My London Experience: The Second Day: St. Paul's Cathedral

Facts about St. Paul's
St. Paul's Cathedral was built in the late 17th century to the design of Sir Christopher Wren. It followed earlier churches which had been on the site since 604. It is the Cathedral of the Diocese of London and there has been a Bishop of London since at least 314 A.D.
In addition to the main floor there are views from the galleries, and, in the crypt, lavatories, a cafe' and shop which are open 9:00 to 17:30 Monday to Saturday and 10:30 to 17:00 Sundays, together with monuments and memorials to many famous people.

We first walked around St. Paul's churchyard and took some (a lot) of pictures.

of the churchyard

We then entered the Cathedral. The photography is not allowed inside.

press here for the

The cathedral is amazing. Although it was a bit strange for me, as a Jewish girl, to walk around a church, the decorations and the architecture were beautifull and I enjoyed my look-around. The massive monuments just amazed me with their tiny details.
After a walk around, we went up up up up the stairs to the Dome & the Whispering Gallery.

I think I haven't climbed so many stairs in my life!! We had to stop once in a while to rest our legs a bit. But finally, we did reach the Dome and the veranda.
We entered the Whispering Gallery. Adam stood in 1 end of the Dome, and we stood at the other end, just across him (which was quite a distance). Adam spoke first, and yes, we heard him! :-)
and I bet you guessed why it is called "The Whispering Gallery"... :-) you can hear everything the person at the other side says :-)
The Dome is painted from the inside. The amazing paintings sometimes looked like real statues....

We went out to the veranda, for panoramic views of London. There were other stairs involved.....
Here is a part of what we saw:

We went down again to the Crypt, where there are tombs of famous people (like Christopher Wren, who designed St. Paul's), the OBE Chapel, the Treasury, The shop, the cafe' and the exit.