On Saturday, the afternoon after we arrived in London, we went to St Paul’s cathedral. The inside was incredibly intricate and vast, the structure is monumental and absolutely gorgeous. We climbed up many compact, winding stairs (through the double dome structure) to get an amazing view of the city, which really helped me to orient myself, and gave a great preview to all the activities and places to look forward to in the coming days.
View out from top of St Pauls towards One New Change shopping mall.
Our second full day in London consisted of a 10 mile walking tour, starting with Monument, then heading down to Tower of London, across Tower Bridge to Tate Modern, a boat out to Greenwich, and finally ending at the Olympic Village. My favorite part of this whole day was visiting Greenwich, where we saw the Painted Hall, The Queens House, and the Prime Meridian. The whole complex was incredibly beautiful, I especially enjoyed the Thornhill paintings in the Painted Hall. We also hiked up the hill to the observatory, and got a great view out towards the Thames.
Ceiling by Thornhill in Greenwich Painted Hall
The next day, we visited the British Museum, where we drew the central plaza and reading room. This was a real challenge, because the ceiling is very complex. My favorite part of the museum was all the Greek statues.
View of Reading Room and ceiling at the British Museum