Towers and Cathedrals

My week has just continued to be one fun adventure after another! After Monday's madness at Brighton Pier, I woke to the news that it was world wide Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's. Emily, Vanessa, British friend Damien, and I went to a store near the Tower of London to secure our free ice cream (Chocolate Fudge Brownie...yuuuum). It was a gorgeous day, a balmy 20 degrees Celcius (roughly 70 Fahrenheit), so we wandered over to the Tower of London while we were eating our goodies. Much to our surprise and delight, it was time for the daily medieval weaponry display on the lawn of the Tower (which was formerly occupied by the Tower's moat). From our perch above the lawn, we were able to see and hear most everything, free of charge. We even managed to partake in some of the yelling, as the costumed actors encouraged their audience to shout "God save the King!" or to boo any mention of the French. Sadly, because we weren't paying members, it meant that we couldn't join those who rushed the castle to set up a siege ladder, or help launch the trebuchet, but it was a small defect in an otherwise perfect plan. We spent over two hours leaning on the fence watching the antics on the lawn, for long after the display was over, the performers spent time at target practice with a crossbow, which we all found vastly entertaining.

The crowd prepares to rush the castle:


A giant cross-bow fortification of some kind is prepared for launch:


Wednesday I went to the Catholic Westminster Cathedral (not to be confused with the Anglican Westminster Abbey). Built at the very beginning of the 20th century, it was the first Cathedral to be built in London after the country finally laxed some of its anti-Catholic laws (which had existed since England kicked out Catholic King James II and put on the throne the Protestant William and Mary, at the same time making it illegal for a Catholic to inherit the throne or to marry an heir to the throne, regulations which are still firmly in place today).


It also has the surprising feature of being noticeably unfinished on the inside, since the money run out before the building could be completed. If you look at the photo below, you'll see that the lower parts of the column are covered in marble, while the ceiling is bare brick.


The entire cathedral ceiling is supposed to be covered in mosaic tiled pictures, like this completed chapel on one side of the church. I believe that they are gradually trying to finish the decoration, but obviously its a struggle balancing the cost of the cathedral's upkeep, as well as seeing to the needs of the parish and the community, with more superficial concerns like mosaic ceilings.


I also paid to go up the cathedral's tower to get a view of London, one that is sadly now obfuscated by the giant office buildings that have sprung up around the cathedral over the century. Still, you can see bits of Westminster (below) and other sections of the city, if you know what landmarks to look for.


After touring the cathedral, I went to nearby St. James's Park, where I curled up under a tree with a borrowed copy of Book Seven of the Harry Potter series. I haven't had time to reread it since I originally read it the day it came out two years ago; now I can delight in actually knowing where Tottenham Court Road is when Harry and friends go into hiding in London.

That night we went to see Oliver! on stage. Unfortunately, Rowan Atkinson, a famous British comedian and actor who was supposed to play Fagin, suffered a hernia earlier in the week and was not at our performance, much to the disappointment of the Group. The replacement Fagin was quite good, however, adlibbing a few lines that brought a chuckle to the crowd including "Help me down boys, before I get a hernia," a remark which earned a clap from the audience. The show, while not my favorite, was great fun; the fact that they got 50+ kids to dance in sync and sing on key is amazing. Quite by chance, I read Oliver Twist earlier this semester, so I could compare the show to the book; if the show had a drawback, it was that the first act was one rousing dance number after another, which was wonderful, until the second act came and the author's realized that they had to cram 500 pages of intrigue into a half-hour. But it was a minor flaw that was more than compensated by the lavish sets that layered the stage and the huge ensemble numbers.


Thursday was St. George's day. Official celebrations will not take place until Saturday, but the National Gallery put on a play in front of a painting of St. George and the Dragon, with a few licenses take with the original story--the dragon, for instance, was French. Round out the day with a trip to Brick Lane, followed by a stop at Cookies and Creme, and it was yet another day well spent.


You can find more pictures in this album.

Cheers!