St. Paul’s Cathedral

On Monday I was lucky enough to visit the amazing St. Paul’s Cathedral within the central City of London.

Whilst the current version of the cathedral is at least its fifth major iteration of the building (with the last destroyed in the Great Fire), the building itself, both as an example of architecture and of engineering is inspiring.

The modern version of St. Paul’s is rather unique for Britain, being one of the few dome topped cathedrals. The design allows for the fantastic experience of being able to climb to the top of the dome, giving amazing views of the city of London. It makes a pleasant change, as travelling around the city you begin to feel closed in by the buildings. Evidenced by the numerous occasions when I have passed close by to prominent sights without even knowing they were there (such as passing close to Buckingham Palace almost daily whilst going through Victoria Station without realising how close it really was). The views from St. Paul’s allow you the chance to put the city into perspective.

The view from the top of the dome, looking down into the Cathedral.

The unusual, unsupported staircase from one of the Cathedral spires, which apparently is another site used as a Harry Potter set.

 

The dome top allows you to walk completely around its peak, giving a literal 180 degree view of London.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

On Monday I was lucky enough to visit the amazing St. Paul’s Cathedral within the central City of London.

Whilst the current version of the cathedral is at least its fifth major iteration of the building (with the last destroyed in the Great Fire), the building itself, both as an example of architecture and of engineering is inspiring.

The modern version of St. Paul’s is rather unique for Britain, being one of the few dome topped cathedrals. The design allows for the fantastic experience of being able to climb to the top of the dome, giving amazing views of the city of London. It makes a pleasant change, as travelling around the city you begin to feel closed in by the buildings. Evidenced by the numerous occasions when I have passed close by to prominent sights without even knowing they were there (such as passing close to Buckingham Palace almost daily whilst going through Victoria Station without realising how close it really was). The views from St. Paul’s allow you the chance to put the city into perspective.

The view from the top of the dome, looking down into the Cathedral.

The unusual, unsupported staircase from one of the Cathedral spires, which apparently is another site used as a Harry Potter set.

The dome top allows you to walk completely around its peak, giving a literal 180 degree view of London.

London 2.0

As alluded to in an earlier post, I am now back in London after an enjoyable trip through Wales. I have also now met up with my Dad, as well as my brother and the rest of the F1 in Schools contingent.

Whilst the F1 group are off doing their own planned activities, I have been charged with introducing some of the London sights to Dad before we start to explore new areas of the city again and have currently made second trips to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and through Westminster, which has worked out well as I’ve picked up places I missed the first time round (I can’t believe how close I’d gotten to Trafalgar Square without seeing it).

Above is a monument within the walls of the Tower of London, recognising those who were executed within grounds of the Tower of London itself (most were usually done externally on Tower Hill). The monument alone names Queen Anne Boleyn, Queen Catherine Howard, Jane Boleyn, and Lady Jane Grey. All figures of the Tudor period.

   

Off to see the Abbey and Buckingham Palace again tomorrow, and will hopefully venture out to a West End show in the evening.

This morning we had the pleasure to accept an invitation for breakfast at the Australian High Commission here in London. Held in Australia House on Strand. The breakfast was very nice, and was held amongst officials and representatives of the High Commission, providing the opportunity for the F1 in Schools teams to introduce themselves and the competition.

We learnt a cool piece of trivia whilst we were there, the main atrium within Australia House was used as the interior setting for Gringotts Bank in Harry Potter!

The marble floors and chandeliers are original to Australia House

I will endeavour to include some pictures of some of the latest adventures as soon as I can get access to them.

Westminster and TARDIS – Part 2

As today was the last day in London before leaving for Cardiff (returning to London again in about a week), I decided to make a quick trip out to the apparent tourist Mecca of Westminster, home to the Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. As there are quite a few images to show, I’ve split the post up into 2 parts. This is part 2.

After leaving Westminster Abbey, I sort of made a loop around the Westminster area, which is very nice! (I saw my first Aston Martin DB9 parked in one of the streets). Definitely looking forward to staying near Pimlico, just a little south when I return to London.

I eventually made my why around to 10 Downing Street, which was a little disappointing as it is closed off to the public, with the building hidden away, I figure you’d probably see more of The Lodge in Canberra whilst driving past than you could see of the British PM’s residence.

    

About as good a view as is possible.

Continuing my walk around Westminster, I finally made my way down to Buckingham Palace, which was a little uneventful, as the changing of the guard ceremony had been cancelled for the day. Oh well, a good excuse to go back for another visit.

   

The grounds and gardens that surround the palace (especially St James’s Park) make for nice areas to walk whilst enjoying a view of the palace itself.

 

One thing I was amused to find was the Australian gate to the Palace forecourt (which I almost missed after actually entering the area through this gate, it was only after seeing the African and Canadian gates that I realised there would probably be an Aussie gate too). I thought it was funny that Australia was represented by a bloke with his arm around a kangaroo (there was a second with his arm around a sheep), as though that’s a normal thing for Aussies to do.

  

On the way back to Old Street, I decided to make a stop out to Earl’s Court where I knew there was only of the last remaining police boxes, aka a TARDIS! I attempted to have someone to take a pic of me with it, but I think she thought I wanted a pic of the pub behind it. Despite cropping the image, it didn’t turn out all that well, so I’ll have to make another visit once and make my brother take a better pic! It was also at this point that I realised I’ve left my Sonic Screwdriver at home…

I’ll leave my last picture from London for the time being as a shot of one of the Space Invader guys that appear around Old Street where I’m staying. It gives a pretty good indication of the kind of neighbour hood Old Street is. Kind of rough and basic, but being close to Shoreditch, the people are friendly, yet quirky, with lots of fashion/arts shops around the area. Its been a fun place to stay, but I’m looking forward to moving on to Cardiff and Wales tomorrow!

Westminster and TARDIS – Part 2

As today was the last day in London before leaving for Cardiff (returning to London again in about a week), I decided to make a quick trip out to the apparent tourist Mecca of Westminster, home to the Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. As there are quite a few images to show, I’ve split the post up into 2 parts. This is part 2.

After leaving Westminster Abbey, I sort of made a loop around the Westminster area, which is very nice! (I saw my first Aston Martin DB9 parked in one of the streets). Definitely looking forward to staying near Pimlico, just a little south when I return to London.

I eventually made my why around to 10 Downing Street, which was a little disappointing as it is closed off to the public, with the building hidden away, I figure you’d probably see more of The Lodge in Canberra whilst driving past than you could see of the British PM’s residence.

    

About as good a view as is possible.

Continuing my walk around Westminster, I finally made my way down to Buckingham Palace, which was a little uneventful, as the changing of the guard ceremony had been cancelled for the day. Oh well, a good excuse to go back for another visit.

   

The grounds and gardens that surround the palace (especially St James’s Park) make for nice areas to walk whilst enjoying a view of the palace itself.

 

One thing I was amused to find was the Australian gate to the Palace forecourt (which I almost missed after actually entering the area through this gate, it was only after seeing the African and Canadian gates that I realised there would probably be an Aussie gate too). I thought it was funny that Australia was represented by a bloke with his arm around a kangaroo (there was a second with his arm around a sheep), as though that’s a normal thing for Aussies to do.

  

On the way back to Old Street, I decided to make a stop out to Earl’s Court where I knew there was only of the last remaining police boxes, aka a TARDIS! I attempted to have someone to take a pic of me with it, but I think she thought I wanted a pic of the pub behind it. Despite cropping the image, it didn’t turn out all that well, so I’ll have to make another visit once and make my brother take a better pic! It was also at this point that I realised I’ve left my Sonic Screwdriver at home…

I’ll leave my last picture from London for the time being as a shot of one of the Space Invader guys that appear around Old Street where I’m staying. It gives a pretty good indication of the kind of neighbour hood Old Street is. Kind of rough and basic, but being close to Shoreditch, the people are friendly, yet quirky, with lots of fashion/arts shops around the area. Its been a fun place to stay, but I’m looking forward to moving on to Cardiff and Wales tomorrow!

Tate Modern + Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Yesterday (Wednesday) was set aside for my visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where I saw a performance Troilus and Cressida. But as this didn’t start until 2pm, I thought I’d pay a visit to the Tate Modern, a museum dedicated to modern art.

Whilst the significance of the art was a little lost on me (as most art usually is…) there were some parts of Tate that I found particularly interesting. The building that is home to Tate Modern was once an old power station. As can be seen in the photos, they have maintained significant parts of the old station to give the building a really interesting feel. The entrance opens into the former turbine room, a huge open space that still maintains some equipment from its former life. One of the large combustion chimneys has also been kept to mark the entrance.

Whilst most of the exhibitions were a little too abstract for me to maintain interest, there was one that I was really fascinated with titles No Ghost Just a Shell. A group of artists purchases the rights to a manga character called Ann Lee from a character catalogue from Japan. They then proceeded to develop the character, giving it a life of its own, dedicating a collection to a character initially intended to be used as a filling, background character. They then ceased work, and transferred the characters copyright to the character itself, preventing anyone else from continuing the project or using Ann Lee again. I just found the concept interesting and specially the use of the anime/manga style in art.

A poster for Ann Lee, not one of my own images, but I’m fairly sure I’m not going to get sued by a character for copyright infringement…

Tate Modern from the Millennium footbridge across the Thames.

The Tate turbine room

Moving on and visiting the Globe theatre was a really cool experience! An almost exact replica of the original theatre partly funded by Shakespeare himself to become home to performances of his plays, it makes for a perfect place to present theatre. The play Troilus and Cressida was a pretty intense tragedy set in during the Trojan War, with Archilles, Hector, Paris from Homer’s Iliad all make an appearance. I felt really surreal sitting within the theatre watching Shakespeare, it allows you to appreciate how the performances would have been originally presented.

The actors really deserve to be commended as it started to rain during the performance, and due to the open roof, the stage and actors really were starting to get wet, yet the performance went on! I saw a matinee show yesterday and would really like to go back and watch a night show when I get a chance.

 

The modern Globe Theatre, again, disappointingly, they do not allow photography within the theatre.

I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on the London transportation system. The Tube is a little rougher than the Tokyo Metro system, the Tokyo trains run very smoothly and don’t have a 1 foot drop between the train and platform as some Tube trains due, but the Tube does seem to run more efficiency, particularly when having to make transfers between trains. The Tube only requires walking between platforms, where as the Tokyo Metro often involves switching between above and below ground trains, which you have to pay for separately. The Oyster card works just like the Tokyo Suica card, making travel easy, with trips getting cheaper the more you travel throughout the day (at some points yesterday, I was effectively catching buses for free!).

Speaking of the buses, the London bus system is fantastic! Also compatible with the Oyster card, the buses make shorter trips around the city so easy. They are clean and comfortable, much nicer than the Canberra bus system.

Tate Modern + Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Yesterday (Wednesday) was set aside for my visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where I saw a performance Troilus and Cressida. But as this didn’t start until 2pm, I thought I’d pay a visit to the Tate Modern, a museum dedicated to modern art.

Whilst the significance of the art was a little lost on me (as most art usually is…) there were some parts of Tate that I found particularly interesting. The building that is home to Tate Modern was once an old power station. As can be seen in the photos, they have maintained significant parts of the old station to give the building a really interesting feel. The entrance opens into the former turbine room, a huge open space that still maintains some equipment from its former life. One of the large combustion chimneys has also been kept to mark the entrance.

Whilst most of the exhibitions were a little too abstract for me to maintain interest, there was one that I was really fascinated with titles No Ghost Just a Shell. A group of artists purchases the rights to a manga character called Ann Lee from a character catalogue from Japan. They then proceeded to develop the character, giving it a life of its own, dedicating a collection to a character initially intended to be used as a filling, background character. They then ceased work, and transferred the characters copyright to the character itself, preventing anyone else from continuing the project or using Ann Lee again. I just found the concept interesting and specially the use of the anime/manga style in art.

A poster for Ann Lee, not one of my own images, but I’m fairly sure I’m not going to get sued by a character for copyright infringement…

Tate Modern from the Millennium footbridge across the Thames.

The Tate turbine room

Moving on and visiting the Globe theatre was a really cool experience! An almost exact replica of the original theatre partly funded by Shakespeare himself to become home to performances of his plays, it makes for a perfect place to present theatre. The play Troilus and Cressida was a pretty intense tragedy set in during the Trojan War, with Archilles, Hector, Paris from Homer’s Iliad all make an appearance. I felt really surreal sitting within the theatre watching Shakespeare, it allows you to appreciate how the performances would have been originally presented.

The actors really deserve to be commended as it started to rain during the performance, and due to the open roof, the stage and actors really were starting to get wet, yet the performance went on! I saw a matinee show yesterday and would really like to go back and watch a night show when I get a chance.

 

The modern Globe Theatre, again, disappointingly, they do not allow photography within the theatre.

I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on the London transportation system. The Tube is a little rougher than the Tokyo Metro system, the Tokyo trains run very smoothly and don’t have a 1 foot drop between the train and platform as some Tube trains due, but the Tube does seem to run more efficiency, particularly when having to make transfers between trains. The Tube only requires walking between platforms, where as the Tokyo Metro often involves switching between above and below ground trains, which you have to pay for separately. The Oyster card works just like the Tokyo Suica card, making travel easy, with trips getting cheaper the more you travel throughout the day (at some points yesterday, I was effectively catching buses for free!).

Speaking of the buses, the London bus system is fantastic! Also compatible with the Oyster card, the buses make shorter trips around the city so easy. They are clean and comfortable, much nicer than the Canberra bus system.

First sights of London

Well, time for my first proper London update.

For my first venture out into London, I headed down to the Tower of London, which was only a short trip by bus, almost literally just down the road from my accommodation.

In celebration of 500 years since Henry VIII ascension to the British throne, there was a large Tudor theme running in the various museums, with the White Tower hosting a large display of artefacts from Henry’s reign. This included amour, weapons as well as providing background to his life and his effect on British history.

It is interesting to note that whilst there are displays dedicated to Henry VIII taking the throne 500 years ago, that the tower itself first began approaching twice that time span.

 

The White Tower, inside hosted the Henry VII display. Of particular interest we 3 complete pieces of armour worn by Henry VIII at different points in his life. It made for an interesting comparison between his size when in his mid 20s, where he was still bulky, but much slimmer when compared to the armour worn in his 40s.

 

Tudor style architecture within the walls of the Tower of London. Which still operate as working accommodation for the  Tower managers.

With London having won hosting rights for the 2012 Olympics, the trust responsible for the tower have organised for parts of the White tower to be restored in time for a surge of international tourists and media attention. They are currently going wall-by-wall with one side covered by scaffolding and protective sheets (as well as a massive Henry VIII poster).

 

The tower is home to the amazing collection of the Crown Jewels and other treasures. I don’t think you’ll so much gold and precious stones in one place anywhere else in the world! Everything had been made at such a massive scale, but also so intricately detailed.

One of the Ravens kept at the Tower of London due to superstition that the tower, and the united kingdom would collapse if they ever left the tower.

 

The defensive walls, which you can walk along, offer good views of the famous tower bridge.

 

All up, it made for a very interesting day. Whilst by today’s standards, the Tower of London is a relatively small structure, there is so much history and interesting things to see, that you would need to visit across at least two days to take it all in. It is a place that has played an important role through British history, from the time the first tower was built, through to today, it was very exciting to visit a place with so much history surrounding it.