St. Paul's Cathedral

In John Donne's Meditation XVII, he hears church bells ringing of a funeral procession and he hears the bell as his own because he knows he is nearing death. 

"He for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me" 

We are connected and therefore the bell tolls for all of us. Every action made affects the humanity as a whole. 

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main" 

"...therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee." 

The idea that we are all one on this earth is extremely moving. Being in a foreign country and feeling slightly out of place, reading those words put me at ease. Though I may not know all the people on the trip very well and am complete strangers to everyone I meet on the tube, each one of us is intertwined in some small way. 

The day we read John Donne was the day we visited St. Paul's Cathedral and the church bells did indeed toll. There was a statue of John Donne wrapped in a sheet with his eyes closed in St. Paul's. Our guide said that John had to pose for that statue before his death. He had it made and it stayed in the room with him at night. A statue of him deceases, wrapped in a sheet for him to look at for years before he was actually dead. 

That church was by far my favorite of all the cathedrals we saw. The floors and wall felt open, light, and airy. Everything was white and pure. The archways and chandeliers added the touch of elegance. We were able to climb all the way to the top of the highest dome. Over 300 steps and I enjoyed every moment of it. We went through small passageways and spiral staircases. The whole thing was completely thrilling. It was a great ending to the London trip because we had an overview of the city from the top of the dome.