Saturday, November 8/2008

Visits to St. Paul's Cathedral are free today in honour of the new Lord Mayor of London's installation. As it is usually £10, we take advantage of the opportunity and head down early. The architecture is beautiful, with the dome the second larget in the world, after St. Peter's in Rome. There is to be a dramatised reading of the Dick Whittington story, accompanied by organ music, in the afternoon, but we have the benefit of the rehearsal in the morning. The script is witty and the cat particularly well played. We take some time to explore the crypt, an interestingly secular and military place, final resting spot of such famous military men as Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. Then we walk up to the whispering gallery. The circular gallery has holes opening in the wall through which whispers travel in a circular pipe. It also has an impressive view of the floor below. Another set of steps (making 448? in all) leads to the stone gallery. We look down on the Lord Mayor's parade but it's raining quite hard by now. Once we leave the rain stops, and we do get a glimpse of the gilded carriage as the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress stop at the steps of the cathedral for a blessing, complete with boys' choir.

Back to the south bank at 5 for fireworks above the Thames to finish the day's celebrations. They're quite good and there's a big crowd. The trees along the south bank are covered with blue and white fairy lights and by 5 it's quite dark.