From St. Paul's to the Tate

I went this morning to St Paul's Cathedral. It must have been a full decade since I was last there, and its sheer scale of remains staggering. It's huge. Or, as I think a wag used to say, "Geez, check out that enormous erection!"

The interior was remarkable and resplendent, exactly as I had remembered. I took the opportunity this time round, though, to climb up the Dome, past the Whispering Gallery, up to the Stone Gallery even further up, and finally to the top Golden Gallery, where a wonderful view of London was on offer. The weather was prefect, the winds were light. This city - this metropolis of millions, my home for the coming year? I had better get used to it.

Down to the crypt, where the pantheon of British military heroes was on display - Slim, Auchinleck, Montgomery, Alanbrooke, Nelson, Wellington. Surely Mountbatten should also be similarly honoured? Or did I miss it? The stone marking for Sir Christopher Wren, however, was tucked away in a far corner, away from view. And it does say what I had often read about. For inscribed on it were the words "Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice," which translates as "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you". Indeed. A tribute from the son for his father.

Crossing the Thames on the Millennium footbridge, I reached the Tate Modern. The permanent collection there had undergone a recent re-hanging, I seem to recall. But it wasn't difficult meeting up with some old visual friends there.

So far, I've had the good fortune of playing tourist today. But tomorrow, when university orientation begins, I think reality will hit.