Loose in London

I’m writing this while on the Eurostar, traveling from London, England to Brussels, Belgium. At the moment, we are traveling in the tunnel underneath the English Channel. Having researched the other options, this is by far the easiest way to travel to the continent from London.

The last several days have been extraordinarily full but I expect the pace to slow a bit for a while so I will be posting more often. To catch you up, I landed in London last Saturday morning. The flight was very smooth and I had no problem at the border though I had to wait in the longest line I’ve ever seen to get into the country. Simon, George, and Hugh came to pick me up and took me back to Simon’s house where we and some other young Friends talked in their garden. In the afternoon, we walked to the local stadium to watch the Watford Football Team (soccer for you Americans) play Hull. We lost by one goal but I loved watching the game. It’s different than watching sports in America. The team supporters have chants and songs they all sing together and there is much more of a community feel to the games versus in America where the teams are supported here and there. At least, this is how it is where I am from. Also, the stadium is right in the middle of the city with houses and shops bordering the stands. There is no car park (parking lot) around it. You park on the street, take a bus, or walk. Many walk. After a game, the streets around the stadium are packed with people walking home.

In the evening, Emily and Hugh from last year’s Quaker Youth Pilgrimage stayed over night and some Friends from Watford meeting came over for dinner. I met Simon, Hugh and Emily when I spoke to the group about Spirit Rising and my trip to Kenya. Emily is from Wimbledon, south of London, and Hugh is from Dublin, Ireland. It was a fun reunion!

Sunday morning we all went to Watford Monthly Meeting. After fifteen minutes of worship, Simon, Emily, Hugh, and I left with the youth group to another room where I spoke with them about my own monthly meeting, Freedom Friends Church, and evangelical Quakers in general. Simon thought it would be interesting for them to hear about other ways of being Quaker. It was nice to have Emily and Hugh there as they could also share their experiences of Quakers in the Northwest. After meeting, I gave a presentation on Spirit Rising for which most people stayed. It is, I believe, the smoothest presentation I have given thus far on the book and this reassures me as I am giving it many more times in various forms. Hugh thought it went really well and told me it was just as interesting the second time around as when he first heard it last summer.

In the afternoon, Simon drove us out to Jordans Friends Meeting but as I am writing a post telling you of our visit, I will not go into it here. Afterward, Simon dropped the three of us at the train station and we took a train into London to walk around Kennsington Gardens. After stopping for ice cream, we walked around seeing the Elfin Tree (a tree with little elves carved out of the wood), the Prince Albert Memorial, the Siene Lake, and after asking around, we finally found the Peter Pan statue commemorating where James Barry wrote his classic story. Afterward, Emily headed home and Hugh and I headed back to the Colbeck’s for dinner.

On Monday morning Simon came with me into London to see some of the shts. At the British Library, we viewed some of the greatest written treasures of Europe. There were original scores handwritten by Handel, Beethoven, and Schubert, a handwritten manuscript of Jane Eyre, scientific notes of Leonardo Da Vinci and Charels Darwin, Bibles and fragments from throughout the last 1,800 years, Jane Austen’s writing desk, and King Henry VIII’s prayer scroll among many, many other priceless treasures.

Our next stop was St. Paul’s Cathedral but on the way, I asked Simon if we could stop off at Kings Cross Station. Asking why I would want to stop there, I replied with no little delight, “Platform 9 3/4!” It is at this point, I got a look along the lines of, “Think you’re being funny do you? There is no such place.” I assured him there was, that it was from Harry Potter, and though he didn’t believe me, even asked if I was sure it wasn’t St. Pancreas Station, I told him I was sure it was at King’s Cross. Still skeptical, we asked one of the attendants and instead of also replying, “Think you’re being funny do you?” he blandly answered, “Down there, left then left” as if he said this a hundred times a day which I am sure he does. Shocked that I was telling the truth, we found the platform and Simon took a picture of me pushing the cart through the wall. With renewed respect for my knowledge of what is in London and assured I wasn’t crazy, we took the tube to St. Paul’s.

Simon opted to wait outside and take a nap in the garden as he had arisen early that morning to take Hugh to the airport. I meanwhile, walked up the steps upon which was filmed the famous Feed the Birds scene in Mary Poppins, a movie I grew up with so this moment alone was special to me. Entering the church, I realized I actually had no idea what it looked like inside, I had only seen pictures of the façade. But let me tell you, it is extraordinarily beautiful with all the paintings and mosaics. It is very colorful and serene at the same time. After seeing the main floor, I took the stairs to the Whispering Gallery, then all the way up to the top of the dome, 528 steps for which I have been paying ever since. It was worth it. After a quick walk through the crypt and a purchase of a photo book (you aren’t allowed to take your own as it would disrupt people’s worship of God), I met Simon back outside and we walked north to the Museum of London.

On our way, however, we saw a gate into a public garden that is in the middle of a block surrounded by buildings. Venturing inside past a pond of large oranger fish, there was a memorial to dozens of people who have died in London sacrificing their life for another, many by trying to rescue someone from a burning house or drowning in a river saving someone from that very fate. Each plaque had the name, often an age, and how they died. It was a very moving place to be and we spent a while there just reading about the lives that were lost.

The Museum of London wasn’t on my original list of places to see, but it soon became one of those unplanned delights. The museum explores the building of London from prehistoric times straight through the present day. Many of the displays are interactive. In the medieval display, I picked a character then made a series of life choices for her, to see what would happen. I had basic schooling and then apprenticed myself to a dressmaker. I then chose to marry the baker who was happy to take me as a wife. Later in the museum we saw a bakery and Simon said that must belong to my husband. You could also answer trivia questions about the different trades and touch pictures in “water” to find out what they were and what will happen if you get sick by ingesting them. I loved the museum.

From there, Simon and I split ways for the evening. He headed home and I headed to Trafalgar Square for a quick bite to eat and to see the show, “Billy Elliot” with Emily who met me there. The show was brilliant! It was fun to see music I had only heard performed on stage and to understand the songs in the context.

Tuesday morning I headed over to Hetty’s flat in Tufnell Park. After sharing tea with her, I headed off to Camden Town and she headed to Uni. The night before, my nose ring had come out without me noticing and Hetty suggested Camden Town as a good place to buy a new one. Wow. She wasn’t kidding. I had so much fun walking around and looking at the market that it took a while before I got back on the tube to go see the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. These are both art museums, the portrait gallery being only notable figures in British history and the National Gallery being art throughout the ages. There were several times I turned a corner in the National Gallery and came face to face with a painting I knew and I would gasp and stand there thinking, “This is the original. Wow…” Van Gogh’s sunflowers, the famous one of Lady Jane about to be beheaded, and Monet’s bridge over his water lily’s were several of them. My two favorites in the Portrait Gallery were the paintings of Jane Austen by her sister Cassandra, and one of the Bronte sisters painted by their brother. I then saw the church nearby, St. Martin in the Fields, and sat for awhile listening to someone practicing on the pipe organ.

On my way north, I walked up Charring Cross Road, ducking into high quality used bookstores, to simply admire what they had on the shelves. To end my sight seeing day, I enjoyed a spaghetti dinner outside and then attended “The Wizard of Oz” at the London Palladium across the street. It was a great show and seeing Michael Crawford and hearing him sing live was an experience in itself. At one point when he was playing the wizard, he sings loudly, “GO!!! AND OBEY!!!” He sang that very “GO!!!” in Phantom of the Opera too. Andrew Lloyd Webber was also in the audience I hear. He is the one who created the show. When I got home that night to Hetty’s, we stayed up and talked before heading to bed.

By this point, since I had been covering a lot of ground, I was tired and ready for a more relaxed day. I started the day by having a lie-in (sleeping in) until nine then joined Hetty and her roommates for tea and toast before getting ready and taking the tube and a train out to Hampton Court Palace. There I walked around William and Mary’s apartments and the rooms and great hall of Henry VIII. I also got to explore the kitchens and look out at the gardens. After seeing Henry VIII’s rooms, I was going into the Georgian Aparttments when I saw Henry VIII himself walking down the hallway toward me with one of his wives then turn down the staircase. It was a surreal experience.

Rejoining Hetty at home and having a sit-down, we then took the tube to Westminster Friends Meeting to take part in their service then afterward, several of the young adults went to a café a few doors down for tea and dinner. Among the party was Pete, one of the contributors to Spirit Rising and Jez with whom I traveled in Kenya. Jez will also be going to the conference in Switzerland next week.

It’s been a full schedule and I’m enjoying having a few quiet hours on the train, in one place where I can write for a while. If you’re praying for me, please pray for my legs and feet. They are tired and sore while they get used to all this walking. Believe me, there is a lot of it.