A Holiday in England (Part 3: London)

We arrived in London a bit late a took a while figuring out where the hotel was. Finally we found it thanks to the help of several kind Englishmen and were greeted by a kind Indian man with a thick accent. We had a cup of tea and went to bed so we could get up early the next day to see London. We managed the transportation system much better in the morning. It took a bus, train, and the underground to get to downtown London. Making our way down Regent Street we were greeted with all the festivities of a Saturday before Christmas (yes all the shops were already decorated for Christmas!) Part of the street was blocked off for an old car show. The owners and their families were dressed up in turn of the century costumes and sat in their "horseless carriages." Some even had babies or dogs with them who were dressed up as well. You could see the excitement of the old men talking about and showing their prized cars. I kept hoping to meet Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! But instead I met one car from Wisconsin and on from Illinois in addition to all the English cars. We continued walking the streets all morning and by mid-day were in the Covet Garden's Market. It felt like a holiday with kids and their parents, red balloons on their wrists, and music playing. There was a street performer riding an eight foot unicycle and live statues. We found a small restaurant and bought hot pies for lunch. I a chicken and bacon pie and Lizzy a steak and ale pie. We sat at the food of a pillar and ate our pies while listening to a man playing music on the street and watching the people hurry by.

After lunch we walked to look at the famous parts of the city, the giant lions, Big Ben, parliament, Buckingham palace, St. Peter's Park, and finally Westminster Abbey. We made it just in time to attend the evensong service. The service was wonderful. We sat in the cross section between the choir and the head of the abbey. it was such a worshipful experience to join in the words of the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles Creed, to listen and meditate upon the psalms the choir sand and listen to the Word of God being read in a way that thousands of Christians had done before me. I was worshiping God in a place where he had been revered for ages ("God of the ages past our hope for years to come...")

After the service we went back to the hotel to get dressed up for . . . . . LES MESERABLES in the Queen's Theatre!!! I was bursting with excitement as we made our way to the theater and took our seats in is. I will not even attempt to tell you of the pleasure in hearing it live- if you've been you know- if you have hard the music you can understand-and if you have had the terrible fortune of never having hear the music I cannot possible describe it to you. I relished every not and let my tears fall freely at the end--"to love another person is to see the face of God!" It was a perfect last night in London and in England.