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It has taken me 25 years to see Westminster Abbey.

I was finally going to enter this building I had studied so intensely in high school, to see the intricate rose windows, the flying buttresses… All I had learned so many years ago came rushing back to me. I stood there in the rain, crying, staring at the architectural wonder before me. I couldn’t wait to begin to explore the inside. It was 8.30am in the morning and I had another hour to wait before it opened.

I have been to London 4 times now and I have missed Westminster Abbey each time, due to closures or just bad timing. After studying important architectural structures around the world during my high school days, it has been one of my life goals to visit Westminster Abbey, as it was to visit the Notre Dame in Paris (which I saw in 1989). I can only equate this feeling to a high school tennis player finally being able to explore the depths of Wimbledon. It is a skin-tingling moment.

I was the first to enter. I had a quick moment to cherish all that was around me, standing alone in the nave, while everyone around me scrambled to pick up their audio guides. I even had a “William/Kate moment”, flashing to the wedding I stayed up to watch on television only a year ago, along with the Diana/Charles wedding before that. I remembered those future princesses, walking down the never-ending aisle, as I listened to the organists practicing their hymns around me. It gave me chills, being able to see that in my head, without anyone around me to distract me.

As a photographer, it was extremely trying for me not to take photos. Especially given that this was a building I have admired for a very long time, a building that I look at in amazement and itch to capture on ‘film’. But I was respectful of the Abbey rules and complied (and bought a few postcards in the gift shop for my scrapbook instead).

One thing not having a camera in hand did for me was force me to slow down and really look around, admire the intricacies of the building, read the inscriptions on the monuments and imagine what life was like in those days. Well, maybe I would have been that way with camera in hand, but I seemed more in the moment without it.

The one area that I was able to photograph were the College Gardens. Here are secluded gardens, nestled between the buildings showing their bursts of colour, lush green lawns with the trees showering their blossoms in the breeze. It was peaceful and a welcomed moment amongst the elbowing, audio-guided crowds.

So what did I learn that I can pass on from my visit Westminster Abbey? Get there early, pay by credit card for your entrance fee (it’s a shorter line) and be sure to see what you want to see first, then take your time going through the rest.

Be aware that this is an Abbey where the dead are buried in tombs and beneath the floor upon which you walk. If you can get past that, be sure to admire the scriptures and words engraved by those who lost loved ones. They are meant to be read and remembered, so be sure to take your time to admire the monuments. And if you do get one of those annoying audio guide devices (which will undoubtedly provide a plethora of information on your visit), please be aware of other people around you and what other monuments are around you, not simply just the highlights. And remember to look up as well as down on the floor. The wonder is all around you.

My visit was a skin-prickling moment and one I will treasure for the remainder of my life. Thank you Mrs. Cowell for opening my world to the beauty and amazing intricacies of great architecture.