Friday, July 31, 2009

St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Peter's Cathedral Bascilica in London, Ontario, Canada

Today I went downtown to check out the London International Rib Festival . . . but before I headed to Victoria Park where it was being held I checked out two cathedrals.

The first was St. Paul's Cathedral. When I was in my teens and early twenties I had the privilege of singing with some very good choirs that put on concerts in this cathedral.

Here's some info about the cathedral.

The acoustics are very nice, and I wish I could have gone in to take some pics.

There's a shaded area in front of the cathedral where people can sit and rest and play with the squirrels.

The sun was playing hiding and seek with the clouds . . . the lighting was pretty good for most of the shots I took.

I like the bit of lens flare in this one.

Here's a few more shots of the entrance. I like the contrasting light and shadows.

The cathedral is pretty big. Here's another wing of it.

This shot was tricky. I wanted to get the colors and details of the cathedral while at the same time getting the silhouetted sun . . .

And a few more shots . . .

I then headed over to St. Peter's Cathedral Bascilica. I've often thought it a little strange that the two cathedrals are only about a block a part . . . not sure what the reason is for that.

St. Peter's has a very different feel and look to it.

Some info . . .

Right side close-up . . .

Left side close-up . . .

And then some shots of the side of the cathedral . . .

I really like the semi-castle feel some of the features have . . . I really don't have much else to say other than I enjoyed taking the pics. I do wish that the sunlight had stayed but it disappeared behind the clouds.

While I might not be a Christian anymore, I still really appreciate the acoustics, architecture, and cultural history of cathedrals.

Singing in these cathedrals was a spiritual experience for me, and one that I will always treasure.

J

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