"The City of London" London Travelogue by DrewV

<font face=verdana>When I was growing up in Tennessee, one year winter struck faster than usual. Not all the birds had safely flown south for the winter, and one of them made it into our garage and built a nest in the fiberglass insulation. Over the course of the winter, he became friends with my family, and when we'd let the dog out into the frost-covered morning, we'd let the bird out too. Since my orintholgically proficient mother identified him as a wren, we named him Christopher.

Now you might ask yourself, what in blazes is he going on about? Well, let me introduce you to the centrepiece of the City of London:<font color=crimson> the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral</font><font face=verdana>, designed by the incomparable architect Cristopher Wren. The dome is the second-largest in Europe, after St. Peter's in the Vatican, and it's the crowning achievement of Wren's redesign of London after the Great Fire (in Capital Letters). Wren redid a great many of the churches and other public buildings of London, but this was his pride and joy. I just hope there's room in the dome for a wren or two who missed the flock to Florida.</font>

<font face=verdana>Any walk from the West End into the City will most likely take you down <font color=green>Fleet Street</font><font face=verdana>, past the Royal Courts of Justice and the empty shells of formerly occupied journalism offices. Still, it's a fairly major thoroughfare. What you'll also notice is that the streets of the City are not terribly crowded on a Saturday. You see, the City is the centre of business for the United Kingdom, Europe, and quite a large chunk of the world. During the week, it's hopping with investment bankers, insurers, financiers, accountants, and other such undesirables. (Look, I'm getting my MBA -- If I can't bad-mouth the investment bankers of the world, who can? *grin*) On the weekend, though, it's as desolate as a ghost town.</font>

<font face=verdana>Just off Fleet Street is the home of Samuel Johnson. This fine fellow wrote the first dictionary of the English language. The rumour is that he left "sausage" out. Whether that's true or not, his house is nestled in a quaint little courtyard tucked away in the hinterlands of the City. It's a nice break from the corporateness of the City.</font>

<font face=verdana>If you look at a Tube Map, you'll come across the interestingly named station on the Eastern end of the City: Bank/Monument. While the Bank portion is easy to figure out (the Bank of England is just around the corner), who knows about the monument? I mean, London has more monuments than any city I've ever seen, except maybe Indianapolis. But this monument, simply called Monument (with a Capital M), memorializes the detruction caused by the Great Fire, and was designed by Mr. Wren. In my mind, as far as monuments go, it's actually pretty minor, certainly not worth the prominent tube stop it lays claim to. But that's just my opinion. My other opinion is that Monument's name shuld be a little snazier. It needs more than just the Capital M. It should be <font size=+2>Mounment!</font><font face=verdana> with a Capital M and an exclamation point, as in take a left at <font size=+2>Monument!</font><font face=verdana> station. How snazzy is that?

But again, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.</font>

<font face=verdana>For some unknown reason, the powers that be placed a sundial just a hop, skip, and jump away from Monument! outside Tower Hill station. Now let's think about this for a minute... a sundial... in London... where it's never sunny... right... THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE! At all!

Now, you might not notice, but the young lady staring in awe at the oddity is Taistealai, of Taistealai fame. She's got all sorts of groovy pages of her own -- well worth a look.</font>

<font face=verdana>I've heard the Tower is groovy. It certainly looks groovy from the outside, particularly in the gloom of a cloudy winter day. I'm sure the inside is hip too. It's just still on my save-for-later list, along with the Sistine Chapel, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the baths of Budapest, the Van Gogh Museum, etc., etc., etc. I do amazing things with my save-for-later list.</font>