Art of Divers Kinds

We decided to visit an antique market in Islington and found it to be a bust when we got there. Either it not longer happens or we were simply there on the wrong day. So we went exploring. Our next stop was Shoreditch, known for its street art.



Indeed, we found a few very good specimens. If we had been willing to wander a while, we could have good much more. But we now know how quickly feet get unhappy and we'd already been wandering a while in Islington, so we kept going.

We headed to Spitalfields to check out the market and found nothing worth writing home about and decided on a scone and some tea.

We next took the bus to St. Paul's Cathedral to have a look about. We'd never taken the tour, so we shelled out the big bucks and gave it ago.

This is certainly an impressive church in spite of the austerity of the Anglicans compared to the Catholics. Photos are not allowed inside so I don't have any for you. Oh wait...I broke the rules and did sneak in a few from the seats that arranged in the dome at the center of the church.

Up at the top of the dome you can see the windows in the cupola at the top. I climbed up there in '14 and took in a great view. My legs were wobbly for hours after that climb and I'll not be doing that again.

From the picture below, we can see a little ways into the quire. There you not the large organ that is divided into two parts on either side.

Unlike Catholic churches with there side chapels for various saints and such, there is none of that here. While it follows the same overall shape of a cross, the splendor of the place is in its size unity of design. While the Victorians did "tart up" the ceilings in the quire with impressive glass mosaics (partially visible above), the original dome painting is purposely done in a kind of colorless (sort of a yellow/brown monochrome) way to avoid any suggestion that this place is as outlandish as a Catholic church.

We walked to Blackfriars and took the overground home. This platform is on the end of a bridge over the Thames so that you get an interesting background through the window on the opposite side.