Fortunately I don't often suffer from vertigo. Up to last weekend I can only recall having it twice, once in the Statue of Liberty in New York City and the other on the 3rd flood of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Guess I'll have to add my visit to the Monument in the city of London to this list. The Monument is a column, 62 metres high in total, built in the late 1660's, which commemorates the Great Fire of London in 1666. For the princely sum of £3, you get to climb the 311 spiral steps inside the column to the viewing gallery which is only 50 metres high.
There is a lovely view around London to be had from the viewing gallery but it is partially obscured by a mesh cage - very easy to look through, but it can be difficult to blur it out photographically. I managed to take some photographs - the financial district of Dockands is visible across the rooftops, Tower Bridge is adjacent and a new spectacular high rise near Elephant & Castle is hard to miss. I must find out its name some time.
At some point I may visit again - when the light is better - and try to get some better images. My experience 50 metres up wasn't helped by the people around me pushing past - the viewing gallery is a fairly confined space. Perhaps I should have expected a least some crowds, but it is February and hardly prime tourist season. For future reference maybe it will be quieter first thing on a Sunday morning, even if I visit later in the year to get better light.
The best bit came at the end. After climbing down all those steps and leaving the Monument, a member of staff handed me a cerficate attesting to the 311 step climb. "Well done, young man" she said.
