Saint Paul's Cathedral London

My recent reading of Smith (see my review)  made me reminisce fondly about my trip to London in 2013- my first visit to that great city, all too short. We stayed very close to St Paul's, which was the area where Smith was set. I'm know that my 21st century experience of London was vastly different to Smith's 18th century London.

We made sure to visit Saint Paul's Cathedral, it was just one of many wonderful things we did that week. I knew from my extensive prereading that this is the 5th Saint Paul's to stand on the site. The previous four having burnt down.

First glimpses are always exciting.

London does grand quite well.

You have to pay 17 pounds to enter, and then they don't want you to take photos. Humph. Quite a common scenario in London actually. It's dumb. It's beautiful and fascinating inside, and people want to share it with their friends, which will, in turn make more people want to go and pay their £17. We timed our visit to end with Evensong, which was quite delightful.

That gold tiling is captivating. 

You can climb to the roof for great views over London.

It's quite high up.

The crypt is interesting too. Nelson's Tomb. Wellington's Tomb. Sir Christopher Wren's Tomb.

You might even spend enough time inside for the skies to clear a little bit.

Saint Paul's Cathedral

Sightseeing Monday - Saturday 8.30-4.30

£17 adults, £7.50 children (6-17 years) for sightseeing

Free entry for worship at all times

Take a fun trip to the British Isles
every Friday with Joyweesemoll

Saturday Snapshot is a wonderful weekly meme now hosted by WestMetroMommy

Charles Dickens Museum

Sometimes interests just align and even though you have a packed four days in London (that isn't enough time, not nearly enough time, there is just so much to do), you know that you have to make a pilgrimage of sorts. And so it was I came to visit Charles Dickens House in London last year.

Not that I'm a great Dickens scholar. I suspect that having read A Christmas Carol, The Magic Fishbone and half of Bleak House (twice) doesn't qualify me. But I am interested in Dickens. I think that Bleak House is one of the best books that I've only half read. I've seen Simon Callow speak about him, and portray him. I've seen Miriam Margolyes astonishing one woman play Dickens Women twice now. I've watched the Dr Who episode. And bits and pieces of various BBC miniseries too of course. One day I will embark on my  project to read all of Dickens.

Still I thoroughly enjoyed the hour or so I spent in Dickens Museum on a somewhat cool Thursday morning.

I didn't have the time to do a walk,
and I was there on a Thursday,
maybe next time?

You get to see upstairs

and downstairs

Learn about Victorian housekeeping practices-
hedgehogs!

And think about how long the laundry took!
Once a year the copper would be cleaned
and used to boil the Christmas pudding

There's great memorabilia
Dickens' lectern that he designed and
used for his reading tours

His writing desk

his deathbed

and even his commode

It's a fascinating place to spend an hour or so

I was tempted by the action figure but it would have meant
one less jar of Caramel Beurre Sale to bring home from Paris-
no contest really...

It was certainly 8 pounds well spent. 

Charles Dickens Museum 

48 Doughty Street, London

Take a fun trip to the British Isles
every Friday with Joyweesemoll

Sensational Butterflies

I always love a butterfly house. This was a good one, and unexpected, a temporary exhibition set up outside the Natural History Museum in London when we were there back in July. I managed to arrive at the exact same minute as Mr and Master Wicker! Unplanned. I only realised as I was taking a photo of the entrance and they were lining up for tickets!

Such a great opportunity to appreciate the diversity of butterflies, their colours, textures and shapes. 

I always like watching the new butterflies emerging from their chrysalids.

This was also the warmest half an hour we spent in London, on a rather cool "summer" week. 

Saturday Snapshot is a wonderful weekly meme now hosted by WestMetroMommy