monument

This morning I had a lovely trek up all 311 steps of the generically-named 'monument', a memorial of the 1666 great fire of London. I was actually quite impressed that the column, designed by Christopher Wren, (who also designed Saint Paul's cathedral), stood at about 200 feet, the (supposed) measure of distance from the original starting point of the fire. (On an quaintly-adorable-English-note, but perhaps-inappropriate-in-this-case, the fire started on Pudding Lane.) To bring it back down to earth, a Latin inscription on one side of monument describes the actual severity of that fire in London's history:

"In the year of Christ 1666, the second day of September, eastward from hence, at the distance of two hundred and two feet, (the height of this column) about midnight, a most terrible fire broke out, which driven on by a high wind, not only wasted the adjacent parts, but also places very remote, with incredible noise and fury. It consumed 89 churches, the city gates, Guildhall, many public structures, hospitals, schools, libraries, a vastnumber of stately edifices, 13,200 dwelling-houses, 400 streets; of 26 wards, it utterly destroyed 15, and left 8 others shattered and half burnt. The ruins of the city were 436 acres, from the Tower by the Thames side, to the Temple church, and from the north-east gate along the city wall to Holborn bridge. To the estates and fortunes of the citizens it was merciless, but to their lives very favourable, that it might in all things resemble the last conflagration of the world.

"The destruction was sudden; for, in a small space of time, the same city was seen most flourishing, and reduced to nothing.

"Three days after, when this fatal fire had baffled all human counsels and endeavours in the opinion of all, as it were, by the will of Heaven, it stopped, and on every side was extinguished."

It's really remarkable that the fire did so so much damage. I can't recall having heard any description quite so realistic and horrible, perhaps also due to the poetic style of the inscription.

The view from the top was extensive and great, and it was wonderfully terrifying to stand on the edge of a relatively thin freestanding column. My courage paid off, though, when, safely back on the ground, we received certificates of acheivement. What a proud moment this was for me. ;)

The most comical part of this adventure was certainly the other visitors. Outside of monument, some English tourists talked with us about the interests at Camden market, assuming that we, too, were tourists, which I always think is amusing.

The best character in this comedy, though, was a little girl of about 6, who was climbing the stairs with her family; at her count of about 60 some stairs climbed, looked up and said, "Dammit, there's more stairs!"