Back In Business (London, UK)

I thought I would give you a picture of Victoria Station since I was unable to post a picture of the Edinburgh train station.  My camera is back in action.  It took the service rep at the NIKON store a few minutes to figure out the way to re-set the focus to autofocus, so I do not feel bad that I couldn't do it on my own.

My day began not too far from the building where there was the tragic helicopter accident last week.  The attached picture is the building (in the distance) which was hit.

After leaving the camera shop, I began my journey to my first stop, the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House.  As I walked to the tube stop, I took a few photographs to test the new setting.  The snowy garden at Warwick Square was too picturesque to resist.

I took the Central Line tube to the Temple stop which is an easy walk to Somerset House.  The attached pictures will show the garden at the Temple tube stop exit to the street and Somerset House.

Somerset House

The art collection of the Courtald Gallery is small, but breathtaking!  I spent an hour there before heading to Fleet Street to walk to my next destination, St. Paul's Cathedral.  Along the way, I passed by the Royal Courts of Justice, took a little diversion into the Inns of Court, and visited St. Clement Danes Church, a church which was destroyed during World War II and restored and rebuilt by the Royal Air Force (RAF).  The interior of the church is decorated with many memorials and artifacts related to the RAF.

An inner courtyard of Temple Inn

A pub across the street from the Royal Courts

St. Clement Danes Church

The interior of the church

Marble floor of church inlaid with RAF badges

The Stuart coat of arms above the sanctuary of the church

The afternoon was bright and sunny which made it ideal to visit St. Paul's Cathedral.  The interior of the church was filled with natural light.  I was surprised that I spent less than an hour inside the cathedral.  Unlike Westminster Abbey and other significant churches, I was impressed by how much the cathedral felt to me more like a monument than a church.  The beauty of the church is undoubtedly its architecture, but as a place of worship it seemed cold and lifeless.  The cathedral is rich in history, especially in remembrance to all those who died in wars and as the people's church, but it did not impress me with any sense of the sacred and divine. [I hope my blog isn't being monitored by Her Majesty's royal watchdogs.  I may be booted out of the country for what I just wrote!]

View from Ludgate Hill Street

Statue of Queen Anne

View from Millennium Bridge

After visiting St. Paul's Cathedral, it was 3 PM and time for lunch.  I ate at Cafe Rouge, a French restaurant in the shadow of the cathedral.  My picture was taken by my waitress, Patricia, who is from Poland.  When I asked her about her name, she said it was her given name which she likes, even though it is not a Polish name.  She also told me that all the girls working at Cafe Rouge were Polish.  The food was absolutely French cuisine, and delicious!  And, Patricia was absolutely charming, even as I said merci on the way out.

Cafe Rouge

After I left Cafe Rouge, I walked to the Millennium Bridge, a foot bridge which crosses the River Thames, before getting back on the tube to return to the hotel.  I am at a small hotel at Paddington Station so I can catch an early morning train to Heathrow Airport.  I will go to Frankfurt for the day, then finally to Rome on Wednesday, where I will be for the next 12 weeks.  

Millennium Bridge

View from Millennium Bridge

Tower Bridge in the distance

School is out, so ciao for now!