St Paul's Cathedral

I did seriously consider going out today given the heat but was reluctant to waste my time off.  I decided to do something indoors.

I always forget I can get a train straight here without changing for a tube.. but hey ho

I came from the back of St Paul's via the tube station

great patterns in the cobbled path

before purchasing my ticket and entering - sadly they don't open the big West doors you see on TV when the Royal Family enter, but a smaller side door..

you are greeted by the font 

a guide suggested I climb the stairs to the galleries first... before it got too hot... 

so with just a quick glance at the ceiling at the front of the cathedral, I headed where he pointed me....

a sign helpfully tells you there are 528 steps up to a great view of London... deep breath, off we go...

they start shallow like this and wind round and round a bit

then they turn to stone 

it was quite dark for photos despite the lights 

the lowest gallery, the Whispering Gallery is currently closed.  the acoustics there mean that if you whisper against the wall you can be heard across the other side... hard to test if you visit on your own.  and if it is closed... 

until eventually you get to the stone gallery and look out over London... 

my guide book doesn't say how many steps to this level,  the 528 are to the higher gallery, the golden gallery

after pausing for breath and a quick swig of water, I walked round the dome admiring the views through the pillars

bracing myself against a pillar I tried to lean back to see the top of the dome that you see from the ground

nope, not really!

the bridge there is the Millenium bridge (the wobbly bidge)  that I usually walk over for great views back of St Paul's) 

that is Paternoster Square down below, with the purple chairs 

I normally walk through it on my way to St Paul's

another look up

you can't walk right round in a full circle, so I went back the other way once or twice

I did start to climb up the next set of stairs to the Golden Gallery but the stairs were very narrow, decorated iron spiral stairs and I didn't feel I could make it... I had two bags with me, my camera bag and my other bag with water, hat, etc  and there wasn't really room on the stairs for it all.

I decided not to bother, and started the long climb back down again...

at least coming down you had a handrail on your left to hold on to, there was nothing going up

at the bottom , I turned a corner 

pausing for some statues

before taking a seat for a few minutes to recover a bit!  

probably not the most sensible thing to do on a boiling hot day but....

then it was time to explore the cathedral from inside

some mighty impressive ceilings 

blogger is playing up today but never mind

there were lots of school groups and other groups having guided tours, as well as general tourists using audio guides (I hadn't bothered with one)

the altar with the choir stalls behind 

the organ on the left 

I thought I'd got a shot of these gates without the man in the way but it blurred 

a better look at the organ 

from the side of the pulpit

the floor in front of the altar

behind the altar is the Jesus Chapel, dedicated to the Americans who fell in the World War

I couldn't get it all in one photo, these are from the phone

there isn't a lot of stained glass in St Paul's

one of the school parties was getting a good look at the beautiful decoration on the ceiling of the dome - without falling over!

you obviously can't go and sit in the choir seats

and only the school party was allowed behind the ropes to see it from in front of the stalls

Henry Moore sculpture, "mother and child"

walking back towards the middle of the cathedral I noticed a door open, of course snuck a look and found an office 

on the other side, another door was just ajar and I noticed a room full of robes, choristors and clergy no doubt.

you can't get up to see the cathedral from above - I think that is one of the areas that the BBC and other broadcasters use 

magnificent embroidery of altar frontals

blogger is reversing order again

steps up to the pulpit (out of bounds obviously)

looking up the Nave to the dome

another look at the floor pattern in front of the altar, now all the kids were out of the way

once I was sure I'd seen everything, or mostly everything, it was time to head down to the Crypt

where  people like Nelson, Wellington, Florence Nightingale and others are buried

some amazing floor tiles

you can't use flash photography so the photos are a bit dodgy as the light levels were low

Florence Nightingale

there was also a display telling the timeline of St Paul's from the first church on the site in 604 AD

that you probably can't read, sorry

I didn't get all the panels

there is also, specially for this Platinum Jubilee, an exhibition about various other monarch's Jubilees

including this amazing Jubilee Cope that was made for the Silver Jubilee in 1977

stunning!

a brief stop at the gift shop (just bought a guide book)

and a final plaque, this one commemorating the Great Fire of London 

before emerging into searing heat and bright bright sunshine (not that it wasn't sunny on the way in)

trying to avoid the glare

from the side

I walked round the side of the Cathedral

the Dome from outside,

I went round to the gardens in front of St Paul's to find my favourite sculpture, only to find it has been graffiti'd and tagged , such a shame

I crossed the road 

and took some final shots 

before heading down the road 

I was going to get something to eat, 

as I walked I snatched (in between buses blocking the view)

the multi coloured buildings up a side road

and some more modern office buildings

but I came to the station that I should have travelled to this morning, just 5 minutes from St Paul's and decided to head home - it was just too hot to stay outside 

at the next station along the route I grabbed this picture just as the train was drawing out of the station   (the vertical lines are the glass windows of the station)

so that was a hot morning - an exhausting climb up the inside of St Paul's... but worth it.

thanks for looking.  Not sure about tomorrow yet!  

it had already hit 30 degrees (c) whilst I was in London, with higher possibly tomorrow.