Galleries and Westminster Cathedral

I spent most of today in Trafalgar Square.  My first stop was the National Gallery, which is enormous...I was there for almost three hours before I hit all of the highlights that I wanted to see.  I was particularly excited when I started to identify historical subject matters in works before reading the descriptions (one image of Lady Jane Grey's execution was particularly moving).  At times, it felt like a mythology course review, and I spent some time listening to one of the gallery talks about "The Rape of Europa."  Some of my personal favorite images were in the Peter Paul Rubens collection, which is to be expected since I enjoyed the Banqueting House ceiling so much.  (I was once asked if I have any Italian heritage after posing for an art class, and after seeing some of the works today, I suppose I can understand why one might assume that...I do kind-of have that "Renaissance Figure"...)

I had planned to visit St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, although I was not really able to do the self-guided tour as there was an orchestra concert inside when I arrived.  I did peek around the church from my standing position at the entrance, and it is a beautiful building and has lovely acoustics.

I was in a bit of an awkward time crunch when I left St. Martin-in-the-Fields...I had a little over two hours before I wanted to be at Westminster Cathedral for Mass, so I had a picnic lunch in Trafalgar Square and spent a little time at the National Portrait Gallery.  I made my way through the entire second floor (where the bulk of the galleries seemed to be), which included the Tudors through Victorians.  I ran out of time for the more contemporary galleries, so I plan to go back again at some point soon (the whole gallery is open late on Fridays, making it the perfect spot to visit at the end of my work week).

At the end of the afternoon, I made my way over to Westminster Cathedral to attend Mass.  I was surprised by how many tourists were there for the service (identified mainly by their bulky backpacks and cameras).  The service was primarily sung, which was lovely, and the space is so beautiful.  Also, since I arrived early, I heard the evening prayer being sung for the half-hour leading up to the actual Mass, which was nice and calming after my day in the city.  (Fortunately, the galleries had fewer small children running around than the Tate Modern had yesterday, but the day out was still tiring, and I relished in just being able to sit still for a while in the Cathedral.)