Drummerboy’s review of Albert Memorial in London

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It was just a little visit today -- the Albert Memorial. All you've got to do is visit the Royal Albert Hall and its directly across the road in Kensington Gardens. It's probably the best memorial in London, but funnily enough it's also the least well-known. Everyone has heard of Nelson's Column, Cleopatra's Needle and Marble Arch, but ask someone about Prince Albert's marker and the odds are they won't have a clue. But look at it! How can you forget something like that.

The whole thing is massive. It's 175 feet tall -- that's taller than Nelson's Column. (That fact is actually a little hard to believe when you're standing underneath the Albert Memorial, but it's definitely true -- Nelson's Column is six feet shorter.) Unfortunately they dont let you pass the golden gates but you can still get a decent view from twenty feet away. A massive marble mosiac runs around the bottom edge with figures in togas holding scripts and things like that. It reminds me a little bit of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum. And at each of the four corners is a massive statues comemmorating the continents -- Africa, Asia, America and Europe.
The seated figure of Prince Albert must be twenty foot tall at least, and gilded all over in gold -- a bit like that bird who died in Goldfinger. And surrounding that is a four-poster bed like structure rising up to a point, with gilded mosaics of angels and saints looking down on the gawping tourists. These are reminiscent of the ones in Westminster Cathedral. And then you've got another set of golden statues on top of that, before it tapers out somewhere near the clouds.

When I die, this is how I want to be remembered. With a monument decked out from top to toe with marble mosaics, porcelain white statues and a golden figure of me looking out the middle.