So yesterday was Easter. It was an unusual Easter and definitely a memorable one. For starters, Mom and Grandmother arrived at the Victoria station on Saturday morning. I was very excited to see them. We took their bags to the Daniel House and then I showed them around town a little. We went to La Liaison for lunch (my favorite sandwich place here). After lunch I taught them how to use the Tube a little and we went to Parliament and Big Ben. We also went to Westminster Abbey and spent some time exploring the monuments in the church. This was my third visit to the Abbey, but it was great to be there with my family. I seem to notice something new every time I go there; there's so much to see! After the abbey, we went to Covent Garden so I could show Grandmother the spot where the opener to My Fair Lady was filmed and so I could show Mom my favorite shop in London (Cath Kidston). We came back to Kensington for traditional "Fish and Chips." I hadn't had fish and chips until Saturday night. It was okay. Very much like Captain D's if you ask me. We then went back to their hotel where we went to sleep; it had been a very long day for all of us!
Early Sunday morning, and I mean EARLY, we met my neighbor Roger to go to church. St. Paul's Cathedral was having an Easter sunrise service, and since we were going to Stratford later in the day, we decided to attend this one. St. Paul's is an Anglican church, and the service we attended was the Dawn Eucharist. We got there around 5:15 which turned out to be a half hour too early. We got there before the bishop! We saw him walk up to the church, and Roger approached him. The Bishop of London then came up the stairs to greet Mom, Grandmother and me. This was a treat, I'm sure. He told us he had visited Tennessee before at the University of the South (Sewanee). He went inside the cathedral and came back out dressed in his clerical attire. It wasn't the traditional suit and tie of a Baptist pastor on Easter Sunday; his hat was large and pointy. I laughed to myself as I imagined the bishop chess piece. Everyone on the steps was given a candle, and we all lit them. I am estimating there were about 75 people there. The bishop gave a greeting/blessing/introduction, and the huge, 6-meter doors to the cathedral were opened and we followed him inside. Roger said these doors are rarely opened, so that was neat.
The service was a "said" service, so there was no music. We followed a program of a highly methodical service, repeating after the bishop and singing along with the other member of the clergy to old hymns. We read the Apostle's Creed and took communion. After the service was over (it lasted about 45 minutes) we followed the bishop back outside to the steps of the cathedral. By this time the sun had risen, so it was a great view of the London Easter morning. The bishop blessed the City of London and dismissed us for a wonderful Easter. It was only about 6:30 when the service was over, so we walked around to the side of St. Paul's so Mom and Grandmother could see the dome. We then took a bus past Trafalgar Square on into town where we could catch a cab to take us home.
We had a brief time to rest before going to South Kensington to catch our coach to Stratford. We went with a tour group to Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle. In Stratford, we toured Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife's) thatched-roof cottage. We also saw the birthplace of William Shakespeare and the Holy Trinity Church where he is buried. We did a little souvenir shopping before getting on the bus to Warwick. On the way to the castle we ate the sandwiches we had packed that morning. Warwick is a quaint little town in the midlands of England. Warwick Castle is the former residence of the Earl of Warwick and is now open to the public. There were many people there dressed in Renaissance costumes. We went into the dungeon and state rooms, saw wax figures, and witnessed the Grand Melee (a mock battle). It was kinda cheesy, but still something worth seeing. We got a little much-needed sleep on the way back into London.
When we got into London, we decided we wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. London's Hard Rock is the original. The line was insane and the wait too long, so we decided against it. We ended up eating at a pub called the Rose and Crown. I had a "jacket potato." It was a baked potato with baked beans and cheese on it. Mom thought it was funny. Pub food is usually pretty good, and I wanted Mom and Grandmother to experience the pub sometime while they were here; it is such a huge aspect of British social culture!
Today, I got up, did my morning routine, and went to the hotel to have breakfast with Mom and Grandmother. I had class at 10, so they went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. My class was a walk in the East End of town. It was really snowing hard (like blizzard status), so the walk was rather miserable. Mom and Grandmother had to wait in the snow for the ceremony as well. It hasn't snowed the whole time I have been in London, but the past two days, it has really been coming down big time! We met up after lunch at Ben's Cookies, and came back to the hotel. We were going to go to Kensington Palace, but I didn't think there would be time before I had to be back for theatre. Instead, we went to the post office and then for a little rest and planning of tomorrow. At 2:30, we split up, and I went to class while Mom and Grandmother went to Twining's (London's oldest shop that happened to be closed on this bank holiday), Somerset House, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. We met back up after class, and went out to dinner with the entire group. Dr. Bateman (our Associate Provost at Samford) and his wife Lori are visiting in London this week and took the whole group out to dinner. It was very nice for them to allow Mom and Grandmother to come along. We went to a restaurant in Kensington called Ten Tables. It was nice.
After dinner, we came back to the Daniel House and called Dad at school. We also called Bonnertown and talked to Granddaddy. Seems as if the weather back home is going crazy, too. You never know what to expect.
Mom and Grandmother have a big day of sightseeing tomorrow, and hopefully they will be able to get tickets for the play my theatre class is seeing tomorrow, Much Ado About Nothing. I better get to bed soon so I can be ready for the big day, too!
