St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral is one of the most incredible pieces of architecture in the world! Built by Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul's Cathedral was completed in 1711 on Christmas day. The highest point of the cathedral, the dome, stands at 365 feet. The dome on St. Paul's is one of the largest domes in the world. 

St. Paul's Cathedral is truly a magnificent building once you realize all the things that this building has gone through during its life time. The Cathedral lived through the "Blitz" which were bombings in the second world war! The cathedral received  numerous bomb blasts in which one bomb was actually able to enter the cathedral and blow a hole in the ground above the crypt below. If this wasn't enough for the cathedral it also outlasted London's second Great fire. During the war St. Pauls was looked upon as a place of hope! If the cathedral still stood tall then God is looking over us all. The cathedral was vital for British morale and helped the British get through the dark days. 

The view of the Cathedral is absolutly breath taking. Standing up close and personal to this beautiful building is truly a life long memory. Inside the cathedral people are not allowed to take pictures of any kind, so sadly this is as far as I get to show you. 

Something very interesting about this building is that it is not built on concrete or stone. The Cathedral is built all on clay. When Sir Christopher Wren started this massive project he had a choice between sand or clay to build the foundation with. As many people think sand is not a good foundation because it is loose and when you pick it up it goes through your fingers. Clay was obviously the better choice because it could be compacted.... Well Sir Wren was wrong in his decision because when the foundation was built Sir wren began to start seeing cracks in the lower parts of the walls. This was caused because when a lot of weight is applied to clay the clay starts to sink and so a result of this was the Cathedral foundation began to sink into the ground. Sand was the better choice because when pressure is applied to sand the sand holds firm. Who knew. 

Now I know I said that people are not allowed to take pictures inside the cathedral, but I can be a bad boy sometimes and break a couple rules here and there. Lucky for you now you get to see a little bit of beauty that St. Paul's has to offer. This building was so inspirational and emotional everywhere you look. I know personally that I could really feel the Lord's presence and the vastness of the inside make me feel so small. This is by far one of the top places to go if you want to reflect one on one with the Lord. 

This dome is something else let me tell you! Looking up at this work of art is mind boggling and made me pretty dizzy. Now lets talk masterpiece. Yes the art on the dome is beautiful and thinking of the person with the job of painting this is really scary if you think of it. The real masterpiece is what you do not see. Inside looking up at the dome it looks as if you are looking at the top of the dome that you can see from the outside, but really you are looking at the bottom of dome in which Sir Wren creatively made to hide what was above this art. The inner dome is hiding a brick cone that holds the top of the dome from crashing down into the floor. The secrets of the Cathedral are many with false walls, illusions, and stair cases inside the walls. Talk about mysterious. 

What you are seeing right now is the two towers at the main entrance of St. Paul's from 528 stairs high or 278 feet up in the air. The views are to die for from the top of St. Pauls.

 The Views of London from the top of St. Pauls

Because who can resist a selfie on top of St. Paul's Cathedral? Ignore my friend in the background..

Well this concludes our segment on the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England. I hope it was enjoyable, historical, and entertaining. 

Untill next time, Keep on Travelin

PARIS

Paris! What a beautiful city! This place is filled with love, passion, fashion, history, honey mooners, and plenty of sights to see. Thinking of Paris most people think of the Eiffel Tower and love, but there is much more to Paris that meets the eye, so lets go explore!

So in order for us to start this journey through Paris we first must take the Chunnel!

The Chunnel is a really cool experience because you get to see all different people of London and hopefully your a people person because you WILL be up close to a stranger

 This is a cool boat tour down the Seine river you can take while in London. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. On this tour you will get to see the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the outside of the Louvre, where Napoleons tomb is located, and the beautiful bridges that Paris has to offer.

 The Notre Dame Cathedral is a spectacular sight to see! You may recognize it from the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. For the record I am pretty sure I spotted him on one of the towers... Anyways this is another beautiful gothic church that was built hundreds of years ago. Inside you can take all the pictures you want and sit in the pews if you wish to pay your respects to the creator above. For an extra fee you can also climb to the top of the tower and see the hunchback.

The Louvre is one of if not the biggest museums in the world. I spent hours running through this building and still didn't get to see the entire thing. This is where the famous Mona Lisa is kept on display as well.

The Arc de Triomphe is a memorial for the ones lost in war. Here you can find the tomb of the unknown soldier. This giant memorial is surrounded by the largest roundabout in the world! This round about has 12 lanes all going into the same roundabout with no line dividers. Talk about crazy

This is what the Arc de Triomphe has a view of all day everyday from the top! This is the famous Champe de Elysees. This is where all the ladies dreams come true walking down this road with their arms full of fancy bags from all the big name stores. Talk about fashion.

This is a newer Catholic Church in Paris sitting on one of the only hills in Paris.

Right next to the Catholic church is the Artist square or Montmarte. Here you can find good eats while also getting your portrait painted by only the best that Paris has to offer.

 Paris has something for everyone. Whether you are an artist, historian, fashionista, or a die hard romantic Paris is the place for you.

Till next time, keep on travelin.