Frazier Blog

What a great day! I should be in bed but I want to wrote some of this down before I go to sleep. I started the day at St.Paul’s the inside is amazing beautiful and ornate. They don’t allow pictures inside, do yourself a favor and do a google image search and enjoy. I did the hike up to the whispering gallery. This gives you a great view of the dome and the lower church. Worth every stair. I continued up the winding and very very narrow stairs to the golden gallery and the top one. Both with breathtaking views of the city. It was fitting to do this on my last day in London as I could see where I had gone the last two days.

I walked back down the 250+ stairs and then sat down and prayed for a bit. Since I’ve since left the country I feels it’s safe to reveal that I took a few photos. I could not help myself!

Next it was over the river on the milenium bridge for a tour of the Globe. I had a very entertaining guide and a very informative tour. This is the third globe that has been built. It is a very cool theater and kept thinking I really need to come back and see a show here. As the tour wrapped up we got to see the actors warming up for their 2pm show. I walked by the box office and noticed it did not say sold out, I was able to get a standing (groundlings) ticket for only 5 pounds! Score. Lunch, then show time.

I got there 10 minutes before the start of Henry the VIII but was still able to get 1 person away from the front of stage. Such a good view. I could tell it was going to be good. But I was still blown away by the performance. If you are ever in London and like theater at all, go see a show at the globe! It’s only 5 pounds. During the show the actors would leave the stage into the audience and would also come though the normal doors and push through the crowd onto the stage. At one point an actor was delivering a line while standing one person away from me. A great experience. I had to leave at intermission to see the cabinet war rooms before I caught my train to Paris. I will be back thou! A great unexpected event. I would recomend skipping the tour and just look around while you see a show!

The war rooms were very cool. Some rooms have not been touched since the war ended and those that were have since been restored. Seeing where Churchill met to dicuss strategy brought whole new life to history chanel WW2 shows. The map room looked straight out of a WW2 movie, but more real. Hmm. A great and informative tour, glad I found the time to do it. Cool walking the same hallways as the men and women who helped win the war.

Then it was off to Paris. But first called my parents from a payphone to let them listen to Big Ben chime. I ran out of time to get to platform 9 3/4, sadly, next time. I was shocked and disapointed that I had to go through security before getting on the train but at least I got one more passport stamp out of it!

The train ride went by very quick. I met a guy named Eric in the diner car who is from Paris but now lives in London. We chated for the better part of an hour and the a girl joined our converststion. Her and I had a very interesting convo as she has the unique viewpoint of have lived in the US, UK and Paris. In no time we were in Paris. Made my way to the metro and was on my way.

The metro is much dirter than the underground, felt more like the NYC subway. At my stop leaving the station looked like a scene out of westside story. Two guys with their hair slicked back, pulled open the exit gate and strolled through as other youths were just hoping the turnstiles. After getting a little turned around I found my hostel. The area of town I am in seems to have a decent night life. This hostel is not as nice but has free wifi so all things considered I am happy. Sorry if this has been long but it was a busy day! Louvre tomorrow. Bed now.

1 city down,

Paul