Day 8 - We return to London! Platform 9 3/4 and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Friday was probably my favorite day.  We took the train back into London, but this time we had seats on the way in.  It was the only day it rained on us, but it wasn't that bad, we had umbrellas, and we were mostly inside during the bulk of it.  Our first stop was King's Cross Station and Platform 9 3/4.  They are totally remodeling the station, so the real platform was behind walls and scaffolding.  However, they put up a "brick" wall, and we still took pictures.  The kids LOVED it!  Aubree and I have read all the Harry Potter books, Chris is currently plowing through them, and we've seen all the movies so far, so it was pretty cool to go to the train station.  After that, we headed to St. Paul's Cathedral!!!  Oh, wow.  It was really incredible.  The price of admission included the audio tour.  We were all able to get our own iPods with information about the cathedral.  The kids had a different version than the adults that included fun facts and games after listening about the different parts of the cathedral.  It was SOOOOOO cool!  Nick was telling me things that he learned from his tour.  Of course, we couldn't take any pictures inside, so if you want to see what it looks like, you'll have to search online for pictures.  After wandering the cathedral floor, Buzz, Aubree, Chris, Nick, and I made the trek up the stairs.  After 257 steps, we were 30 meters from the cathedral floor in the Whispering Gallery.  We tried to hear Buzz whispering to us from the opposite side, but it was too loud.  It was a gorgeous view, though.  Up another 119 steps, and we were to the Stone Gallery.  This is the level outside at the base of the outer dome, and we had a 360 degree view of London.  It was still raining a little, so there were clouds, but we were still able to see a good amount.  After walking around the whole thing, we went back inside to finish the climb.  152 more steps that got more and more narrow to get us 85 meters from the cathedral floor and to the Golden Gallery at the top of the dome.  What an incredible experience!  We were so high up, and could see so much more of the city!  The walk around was much smaller than the Stone Gallery, but so much cooler.  I took a picture of the bell towers from each gallery, so scroll down to see them for a little perspective.  I am so proud of the kids for making it all 528 steps to the top!  Nick was practically running up each flight, while Buzz and I huffed and puffed behind him.  We all know, though, that what goes up, must come down.  The flights down were these tiny circular staircases that were just a tiny bit frightening.  We passed a girl that was almost hyperventilating about going down.  We just made sure that either Buzz or I was in front and the other in the back, and the kids were holding onto the rail and the support post.  We made it back down, and sat down.  (Hannah will need to tell you the story of L'eah and the prayer cushions.)  While sitting, a priest came out and we recited the Lord's Prayer with him, then had a moment of silence.  (I know it was for something specific, but I can't remember right now.)  After that, we explored the quire and the Crypt!  The crypt was cool.  Some of the tombs are so elaborate, and listening to the audio guide, we were able to learn a lot about the construction of the crypt and those buried there.  St. Paul's was hands down my favorite place we visited.  I think the fact that we got the audio tour pushed it into the top spot.  I love learning about the places I go, and it was a fun way to get a lot of information at my own pace.  Plus, my children learned a lot, and that makes me happy.  When finished, we headed out to see the rest of London - but that's another post all together.

The original.  (I found the picture online.)

Nick Bob

Chris

Aubree

Jeanae

St. Paul's Cathedral

View of the floor of the cathedral from about 85 meters up.
If you look closely, you can see where Hannah is sitting with L'eah
and Barty.  She is in pink in the upper middle.

The floorplan of St. Paul's.

At the top of St. Paul's Cathedral!

View of the Millenium Bridge.

View of a church from the cathedral.

View of another church (across the street from the previous one)
from the cathedral.

The bell towers of St. Paul's from the Stone Gallery.

The bell towers as seen from the Golden Gallery.

We came down these stairs...

and still had all of these just to get back to the Whispering Gallery level.