“Come on, then! Places to go!” -Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor
London has a few sites that I’d call the Big Unmissables and Must-Sees. I count St. Paul’s Cathedral in that list. It’s one of those places to visit that I’d give the whole experience the full five stars out of five, meaning that I enjoy visiting the cathedral so, so much, the whole experience is so perfect, I could go again and again and again and never tire of seeing it. (As opposed to Shakespeare’s house, which I’d give a solid three stars: I’m glad I went but I probably won’t ever go back.)
I don’t know what I can really say about this place beyond how gorgeous this masterpiece of Christoper Wren’s is! I could keep gushing about how much I love coming here, but I don’t know how many times I can say that before I run out of superlatives. The architecture is the most gorgeous; the dome is the most impressive; the black and white tiles of the floor are the most iconic; the elaborate tile work in the apses below the dome depicting the death and resurrection of Jesus is the most stunning; visiting the final resting places in the crypt of so many great men and women is the most humbling.
But I think what really tops everything off is climbing all 528 stairs to the topmost gallery that visitors are allowed to go. The stair count might sound daunting, but I often find the trek up all those stairs very manageable. (I am young and bike a minimum of 16 miles a day, however.) But, if you are even just in moderately good condition, you simply must visit the galleries for some of the most impressive views of the city. The Stone Gallery is 53 meters from the cathedral floor and provides a midway break to rest up while enjoying lovely, lovely views, while the Golden Gallery is 85 meters above the floor and provides what I really think are the best views of the entire city. Beat that, London Eye! (You can’t.)
So, if it’s still not clear: do go to St. Paul’s Cathedral. And then return again and again and again. A visit here never disappoints.
Following St. Paul’s, we made our way to Greenwich via a walk across the Millennium Bridge. We really wanted to take a Thames Link river boat to Greenwich from Bankside Pier, but our Oyster cards didn’t work, and none of the staff were very helpful getting us a one-way ticket. So, we just decided to hop on the ever reliable Underground at London Bridge (but not before accidentally discovering the gorgeous Southwark Cathedral, a modest gothic style cathedral situated near Pickford Wharf), taking the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf (where we got to take in views of the tallest building in this particular district, One Canada Square) and then the DLR to Greenwich. It was lovely taking the DLR, as I had yet to ride the Overground light rails in this city, and they’re just as lovely as their Underground counterparts.
We were due for lunch, so Amy’s Lonely Planet guide of London suggested a place called Rivington Grill, where we enjoyed a decadent, decadent meal, spending more money than I care to remember, but it was so worth it: Irish oysters and deviled kidneys on toast to start; battered haddock, chips, and mushy peas for Aaron and me; monkfish and prawn masala for Amy; and one or three gin cocktails. If you find yourself in Greenwich, do seek out Rivington Grill. So, so good!
Following our late lunch, it was already getting dark at 3:30, so we had to make our way to Greenwich Park with what little daylight hours we had left. Next time I return to London, I want to carve out more time for a proper trip to the park and actually visit the insides of the various buildings here. Walking around and enjoying only the outside, however, did provide a tantalizing glimpse of what there is to discover: a time ball sitting atop the modest tower of the Royal Observatory; the dome of the Great Equatorial Telescope; a statue of General James Wolfe who helped secure Canada from the French in the 18th century; the Old Royal Observatory Garden; and, of course, the Prime Meridian itself, marked by an unassuming line indented into a walk that wraps around the observatory.
The observatory sits atop a really tall hill (the trek up the steep grade of the walk will get your blood flowing) that provides magnificent views of Canary Wharf. Visiting the site of the observatory for this view alone was well worth the journey even though we missed out on a more thorough tour of the observatory itself. Next time, indeed, we will prioritize Greenwich a little better.
What we did prioritize, though, was a really, really special night of theatre. We made our way to the West End (but not before making some unplanned hit-and-run visits to Greenwich Market, an old world clipper ship preserved as a museum on the south bank of the Thames at Greenwich Pier called Cutty Sark, the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge) met up with Marie and Shawn, and arrived at the Harold Pinter Theatre to enjoy the one man show, Ian McKellen on Stage with Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others, and YOU featuring, naturally, Sir Ian himself—a show celebrating his 80th birthday with proceeds benefiting a particular charity unique to each venue.
He began the show reciting the passage from The Fellowship of the Ring where Gandalf commands, “You shall not pass!” in the face of the giant Balrog demon. Naturally, this pleased the audience to no end. The show wasn’t all recitations, of course, large sections of Sir Ian sharing his memories of his incredible life: from the personal and funny (how much he adored beautiful Orlando Bloom; how the Queen was wearing lime green when he was knighted) to the serious and disturbing (how his boyfriend could have lost his teaching job during an era when it was illegal for two people of the same gender to be lovers; how as late as 1988, Parliament passed Section 28 which declared that no teacher may intentionally promote homosexuality). He also managed to make jabs at Brexit (throwing a small, small carrot into the audience during a pantomime skit, exclaiming, “Stick that up Brexit!”) and people who are isolationists and anti-immigration.
During the interval (i.e. intermission), Sir Ian actually entered the audience, shaking hands and saying hello to people. At one point, he was a mere four feet from me. How surreal that was to stand so close to such a person of his prestige.
The second half was more of a game, Sir Ian taking out copies of all of Shakespeare’s plays in several stacks, the audience guessing the titles from memory (we managed to list them all), and he would either regale us with a story about a production he might’ve been in (or not been in) or he would recite a passage from the play in question. We all marveled at how he was able to remember all these passages, Sir Ian himself remarking that at one time everyone needed to remember everything, but today only actors need to remember things since now we have books and the internet.
So, a simply transcendent night of theatre! (Although I must admit that clocking in at 3 hours and combine that with uncomfortable seats and a warm theatre, it did feel a bit long.) However, it was Sir Ian! How cool is that! Happy 80th birthday, Sir Ian McKellen!
And with that, we headed back to South Kensington to our flat, high off of the fact that we all got to see Sir Ian McKellen live at the Harold Pinter. What could possibly top this?