On March 19, 2008 I Coleson Smith faced my fears and ascended the three hundred and something stairs to the tippity top of St. Paul's Cathedral. I was the only person in my family to go all the way to the top, but it was worth the climb. I got several great pictures of London that I wouldn't be able to get anywhere else. I was at the top of the dome where the beginning of the spire is in the picture. Can just see the balcony I was on in the picture. Even the stairs to top were scary. They were spiral metal stairs that were suspended by a few metal bars attached to the ceiling. They rocked when u walked on them. At the top there was a railing and about two feet between the back of the dome and the balcony. I could only stay up there for a couple seconds before I became overwhelmed with fear. And my fear did not subside as soon as i got off the balcony, because i had to descend those rickety metal stairs. But I'm glad that i went to the top because i could see almost all of London. I saw Tower Bridge, the London Eye (it's a big ferris wheel if you don't know) the skyline and the river Thames. By the time i reached the Cathedral's ground level my legs were still
shaking with fear. Because i had just been on what had seemed like, the top of the world.
1 comment:
Coleson, you don't know me but I teach with your dad at Calvin. I loved your post because it reminded me of the two (yes, TWO) times I climbed those stairs--once when I was 11, once when I was an adult and should have remembered how scary it was the first time. When I was 11, I remember counting the steps and feeling miserable. My dad, who was terrified of heights, climbed with his eyes closed and then stood on the outside balcony at the top, refusing to look out at the city, and holding my hand so tightly it hurt. Good times. But I'm proud that I did it, as you are. And I still remember that cool dome where we could hear even a whisper from clear over on the other side.
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