the right, a gigantic ferris wheel erected for millennium celebrations. On the left is Victoria Tower, on the south end of the Houses of Parliament. See a live webcam image of the London Eye here.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
The view from St. Paul's The Tower Bridge as seen from the top of St. Paul's. On the left center of the picture is a white column topped by a golden-looking piece. This is called, simply, The Monument, which commemorates the Great Fire of 1666. That fire destroyed 80% of the City, including Old St. Paul's Cathedral, after raging for four days. The piece on top features stylized copper flames, and the square platform most of the way up is a viewing platform accessible by a narrow set of winding stairs in the column's interior (of course the 311 steps to climb The Monument can't hold a candle to the 530 steps to St. Paul's Golden Gallery).	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
You can see a number of construction cranes in this photo (as well as in all the other aerial photos on this page), and that's a very striking feature of today's London skyline. There's an awful lot of construction going on all across the city.

Some cool St. Paul's-related links:

• Official Site
• 360° view of the main entrance at night
• 360° view from the cathedral's center
• 360° view of the crypt at Lord Nelson's Tomb