Imperial War Museum and St. Paul's Cathedral

A few classes from the castle had a field study on Saturday Nov 12 to the Imperial War Museum. I wasn't in either of the classes, but I signed up to go along anyways, because I really wanted to see it. I was there in 2008 with the Vimy Prize, but had trouble remembering it clearly and definitely wanted another visit. It has great permanent exhibitions on WWI, WWII, and post-WWII conflict, as well as a well done (and therefore quite disturbing) Holocaust exhibit. Two new things I got to see: the 'Extraordinary Heroes' exhibit, about winners of the George Cross and Victoria Cross, and an exhibit about children's experiences during WWII, which included a prefab 1940s house.

In the WWI exhibit there was an interactive screen where you could search for names listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. I knew I would find my great-great-uncle, Victor Middleton Hanna, listed in it:

He enlisted in May 1916, at age 18, and died a few months after the war ended, just after he turned 21, due to complications from being gassed in combat. He was the brother of my great-grandmother Grace Hanna.

central atrium of the Imperial War Museum

After the museum, I took the tube to St. Paul's Cathedral:

Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside. I can't express how incredibly overawing and richly decorated the inside of the cathedral was, from the high and ornate ceilings and gilded ornamentation to the massive stone memorials erected along the aisles. It was amazing!!

While at the cathedral, I got the chance to climb the 376 steps up the dome of St. Paul's to the Stone Gallery, which is a circular walkway on the outside of the building. The photo below is from this gallery, and you can see Shakespeare's Globe Theatre just across the river! Below the photo is a video I took from the Stone Gallery so you can get a better sense of the view. Along the climb up, I also got to see the famous Whispering Gallery, which is a circular walkway facing inside the dome instead of outside, looking down on the cathedral. I loved being able to get a different perspective on it- there was so much to see!

Outside of St. Paul's right now is the Occupy London protest. There's a sea of about 50-60 tents around 2 sides of the cathedral, and crowds gathering accordingly. There was a small police presence, and nothing seemed overly threatening; I saw signs on tents labeling them as "a place for interfaith dialogue" and "safe space for women and children" etc. The protest is way too large to be able to capture in 1 photo; even the video I took (below the photo) doesn't show much of the protest tents, which are around the corner of the cathedral.

On my way back to our meetup point to return to the castle, I was walking across the Hungerford bridge with this view of the Thames:

Starting in about an hour were fireworks, because that day was a celebration for London's Lord Mayor. Consequently, the bridge was jammed with people who had staked it out as a fireworks-viewing spot! It took a long time to get across. I was lucky that I crossed early though, since some other castle students who also tried to use it to get to our meeting point got trapped on the wrong side of the river. Turns out that soon after I crossed, they closed the bridge to all pedestrians! Also closed was the tube station I had just used (they closed all the stations in the surrounding area). There were food stalls in the streets and street musicians performing. Just before our bus back to the castle left London, the fireworks started, and we were able to watch them from the bus. They were so good! It was a great way to end the day.