The National Cathedral was one of the things on my excursion list. When I checked a while back I found out that they were having tower climbs this weekend. We headed down to D.C. yesterday and hoped for the best despite the rainy weather.
The climb up to the bell tower was 333 steps. It really was a piece of cake. The enclosed spiral stairs weren't as tight as they are in the duomo. The stairs were clean and concrete (instead of dirty slick marble). There were also some open metal spiral stairs. At the top of the climb we saw the bells that are pulled by hand. Then we came back down one level and saw/heard a mini concert of the hand pulled bells. We learned that this is the first time they have opened up the bell tower in about 15 years!
After our descent we spent some time checking out the inside of the church. Everything was so clean, new, and concrete. We didn't look around the outside much because of the rain. Overall I liked the visit, but newness of it all was a little disturbing.
This is one of the hand pulled bells--ready to be rung.
Garden from above.
The space stained glass window.
1 comment:
the biggest of the bells weighs in at 3000 lbs.
the mini concert was impressive: simple and complex at the same time
Post a Comment