St. Paul's Cathedral

In case it wasn't clear, I am over in London because my friend Sue is teaching for a study abroad with the University of Dayton. So while she works, I get to play. :-) It's a pretty sweet deal. Along with the classes students take, they also have several excursions planned. One such excursion was to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was made famous in modern times when Princess Diana and Charles married there. There has been a cathedral on those grounds for a very long time. I bought a poster of this amazing picture:

St. Paul's Cathedral through the destruction of the city during WWII

It's a beautiful cathedral with more mosaics than I have ever seen. Of course we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but we stopped for some pictures around.

Sign kinda speaks for itself ;-)

The front of St. Paul's (I was dodging traffic, so it's a little off kilter)

Looking up at the side

The tippy top of St. Paul's

Imposing but beautiful building 

Walking around St. Paul's brought some interesting sites.

Old gate with some new panels

Pigeons gotta eat too

Union Jack

St. Paul's was beautiful, but it felt more like a memorial (even the alter had an inscription about the lives lost during the two great wars) rather than a church. Although it sufficed the Queen enough to have her jubilee services there several days later.

Below is a view out my window at night. It looks in the general direction of Buckingham Palace. This shows you how bright the city is, probably no chance of seeing stars from here.

View from my room at night - the chimneys look very Mary Poppins-esque