London: Day 3

St. Paul's Cathedral was my first destination on day 3. What a magnificent building it is, with its famous dome being visible from every direction.

I'm not entirely sure why these two elephants were nearby, but they seemed happy enough.

A tribute to the firefighters of the blitz. St. Paul's miraculously survived the London pounding.

Photos are not allowed inside the cathedral. Soon after entering, I felt a wave of extraordinary power I have never experienced before.

Perhaps it was a combination of the history, architecture and deep infusion of religion (and I have never been even remotely religious), but there was definitely some sort of tangible force. For some minutes I was almost overcome. I lit a candle for my late friend Mike Closs and spent some moments quietly reflecting on various matters before proceeding.

Look carefully - there are people on the balcony. To get to there requires the climbing of 530 steps (and the same down again).

Once at the top (or as far as the steps go), the views are just incredible, spanning 360 degrees.

The enormous London Eye looked small from St. Paul's.

Another dome; this time it's the Old Bailey.

Another famous landmark: The BT Tower.

Zooming The Eye closer into view.

Later, I ate some excellent sushi and fresh mango while sitting in the square.

The Tate Modern - from a distance. I would go there later.

I throughly recommend a trip to St. Paul's. I will definitely be going again some day.

Temple Bar returns!

Next stop: The British Museum. I've been twice before but there's so much to see. This time I was keen to have a good look at one or two items I missed last time.

One of the good things to come from Napoleon's invasion of Egypt - The Rosetta Stone. Without it, we'd still be nonplussed by hieroglyphics.

...and here it is!

Not so easy to get a clean shot, as it is behind glass.

Some other bits and pieces from the museum...

For some reason, this made me think of 'Are You Being Served?'

Imagine having to pose like that for a few hours.

I started thinking...'did ancient people really lack arms?' Because there are so many who seem to be without them. Totally 'armless, I suppose.

Maybe that's why they grew beards. Shaving must have been very tricky. But the ones missing arms probably felt sorry for this lot...

...and they, in turn, must have felt a lot better off than this one...

See? Another armless/beard combination.

There was interesting Japanese section which I'd not seen before....

These tiny Netsuke are incredibly detailed.

Samurai!

There was also a special display from China.

After that, I tracked down the Sutton Hoo display.

A classic image.

Napoleon's death mask.

No, me neither. Possibly an early version of the vuvuzala.

I was intrigued about the connection here. Maybe the Mafia take Father's Day very seriously.

I went from the British Museum straight into interview number 2, which went extremely well.

There was still time for a quick visit to The Tate Modern. Plenty to see; another visit will be needed.

...and then it was almost time to plan day 4.