Monday 6 December 2010
I went to bed reasonably early on Sunday night, in order to avoid studying for my Bible final, which took place at 1pm today. The morning involved intense study sessions with the class to prepare, but I still went into this test feeling the least ready for it over any of my other finals. I muddled my way through it, and felt reasonably confident at the end, though I knew there were some things that I didn’t really know.
After the final I headed out for one of my last days in London. Today, I finished up the City of London (proper). This is the area that includes St. Paul’s and the Bank of England. My first stop was Old Bailey, the criminal courthouse, where the public can go in and view trials. However, you cannot bring in bags of any kind, and I had a limited amount of time before dinner. My next stop was St. Mary-Le-Bow. This is a beautiful church but I couldn’t really enjoy it because I had a mini brush with trauma as I entered the nave. This is a tiny little church and the only other person in there when I got there was an incredibly tall and skinny homeless-looking man. He was wandering around in an odd manner, as if he didn’t know what was going on, and was smoking. At first he approached me and I became a little nervous, but he turned towards another door and left the church. After that I couldn’t really focus on the church. My guide book had a few exciting entries about what could be found in the crypt, so I went down there. It has been turned into a restaurant. Lame.
Next I walked to St. Stephen Walbrook. This church is located directly next to Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, and is his parish church. Both Mary-Le-Bow and St. Stephen are Wren churches, but St. Stephen was definitely my favorite it was a mini study for St. Paul’s. It has a central plan, with a wonderful dome and a lot of light and open space. This church was astounding with its lights walls and almost black wood paneling. It was breathtaking. I just kept walking around and around, loving every inch of that church.
After leaving St. Stephen Walbrook I walked up Pudding Lane. Talk about exciting! Really, it's just a street. But, this is the very street where the Great Fire of London began in 1666 in the bakery shop of Thomas Fayner. From here it spread through the city, destroying as it went, until it was finally controlled at Pie Street. The significance of Pudding and Pie is certain--but as of yet, unknown. On Pie Street there is a statue of a fat boy eating pie, very close to where the fire stopped, because I never made it here I'm glad I at least walked Pudding Lane.
Beyond Pudding Lane I walked to the shadow of the Tower of London, where I found the church All Hallows by the Tower (which makes sense--because it is by the tower). I walked into this church too. Of all the churches I saw today, this one was the most beautiful as far as Christmas decorations go. St. Stephen Walbrook still had the best architecture, but there was a lovely nativity, large trees, and white stretches of glittering fake snow inside All Hallows. The most exciting part of this church is the crypt--and it was still actually a crypt. Huzzah!
Just as you arrive downstairs there is a stretch of cobbled/tiled Roman road. I was looking at it almost straight on, below Roman street level. It is one of the best preserved example of Roman London anywhere in the entire city (which makes sense because it is also close to the most defined stretch of Roman Wall--also close to the Tower of London). Further into the crypt there is a barrel that Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men used as a crow's nest during his last Antarctic expedition on the ship "Quest." I touched it. Now I have lived in his house, seen the photography of his trek across Antarctica (Liverpool), and touched his crow's nest. Awesome. There was also a plaque in the crypt stating that William Penn was baptized in All Hallows. That was a neat connection, considering that he founded the state that my family now lives in, and that I would be returning to in a few days.
I returned home with just a few minutes to spare before dinner, ready for food--but also full of love for London.
Tuesday 7 December 2010
Last full day in London. Cannot believe it. So, what did Bethany and I decide to do in celebration? Spend the rest of our pounds! The program gave every girl money back, because they had budgeted so well, and so we decided to visit all our favorite London shopping venues.Our first stop was at Camden Market with Katie Willard. My first experience at Camden was not my favorite. It smells like smoke and the people are quintessential edgy London with rude and crass t-shirts for sale at every turn. But, Katie loves Camden, so I decided to go along and find out why. Turns out the trick is to move past the first street into one of the other five marketplaces that make up Camden Market proper. Here we found terrific clothes, a funky hippie shop, a Beatles t-shirt which I bought (it has their faces on it--neither of the ones I got in Liverpool do, I don't know what I was thinking.), pretty jewelry, and we even saw the Camden Locks. This is a section of the Thames with locks to allow ships to move up and down the river. It's very neat. There are still some things I definitely do not enjoy about Camden, but I could see some merit by the end. Give me Portobello any day.
Next we arrived at Lillywhites. This is an enormous sportings goods store that is just outside of the Picadilly Circus tube stop. You walk of the stairs to street level and it is right there. They were having a sale, so Bethany and I both got a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants. Later today when we got home, we took a picture because we looked so funny with the same clothes on, just in different colors.
Next stop Primark. Here, I bought these long-sleeved stretchy t-shirts that I came to love the first time they arrived at this store. I am so glad to have a long-sleeve t in so many different colors now.
Finally we walked down Queensway one more time to buy Pashmina scarves. One of the shops has a deal of 7 Pashminas for 10 GBP and I had bought my London sweatshirt at this same shop earlier in the semester so I had a 10% discount coupon. Excellent. Even after all this rampant spending, I still had around 15 GBP left, not including the money I had set aside to pay for the taxi and train to get to the airport tomorrow. Even when I try to spend with reckless abandon, I still end up being a little frugal. I guess that's a good thing?
After we got home, I dumped my purchases and after a quick lunch headed out to meet Katy and Julie and some other girls at the London Eye. The plan was to have as many people as possible from the program in one of the "bubbles" on the Eye at sunset. Jordan and Grace had printed out 2 for 1 vouchers with a train ticket so we all got a nice discount. There was a 3-d movie right before heading to the actual queue for the Eye, which most of the girls really liked but I didn't see what was so exciting. It was just London--we'd seen it all before and without CGI. In the end we had a lot of girls on the Eye with us that night. Fabulously fun. There was Katy, Julie, and I, Jani, Jenna, and Claire (all from my room--dorm 1), Kim, Grace, Jordan, Molly, Morgan, Mackenzie, Amanda, Natalie, Nicole, Lisa, and Meegan. Kim's little sister was also there, and nice enough to take some group pictures for us (that is the only reason I remember who was there and who was not). It was a very full little bubble. Looking out over the whole city was remarkable. It was the perfect end to my London experience. I could not believe how much I could see, and how much I could recognize.
After we got off the Eye Katy, Julie, and I had a final dinner at Cafe Diana. I finally took a picture of the picture of Princess Diana that reminds me of Mom. Our waitress was incredibly slow--we just simply aren't European so we don't want to sit there for 45 minutes and talk after we're done eating. We want to come, eat, and leave, and then we'll go talk. It wasn't that bad and we actually had a fabulous time. Good food too. They make a pretty decent falafel. Now I just have to go to Jerusalem to try the real thing. We also finally took pictures in the tube, to prove that we rode it ALL the time. I am going to miss the mobility it gives me. I can just get up, swipe my Oyster card, and go. No cars, no traffic (except people traffic), and the ability to go anywhere in the city just by getting on the right train.
After dinner, the three of us and Katie Willard did Christmas lights. We first went to Trafalgar Square where they have a large Christmas tree and menorah. They actually weren't all the exciting of lights, but the fountains looked very pretty lit up and it was nice to begin really celebrating the Christmas season. I also got to say goodbye to the National Gallery and St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Looking down Whitehall you could almost see all the way up to Westminster Abbey.
Next we took the tube to Sloane Square. Here the Christmas lights were much better. An entire side of one office building was covered in lights that shined out across the square where large snowflakes hung from the trees. We had a good time running around and taking pictures. We were there for quite a while, in part because crossing the street there is an absolute nightmare. No crosswalk or zebra of any kind. You literally fend for yourself trying to get back to the tube station. That's in addition to having your wits about you any time you step out in front of London traffic.
After that I was up all night. Well, I got around two hours of sleep, but they were fitful at best. I was so nervous about packing, and getting to the plane, getting all my stuff on the plane, leaving the country (oh my gosh, where's my passport! did I leave out money so I could pay for the taxi? what are we going to eat for breakfast?), the list goes on and on. I was also incredibly sad to think that this would be the last time I would sleep in my own tiny, cramped bunk bed at the BYU London Centre. Indescribably sad.
Wednesday 8 December 2010
I was up a full hour before my alarm, there was no way I was going to sleep anymore. What seemed like an age later I had finally finished packing, was barely under the 50 lbs. weight limit for my checked bag and Julie and I were ready to hail a taxi. At the front door we said goodbye to Aunt Jo Ann and Sister Tate. I was so grateful to come to London with them. We called a cab who took us to Paddington Station. I could actually give him proper directions this time. Eventually we got our train tickets, and took the train back out to Heathrow. The last time I made this trip I was anxiously excited and worried about getting to my new home. This time I was a little slap-happy and wanted to get to the airport with time to spare. But, we also rode that train with confidence. We had conquered London Transport.
When we got to the airport we checked our bags and Julie began to say that she felt very ill. Turns out, we had planned on eating breakfast before we left the Centre but it had slipped our minds. Now she was starting to feel the affects of being without food. As we prepared to walk through security Julie kept saying: "Emily, where are you? Are you there? I can't see you?" I was in full-on panic mode now. What should I do? Should I tell an airport worker that she was feeling sick? That might make us miss our flight. Was she really this bad or was it just from lack of sleep last night. She was half-laughing as she said it--was this some kind of twisted joke? Then she stumbled into me, almost as if she had just fainted and then come to right after. I supported her, trying not to attract the attention of the workers in Security--not wanting any sort of scene. "Julie! Are you okay?" She straightened and blinked. "I think so?" Then I was called to come through the metal detector. I told her to stand up. It would be okay. As soon as she gets through the metal detector, go sit down. I'll get all the stuff. I walked through the detector, and watched her do the same. She seemed normal, though gaunt and silent. She quickly went and sat down. I collected the baggage and sat down next to her. Slowly both of our heart rates returned to normal. Eventually she could walk again and we quickly headed to purchase a large breakfast.
It was quite a scare, but thankfully we weren't detained. The airport workers at 7am aren't too interested in two teenage Americans who can't exactly walk straight anyway. We bought a large breakfast--we had to blow all our British cash. In a few more hours there would be nothing more to spend it on. And then settled down to wait. We had a few hours and then we boarded our flight home. It was exhausting, as all transatlantic travel is (I'm a seasoned veteran now--ya know) but at least there were movies to watch and time to get some of that sleep we had missed out on last night.
We finally touched down in Philadelphia and I could hear American accents everywhere. I almost kissed the ground at Baggage Claim after we had cleared customs. There we were, tired but happy and safe and sound back in the good old U. S. A. I said goodbye to Julie who was heading home to Provo and walked out of the International Terminal. Somehow I missed everybody waiting for me as I cleared security and walked all the way out to the street, didn't see anyone, tried to use a payphone but I had less than a dollar in American change and I can't working a payphone. Being around all those London phone booths did not do me a lick of good. (By the way, American change is incredibly thin and light. Even now I'm surprised how little it weighs and how little space it takes up in my wallet. And the dollar bill is an incredible thing. No more one pound coins.) I finally headed back up towards security and ran into everyone while they were looking for me. It's good to be home.
London truly was the most wonderful experience of my life. I wouldn't trade one day there for all the world and I am so glad I have the memories to keep me company all the rest of my days.
"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." --Samuel Johnson
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