London -- Part VI: Last days

Thursday Brother Tom had an early flight home and D#2 stayed in our flat to work on a paper (due electronically shortly after the new year) and meet a friend who was coming in from Amsterdam, where she had studied for the past semester.  D#1, her BF, and I grabbed a double-decker bus and rode off to visit to Westminster Abbey, followed by a train ride to Cambridge to visit with D#1's BF's parents who now live there.

The chill, damp weather is almost visible in the photo I snapped of the nearby Parliament building with Big Ben.  

When I'd been here ten years ago, the Abbey had closed early for some event.  Even without this glitch, there is so much to see in this palpably sacred place that I was eager to spend some more time there, taking advantage of the now-available audio tour that ensured I missed none of the most important places, though I augmented the tour with plenty of just wandering about.

Looking through the ironwork fence:

Of course, I had to take a photo of the door leading to the "Librarian and Keeper of Muniments":

The statues above the Great West Door of the Abbey are of 20th century martyrs, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Oscar Romero, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

At my request, D#1 and BF had headed off to the train station and Cambridge without me, as I was feeling quite sick by then.  By the time I left the Abbey some of the clouds had cleared and, looking toward Big Ben, the London Eye was visible.  

Taking my time walking back to our flat, I enjoyed the sights and sounds of this incredible city, with the "Shard" prominent in the skyline.

While the chill and damp had been ever-present during the trip, it was never really cold, so many places had blooming flowers.  I loved these pansies in window boxes outside a shop.

On Christmas Eve day, I had not joined the others on their excursion to Borough Market, but now I found myself nearby and happily discovered that many of the shops were open!   Had a lovely time poking around, buying a few things here and there -- including some yummy chicken curry that I had for dinner. 

Tucked it all into a great Borough Market reinforced burlap shopping bag that is now my first choice "go to" bag for my grocery shopping here at home.

An earlier screw-up on my part had meant that a planned Friday outing to the Victoria and Albert Museum with quilter-friend Judi of Canterbury had been cancelled.   Turns out it was just as well.  Friday I was sick.  Really sick.  Coughing-and-hacking-and-not-breathing-very-well sick.  There was nothing I could do but stay in the flat, rest, and start packing for the early Saturday morning trip to the airport.  However, through email, Judi had passed on enticing information from her husband that our flat was very close to London's last galleried coach inn, which was frequented by the likes of not only Charles Dickens but William Shakespeare himself!   So Friday evening, we four set off to find it!

As with so many places in London, when you look around a corner, there are wonderful surprises to be found.  That's how we discovered "The George Inn." 

We could only wander into the courtyard, as the Inn was booked for a private party, alas.  Some months later, I was able to return the favor by emailing Judi that the book, Shakespeare's Pub had been recently published in case her husband was interested.

Saturday morning came, and meant that D#1 and I had to be on our way to Heathrow.   D#2 and her classmate were going back to her flat at Queen Mary where they would meet my "German daughter" who had arrived in London the night before.   They planned to see in the new year together and go their separate ways early on New Year's Day, with D#2 and friend stopping over in Paris (sigh!) for two days, and arriving back in the states later that week. 

I was, predictably, sad to leave London.  In two trips there -- a decade apart -- I still had not visited a single palace!   And my museum time had been limited to half an hour or so at the National Gallery on the Friday I arrived!   Even so, we had managed to enjoy a number of activities in the available time, without rushing through them, which left me no regrets!  

So.

I suppose I will have to return one day.  The next time I go to London, it will be in nicer weather, especially because I want to attend at least one production at Shakespeare's Globe, to visit Hampton Court Palace (D#2's favorite), to see the V&A (at least), to see London from the Eye (maybe), to take the train to Cambridge to see the Corpus Clock, and, perhaps, to visit friend Judi in Canterbury, with its historic cathedral.  

Can't be too soon for me. 

London -- Part V: Boxing Day

Boxing Day (December 26th) dawned, not unexpectedly, gray and dreary again.  On this day, public transportation was limited, but not absent, which slowed us only slightly as we were by now used to walking fair distances and were, fortunately, within a hike of much of the central city.  Our primary destination for the day was St. Paul's Cathedral, for many, itself the symbol of London.

The view as approached from the Millennium Bridge:

A large evergreen had been hung with weather-resistant decorations, marking the season.

In front of the entrance stands a statue of Queen Anne, the reigning monarch when the Cathedral was completed.

In keeping with my promise to D#2 to allow my picture to be taken whenever we visited a church, here I am with both daughters in front of St. Paul's.

I don't seem to have any photos of the interior, so I can only presume that photography was not allowed.   We explored the beautiful sanctuary on the main floor, with its mosaics, sculptures, and other art work (both old and quite modern), then climbed to the Whispering Gallery, which we (of course) tested to see if "it" worked.  ("It" did.)  From there, we ascended a long, tight, winding set of stairs to the "Stone Gallery", the highest outdoor viewing area that was open that day.  I confess it took me some time -- and several stops to catch my breath -- but I made it!   The bullet-shaped building just left of center in the photo below is one of the newer additions to the London skyline and is nicknamed the "Gherkin."  Need you ask why?

The triangle piercing the sky is another skyscraper, this one called, quite simply, the "Shard". 

In the distance you can see the circle of the London Eye, which we did not get to experience, in spite of discussion both of whether it was worth the cost and whether or not some of us (me) could deal with the height!   We never actually made a decision, but simply ran out of time slots in which to plan a "ride."

As with so many London churches, the undercroft area contained crypts and burial places, and, as one might expect because of the history and importance of St. Paul's, it was the resting place of many notables, including poet John Donne (For Whom the Bell Tolls), Christopher Wren (architect of medieval London), as well as military leaders, the Duke of Wellington and Horatio, Lord Nelson.  We were among the last to leave the cathedral, and I believe I still missed seeing some of the lower areas.

Night had fallen when we worked our way back past the cathedral on our way to the evening's entertainment.

Daughters had been up bright and early to try for student "rush" tickets to the hottest musical around.  Sold out for every performance, the theatre sold a handful of tickets to those with student ID's for a pittance -- I think it was around 10 pounds ($15 or so).   I doubted if they'd succeed -- after all, all the local students were home for the holidays, not to mention any visiting.  I was wrong.  They scored two of the scarce prizes.   Off they went to see "Matilda" -- especially appropriate since this was one of D#1's favorite books as a youngster and they'd both watched the movie multiple times on our VHS player. 

D#2's BF was staying in Cambridge for the holidays, as his parents now live there, so he had taken the train into London to explore with us several times.  He was staying over that night, so he, Brother Tom, and I went on a London Walks tour, exploring the sites connected with Jack the Ripper, a subject I'd been fascinated with for many years!   Almost nothing of Jack's day remains other than an open court area, but we walked in his footsteps, or in the path his carriage took, if, in fact, he traveled by carriage....  

Walking back to our hotel from the Tower Hill tube stop where our tour ended, we had a nighttime view of the lit-up Tower of London. 

Of course, we took a few minutes to stop in a pub on the way back to the hotel, and raise a pint to quench our thirst!  

London -- Part IV: Christmas Day

On Christmas Day in London, there is no public transportation.  No buses, no Tube.  There may be taxis, but otherwise, if you don't have your own car, you walk.  Almost all retail establishments, including restaurants, are also closed.   Some serve Christmas Dinner, but require reservations well in advance and are generally quite expensive.  A few weeks before our visit, D#2 informed me that she had arranged a surprise for Christmas Day dinner.  She noted that we would have to walk (quite do-able from our hotel) and we would eat at mid-day rather than in the evening. She also mentioned that there would be a Christmas Day service first.   Sounded just fine to me at the time, but, given that we had missed Christmas Eve services, when Christmas Day dawned, I was very pleased that we would have a church service to attend.

It was raining (no surprise) when D#2 led us across Tower Bridge to All Hallows by the Tower, the oldest church in the City of London.  All Hallows site has held a religious institution since the 7th century when it held a Saxon monastery.  In the intervening times, among other roles in history, the church had been where they took the bodies of those executed on Tower Green.  Samuel Pepys had watched the Great Fire of London from its tower in 1666.  The church itself had been damaged heavily in the Blitz (actually, this was common in several places we visited) and rebuilt thereafter. 

Not only does All Hallows have an American connection, it has a Pennsylvania connection, and even a Philadelphia one!  Here is where John Quincy Adams and his wife were married and William Penn was baptized!  And Christ Church, Philadelphia is its "sister church."

The church is Church of England, but the service thankfully included a few carols that were familiar to us, Lutherans though we are.

(photo from website)

After the service, more sparsely attended than in the above picture, all who were there -- or who wandered in at any time -- were invited to stay for Christmas Dinner!   The more-than-reasonable suggested donation was to go to the food banks for Tower Hamlet, one of the poorer areas of the city.   No one was turned away even if they didn't donate, and I suspect many others, like us, gave more.

The verger gave us a brief tour of the Undercroft area.  There we saw a section of tesselated Roman flooring from the 2nd century which was found during renovation along with other historical artifacts from the intervening centuries.  When we came back to the main floor, we found the area at the side of the sanctuary was set with folding tables.  "White or red?" was the question and our first glasses of wine were poured (with many to follow).  All the guests claimed seats, we sang grace to the tune of "Frere Jacques", and serving began.

At each place was a Christmas cracker, quite the novelty for us Yanks.  But we pulled them, found our toy and donned our paper hats!   Salad, rolls, turkey, gravy, potatoes, parsnips, and much more that I can't remember!   Oh yes, and more wine...

My best guess is that there were 50 people at dinner.  With guests from Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Croatia, Netherlands, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and the U.S. (and maybe I missed someplace), it was like having lunch with the United Nations!    We chattered about why we were in London, for how long, etc., as well as about what a typical Christmas dinner would be at our homes, and what our other holiday customs were. 

As we had our dessert (Christmas pudding, of course), the verger took our his guitar and led us in singing a variety of Christmas songs.  It was mid-afternoon before we helped to clear the tables, fold and put away the tables and chairs. 

By the time we began our walk back to the hotel, the rain had stopped and it was almost dusk.  At dinner, the Vicar had asked me what the highlight had been for me during this trip.  I described him how much I loved visiting the Tower of London and soaking up the history there.  But, in fact, I told him, Christmas Day dinner at All Hallows had been more memorable and meaningful than anything else I had experienced (or hoped to experience) during this trip.   What a truly wonderful and unique event!

We owe our thanks to the chaplain at Queen Mary University, Jenny, who had informed D#2 about this welcoming place and their annual meal!    I must remind D#2 to email her with our deepest gratitude. 

London -- Part III: Christmas Eve

The morning of Monday, Christmas Eve Day, most of the group set out for Borough Market (walking distance from our hotel) to shop for food for our Christmas day evening meal.   I stayed in the hotel, but was fortunate to have a chance to go there later in the trip.   We stopped at this little shop for "pie and mash" before heading off to

the Old Vic Theatre

where we had tickets for the matinee of "Kiss me, Kate."

Here are a few shots of the interior, taken before the ushers informed me that photos were not allowed.  I didn't know... really...

The quote on the above poster says it all.  Everything about the show was superb -- not a weak link anywhere.  Costumes, sets, choreography, singing, acting, lighting!

Afterward, we met some friends of BT for a stroll, enjoying the beautiful lights wherever we went.  Richard is a tour guide, who BT met some time ago.  He had his lovely wife, Naomi, and their university-age son with him. 

For my quilter friends: several shots of Liberty:

We made our way to Carnaby Street -- the original "hot spot" of style in the "Swingin' Sixties", when the British Invasion had taken the States and all eyes looked across the pond to London. 

The lights of Carnaby Street celebrated the Rolling Stones, with the theme "Carnaby Christmas -- It's Only Rock 'n Roll".

If you looked up, you could see Mr. Shakespeare looking down upon the revelry.

On Bond Street, we found all the high-end shops.  Cartier was wrapped in a huge red bow and bathed in red light.

The windows of Ralph Lauren were drop-dead gorgeous!

But I thought this unnamed jewelry store's window was just as lovely, even without seasonal adornment.  Looks sort of Art Deco-ish to me.

Fortunately for those of us who were all-but-starving, we found a pub that served food and settled in for a few pints and some great conversation!

Our original plans had been to return to the hotel, change clothes and go to a late service at Southwark Cathedral, but when in Rome London...  Instead, we took advantage of the opportunity to make new friends and enjoyed our time together.

Years ago, I decided that cooking both Christmas Day and Christmas Eve was too much work and decreed that, henceforth, the new family tradition would be to have take-out Chinese food for Christmas Eve dinner. 

So we walked back to the Tube through Chinatown, and got our "takeaway" for a midnight dinner.  

What a memorable Christmas Eve!   .... And to all a good night.