Saturday, 17 August: Third Day in London

Cathedrals and castles--we visited St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in the morning, then Windsor Castle in the afternoon. All were relatively quick tours with no free time built in for personal exploration; for example, I've always wanted to climb St. Paul's dome and didn't get to do that this trip. Also, at every site we were warned against taking interior pictures. This seems to be the direction things are heading in Europe, as we ran up against the same prohibition when we visited the royal palace in Madrid last year. However, I have learned how to be surreptitious with a digital camera. The results may not be framed correctly, and sometimes what results is a bit blurry, but I manage to capture some sense of what things look like. So, some of the following are contraband:

 The dome interior. That's paint up there.

 This is the famous Christopher Wren epitaph: "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you."

 Westminster Abbey facade.

 A bit hard to see, but this is the Coronation Chair. There is a slot under the seat for the Stone of Scone, but the Stone is in Edinburgh Castle. The portrait of Richard II is famous.

 The Henry VII Chapel. Look at the fan vaulting in the ceiling.

 Windsor Castle grounds. It's a big place.

 What these guys have to put up with from tourists...