Day 12: 21 October 2009, Wednesday
Day 12, and it’s back to just the two of us, KP and I, as our travelling companion for the past week, TH, had returned to Coventry to work. At 9am, KP and I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral and bought our tickets (£1/S$25.85) to visit the cathedral and climb to the top of the dome.
St. Paul’s Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of London and it is one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks. Built between 1675 and 1710, the present Cathedral is at least the fourth to have stood on the site, with its predecessor being destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666. The present Cathedral is designed in the English Baroque style, and its dome remains among the highest in the world at 111 metres high. Photography is not allowed inside the cathedral so I don’t have any pictures of the interior.
The Dome galleries comprise three sections – the Whispering Gallery (30m from Cathedral Floor), Stone Gallery (52m) and the Golden Gallery (85m). The Whispering Gallery runs around the interior of the dome. Due to its acoustic properties, another person at any other point around the gallery will be able to hear you if you whisper against the wall.
The Stone Gallery encircles the outside of the dome. Stepping outside, we could see the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern museum directly across the River Thames. We also had a good view of the two western towers. We snapped some pics here before making our way to the Golden Gallery, 528 steps up from the ground level.
From 1710 to 1963, St. Paul’s Cathedral was the tallest building in London, so we had a panoramic view of the city from here. Besides the old buildings lining the streets, we could see a dozen construction cranes and skyscrapers creeping up in the distance. It was a pity the weather wasn’t great, with gloomy skies and light rain – typical London weather.
After having our fill of the view, we made our way back down and proceeded to our next destination – Old Spitalfields Market. Unfortunately, I don’t have any recollection of what we did there.
Next, we went to Westminster Abbey. Having just visited a cathedral, we didn’t want to pay the £15 (S$35.25) admission fee to enter another church so we just snapped some pics of its very impressive Gothic façade. Westminster Abbey is famous for being the traditional place of coronation and a burial site for English and British monarchs. Some of the most prominent people being buried here include Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and more recently, Stephen Hawking in 2018. Westminster Abbey is where the British royal weddings take place. In April 2011, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka Prince William and Kate Middleton) had their wedding here.
Following our brief sojourn to Westminster Abbey, we walked over to the nearby St. James’s Park for a relaxing stroll and fresh air. It is wonderful that there are still green lungs in the heart of a huge city like London. We enjoyed walking among the grand old trees and the pretty ponds. We also loved the way the squirrels bounded around the grass patches, with their wiggly tails seemingly having a life of their own.
Next, we collected our Green Day concert tickets before visiting Kensington Gardens, which was once the private gardens of Kensington Palace. The palace has been the royal residence of the British royal family since the 17th century and it is currently occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, and other royals. The Duke’s mother, Princess Diana, also lived here.
We strolled through Kensington Gardens and soon reached the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. The fountain is actually located in the southwest corner of Hyde Park but you can’t really tell because Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park are right next to each other. The fountain is a memorial to the late Princess Diana, who tragically died in a car crash in 1997.
I was expecting a traditional fountain with water shooting upwards so I was really surprised when the memorial fountain turned out to be more like a wading pool. The unconventional fountain is an oval-shaped stream that forms a continuous loop. Its design aims to reflect Diana’s life, with water flowing from the highest point in two directions as it cascades, swirls and bubbles before meeting in a calm pool at the bottom. The memorial also symbolises Diana’s quality and openness. The design is pretty unique, I must say.
After enjoying the great outdoors, it was time for some shopping. We visited Harrods at Knightsbridge, so-called the world’s most famous department store. With 330 departments covering 100,000 square metres of retail space, Harrods is one of the largest department stores in the world. I only found the ground floor interesting as the other levels were simply too extravagant for me.
Feeling a bit poor, we chose the most affordable option for dinner that night – Chinese takeout! Three items in a large box for just £5 (S$11.75). It’s still much more expensive compared to Singapore, but nothing beats good old chow mein (stir-fried noodles), sweet-and-sour pork and green leafy vegetables. And with that, it’s the end of another relaxing day.
Day 13: 22 October 2009, Thursday
Just a short entry for Day 13, as we didn’t do a whole lot today, having seen and done most of the things we wanted to by now. In the morning, we went to the TKTS booth at Leicester Square again and I bought my ticket for We Will Rock You, a musical based on the songs of the legendary British rock band Queen and a book by Ben Elton. It would be my third musical for this trip. This being my first time in London, I wanted to catch as many musicals as I could and I’m happy I accomplished it. In the afternoon, we went back to Oxford Street for more free-and-easy shopping, before I ended the day with the Queen musical at Dominion Theatre.
