Trafalgar Square and St. Paul's Cathedral

I posted a pic of the National Gallery already, and then realized I had more pictures of it (and Trafalgar Square) in another folder, so here it is again!

National Gallery with fountain in foreground

As we were waiting for the National Gallery to open (I mentioned in my previous post that we arrived very early on a Monday morning, so we had a bit of time to waste before things opened), we saw this man in hip-waders hop into the fountain with a fishing net to fish out the trash.

Nelson's Column which is in the center of Trafalgar Square with four lion statues surrounding it.

Parliament (and the famous clock tower) is in the background. We heard Big Ben chime several times.

From the "porch" of the National Gallery

St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church to the east of the Square.

Admiralty Arch

On our second day in London, we visited a lot of sights. That morning we were in Kensington, then we headed to St. Paul's. It was an awe-inspiring cathedral. I wish we could have taken pictures inside, and plenty of tourists were, but I respected the "no pictures" policy (even though I had my camera in hand the whole time). I did climb the many, many winding, spiral stairs to the top of the dome. It was incredible. Here is a picture of the inside of the dome. Here's another pic of the inside of the cathedral. The construction of the dome is an amazing architectural feat. Here's a sketch of how it's built.

Dome on top of St. Paul's. I walked around the dome, where you can see a stone railing, and then climbed even further to the top of this dome.

South view of the cathedral.

Another view from the south.

Statue of Queen Anne

Another view of Queen Anne

Add caption

View from the west side. These are the steps that the bird lady sits on while feeding the birds in the movie Mary Poppins.

A popular place to eat your lunch if you live in London and are in the Ludgate Hill area at noon.

View from the upper-most dome you can go as a tourist.

Thames River with the London Eye in the background.

View of the front of the cathedral, from above, and the streets of London.

Another view of London. Millennium Bridge is the bridge to the left. (This is the bridge that the Death Eaters destroy in the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.)

View looking up from the highest point tourists are allowed.

Another view of the city, and to the east of the cathedral (I think).

One of the memorials, behind the main altar, at the east end of the cathedral brought me to tears. It was a memorial commemorating the American soldiers who lost their lives in World War II. After having toured Westminster (which still bears scars from the bombs that rained down on London during WWII) it was really neat to see a tribute to the American soldiers who fought on foreign soil.