selenak

Aka the pictorial results of my latest time in the British capital. Despite the occasional rain, it was mostly sunny - and fun. I did return with the unfun sort of cold, though, but never mind, it happens, especially in autumn. Now, photos!

Back when I was in my early 20s and did the first big cross England journey on my lonesome, i.e. not as part of a school trip, I did visit the two most famous churches in London, but not since then. (Largely due to the entrance fee, I must admit; they're both beautiful.) Thirty years later, I decided to go for it again, so, check out St. Paul's, inside and outside, at various stages of the day and night:

In the Crypt, you have Wellington and Nelson and various artists, like the architect of the church and of a great many other post big fire in London buildings, Sir Christopher Wren:

(Note the tombs of Millais and Turner in front of him.)

Also T.E.Lawrence:

And then I went upstairs to the "Golden Gallery" on the top of the cuppola, where you have a nifty overview of London, including, of course of the rest of the church:

But really it's this view I came for:

And here's St. Paul's at night, from when I was theatre-going to the Globe:

On to Westminster Abbey:

Westminster Abbey mit Unbekanntem Soldatengrab

From there, you go around the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor (where lots of Plantagenets are buried) and to the various leftovers of Tudors, Tudor officials and Stuarts in the side crypts. Behold:

Nobility:

Plantagents (Henry III, Richard II)

Tudors:

Dead Stuart kids and the bones of the boys who may or may not have been the princes found in the Tower:

Dutch Stuarts! (I.e. William III and Mary II)

On to the "Lady Chapel" where the roof is niftier than the tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in the middle of it, built by the guy who broke Michelangelo's nose:

Chapter House:

Poet's Corner:

Note the difference in size for Dr. Johnson and Jane Austen, OMG!

This used to be an actual abbey, so they also have tiny nifty cloister gardens, like this one, with Big Ben in the background:

Exit:

And while we're here, here's the Parliament as well:

On to more greenery. I visited Hyde park when the sun was shining. This is the Italian bit created for Queen Anne, near Marlboroug Gate (fittingly enough, given M. was the husband of her bff Sarah Churchill):

Not far away is the statue for Peter Pan, whose origin story does take place in this park (on both the Doylist and Watsonian level):

I met one of many squirrels:

That's Kensington Palacein the background (I think):

This bit is from near the Hyde Park's Corner entrance:

Now, on to the Globe:

Now during the Antony and Cleopatra performance I saw, it rained, but luckily I had booked a seat:

You're not allowed to take pics during the performances, obviously, but I did take them for the final bows, as soon as Cleopatra had died and the last word had been spoken:

Being in London also meant a trip to the Tower:

The memorial for executions, plus St. Peter at Vinculi, where the executed were buried:

(BTW, last time I visited, I didn't notice that along with the various Greys and Dudleys and Essex the Elizabethan himbo, there was also Overbury.)

My disgruntlement with the various sizes of Dr. Johnson's and Jane Austen's memorials notwithstanding, I did visit his house again. After all, in addition to being Dictionary Johnson, he was a childless cat man.

And on my last day, I went to Greenwich:

The old Royal Navel College:

The Royal Observatory:

With what's still one of my favourite London views:

The other thing to see here is the National Martime Museum (lots of Nelson), and the Queen's House (Stuarts, some Tudors, including the famous Armada Portrait of Elizabeth):

The room the Armada portrait is in has the most gorgeous ceiling. I'm also amused about whose portraits they put together with Elizabeth in that room: Thomas Seymour (boo, hiss), Essex (sigh, I guess lots of powerful people fall for someone pretty but not bright at the end of their lives)... and Philip II. of Spain (admittedly my personal crack ship for Elizabeth - whether or not they flirted when he was married to her sister and in England, they were each other's equals, and hey, best enemies! Now whether she was the Master to his Doctor or vice versa depends on the pov, I guess).

The Queen's House is also famous for the Tulip Stairs:

Now if you make the trip to or from Greenwich to central London by boat, you're bound to see all the sights on both sides of the river, which is great for a last day. Including the one piece of stone (outside) which is millennia older than London, to wit, the obelisk they pinched, err, that was entirely voluntarily provided for by Ali Pascha: