Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close up the wall with our English dead...
On, on you noblest English,
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof...
And you, good yeomen,
Whose limbs were made in England; show us here
the mettle of your pasture...
The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit; and upon this charge,
Cry, 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
~ Shakespeare's Henry V
Another early start through the cold, walking south to see Westminster Abbey. Our path took us through the Theater district of Shaftesbury Avenue, where we saw advertisements for We Will Rock You, Matilda (?!) and, of course, Les Miserables. We skirted around Piccadilly Circus, looking up at the thin-limbed Cupid.
Then we entered St. James' Park, where we saw the most beautiful rust-coloured ducks. Geese, gulls, pigeons and many other birds all drifted through the ponds or walked abreast of us on the pavements. The grass and paths glistened under another sunny day. Finally, we turned a corner and saw the Abbey once again:
We did have to pay to get in, but to me it was definitely worth it! As soon as you walk in the door you see that the building is absolutely covered in marble statues and busts. I feel that even in Italy, there was just a little space between one monument and the next. Here in England everything was "nicely crammed," as Peter Pan says. You never know where to look, but there is always something wonderful to see. The Abbey also contains wonderful stained glass, although many of the windows are blank. Apparently this is from general wear and tear over the Abbey's hundreds of years of existence, as well as damage from the Blitz. One window depicted a magnificent seraph fighting a fiery red demon.
Dozens of small rooms and chapels open out from small stone archways. Sculptures of kings, dukes, and their ladies lie in stone, but look up into the sky peacefully. Hair coifs, gauntlets and even swords held by a fingertip were carved gracefully. Some ancient tombs looked almost as if they had shrunk, like sponges, the rock pockmarked with age. (They reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.) On the lid, some had flat metal knights, dressed in the kind of armor Joan of Arc wore, and folding their hands in prayer.
Elizabeth I's tomb (her sister Mary was buried there as well) was surrounded by an iron fence, covered in golden Tudor roses.
Henry VII's Lady Chapel was awash in sunlight, which lit up the stained glass and the stone tracery (incidentally, this was the only place inside the Abbey where you could take pictures). The lower part of the room also had Medieval frescoes on the walls. The room leading in and out of the Chapel had ancient red and gold banners hung from the high walls. Exiting the chapel, I was very excited to see the tall wooden face of Henry V's tomb!
As we progressed on through other chapels, we were puzzled to see a crescent moon emblem on many of the tombs. We couldn't think of a reason why Muslims would be buried in the Abbey, so we were making up a Da Vinci Code-esque conspiracy theory when we learned that it was only the emblem of the Dukes of Northumberland.
Finally we reached Poet's Corner, and saw the statue dedicated to Shakespeare. The floor was covered with squares bearing the names and famous words of many poets and writers: (I apologize that I don't know which of these are buried there, and which are just recognized for their accomplishments)
Robert Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson, T. S. Eliot (with a flaming rose), Lord Byron, Lewis Carroll ("Is all life then but a dream?"), D. H. Lawrence (with a phoenix), Edmund Spenser, Milton, Caedmon ("First of the English who made verses"), Ben Jonson, Dylan Thomas, Henry James, Gerard Manley Hopkins, George Eliot, Auden, Jane Austen, Wordsworth, Keats (buried in Rome), Shelley, Laurence Olivier, the Bronte Sisters, Charles Dickens, Kipling, Thomas Hardy and Handel.
One famous writer's tomb was set into the wall--that of Geoffrey Chaucer. It was incredibly ancient stone, encrusted with brown rock. Before leaving we attempted to find out if there was a window or statue dedicated to St. Dunstan, Colin's Confirmation Saint, and a priest who helped to found the Abbey. Several of the docents helped us, but they said that the only monument was in one of the cloisters, which were closed now. We did get to see the cloisters attached to the Abbey. They were ancient low and Romanesque in style, with wide arches and the original heavy wooden doors.
After a quick sandwich, we headed to Westminster Cathedral, which was just down the road. Confused? Well, Westminster Abbey is now a Protestant Church. Westminster Cathedral is Catholic, the seat of the Bishop of London. I think I preferred the inside of the Abbey, just because of its history and its differences from other churches I had seen. But, I think Colin and some of the others preferred the Cathedral.
The Church is Byzantine in style, covered in red and white brick (something like the Cathedral of Siena, but with more rounded towers).
Inside, incredible mosaics covered the ceilings and vaults.
A beautiful mosaic of Joan of Arc in silver armor and blue robes hung on one wall. Colorful angels and phoenixes rose from corners, while glittering mosaics of flame consumed sinners. The St. Patrick chapel was all in green, and the St. George and the Martyrs chapel had a white relief carving of St. Thomas More and Bishop Fisher looking up towards the crucified Christ. Then, we took the elevator to the top of the tower just as the sun was setting.
What did I tell ya? There's the whole world at your feet. And who gets to see it but the birds, the stars and the chimney sweeps.
~Mary Poppins
We could see the dome of Brompton Oratory, the towers of Westminster Palace and Abbey, and in the distance, aerials that looked like the Eiffel Tower.
As our last stop, we took the Underground to Baker Street Station to visit the home of the world's most famous consulting detective--Sherlock Holmes! The station's tiles were decorated in red and black and blue silhouettes of Holmes with his deerstalker and pipe, but because of the release of the new movie, alternate tiles had photos of Holmes and Watson.
After buying tickets, we entered the door of the flat guarded by a London Bobby, and headed up the narrow staircase. The living room was authentic: the books, the bullet holes in the wall spelling VR, the Persian slipper of tobacco on the fireplace mantle, Dr. Watson's medical bag, and Holmes' violin. A fire flickered behind a screen, and books, notes and tea sets were scattered everywhere. The other rooms had wax figures of Moriarty and Irene Adler, among other characters, and artifacts from cases, such as the bell pull from "The Speckled Band" and the head of the Hound of the Baskervilles!
I thought it was a really fun place, but then I'm quite the Holmes fan, as evidenced by my generous support of the gift shop...
After that it was a cold walk home, but I warmed up with mulled wine and chicken and mushroom pie at The Swan
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