Today in London town, with the sun shining brightly in the nearly cloudless sky and the always present cool gushes of air, I decided to get out of the house and enjoy the (unusually) beautiful weather. I need only two more places to check off on my list of sights to see: St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. I opted for good ‘ol St. Paul. I woke up early, so there was no morning worker rush hour. When I arrived at the Cathedral, I was no greeted by colossal ques of picture-happy tourists. I half expected to be standing in some line that stretched half way to Piccadilly Circus! Thankfully, I pulled open those giant, centuries-old oak doors and walked right in.

Once inside, I was immediately struck by the 1) the SHEER SIZE of the place and 2) the ostentatiousness of it all. There was gold inlay and detailing EVERYWHERE. It’s a wonder if half the gold in the world was right there in that building. I looked up at the ceiling and there was, created with magnificent detail, scenes of the Resurrection, the Passion, and the Immaculate Conception. In cathedrals such as this one, there are tons of small side chambers that look like little mini churches, with there own pews. These are called ‘chapels’ and in St. Paul’s, there was a really special chapel which the British people dedicated to the fallen American soldiers of WWII. It was really beautiful. It was a very touching gift to the American people. The highlight of my visit was climbing nearly 500 steps to the domed-ceiling. There are several ‘galleries’ or levels of the dome. The first 200-ish steps, I arrived breathless with a flock of old ladies, to the ‘whisper gallery’. The myth associated with this room I learned by eavesdropping on a 10 year-old’s conversation. He explained that during WWII, an American soldier took his girlfriend to the whisper gallery and as she stood at one end of the circular, domed room, he put his lips to the wall and whispered ‘will you marry me’. Not only has the soldier’s girl hear his message, but the entire room heard it too.. it’s something with the acoustics of the room that make this ‘possible’.. they don’t call it a myth for nothing.

Climbed about 300 more steps to the upper most level’s of the dome and looked out over down town London, with a full 360 degrees, birds eye view (again- remember my London eye story). Except this time, I was looking at the 5th largest city in the world, during the day… sun shining and wind whipping my hair. St Paul’s used to be the largest structure in London, and I imagine the inhabitants of an earlier England must have believed that from where I was standing at that moment, I was half way to Heaven. Sun shining over a sparkling city, who’s to say I wasn’t already there?