Picadilly Circus & Jack Daniels

Just a few pictures taken on Friday night after going dancing with friends from work. The Jack Daniels ad in Picadilly tube stop reminded me of Tennessee, of course -- Lynchburg only being a hop, skip & jump from where I lived & worked there.

Fish, Chips, & the Happy, Clappy Church

My friend Nette is leaving today -- going back to the US. We got here the same time, on June 21st & we've worked & explored London together. I will miss her loads. This morning I had intended to go to church at St. Marylebone's again, but my laziness got the best of me & I got up too late, so I went to St. Mary's instead. St. Mary's is only around the corner and was previously described by a Londoner friend as a Happy, Clappy church. So in I walked, immediately spotting the coffee and sweet rolls at the back. Staking out a seat to enjoy my little breakfast, I heard, "Hey, Gloria!" which I ignored; it must be some other Gloria since I knew no one at this church. But there it was again: "Hey, Gloria!" Turning around, I saw my friend Nette. We had both had the same idea & she had already started making friends. She introduced me to John, an American expatriate who intended to move to Londong for 2 years & is still here after 19 years. Then we sat by Kay, a very friendly lady who I enjoyed meeting very much. Although the church is affiliated with the Church of England, it provides a more contemporary service than the traditional churches; services include praise band & music with the words projected on large screens. I was very moved when, during prayers, the congregation were invited to come forward to pray for what the Lord lay on their hearts. I felt moved to pray for the many young people who are losing jobs in record numbers because of the hard economic times, as well as to pray for young people who are having all manner of difficulty. A little indecisive about coming forward to pray in a new church, I hesitated. Immediately, the lay leader began to close the prayer time by praying for exactly what had been on my heart. Thank you, Lord! I will definitely visit there again. Nette & I spent the rest of the day together, buying presents for Nette's friends back home, as well as for ourselves. We ended up way in the Eastern part of Marylebone eating fish & chips & drinking cider at a very friendly pub. We finished up with a brownie ice cream sunday & pot of chocolate with biscuits (cookies). Much walking, much good food, much good worship, much good friendship! Amen!

A Hamlet Saturday Afternoon

On Saturday afternoon I was transported to Denmark by Jude Law and the cast of Hamlet in the beautiful Wyndham Theatre in Leicester (Lie ster) Square. Some of the other less well known but very talented actors included Penelope Wilson (Gertrude), who acted in the films Calender Girls, Pride and Prejudice and Carrington; Matt Ryan (Horatio), who acted in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day; and Kevin McNally (Claudius), who acted in Valkyrie, Pirates of the Caribbean (all), and Sliding Doors (one of my favorite movies), as well as Law and Order (also a favorite). My seat was in the very middle of the 5th row from the stage. Jeepers! I could see the spit flying from Jude's mouth! I'm certainly no theatre critic, but I was very impressed with his performance. He spoke distinctly and with perfect vocal and physical emphasis and timing to lend precise clarity to each phrase, so that there was no doubt as to meaning of the Elizabethan vernacular. His performance was full of energy, but not overacted; he was very funny in the humorous parts and very sympathic in the sad ones. I will ponder the fact that I may have breathed in the air the Jude Law breathed out for some time to come!

Yes, Virginia, It Does Rain in London!!!!

Mostly, rain has been my friend. I LOVE to sleep in the rain. I love the sound of the rain on the roof – especially a metal one. Usually, I don’t get tired of rain and don’t complain about it. If rain helps cool things off, I especially love it, because I do so quickly tire of hot weather. But today, rain was not my friend. I really shouldn’t complain because yesterday I set out afoot on a great long journey to investigate some neighborhoods where I might like to live. It had rained yesterday morning, so my e.s.p. was telling me it probably wouldn’t rain again, especially since it was so sunshiny and bright outside my window. So I set out sans umbrella. HOWEVER, the heavens were not aligned with my e.s.p., and it did rain or at least drizzled. I said a little prayer asking not to get sopping wet and the Lord said unto me, “Well, you’re still new in London, so I’m going to let you slide on this one, but, girl, you gotta keep that umbrella strapped to ya like a six shooter.”
Nevertheless, this afternoon after work, after having noticed tiny gentle rain marks on the train window, I determined that my rain coat should be more than adequate for the friendly rain and chose not to dig my umbrella out from the bowels of my hefty, heavy backpack. Block one gave me a false sense of security; raincoat good. Block two, slightly less secure. Then while waiting for the pedestrian signal at a busy intersection, I dove into my backpack ferociously. But just then the sacred signal gave off its positive vibe and I HAD TO GO! Halfway across the intersection (big intersection; takes two signals to cross it) the little green walker turned red and there I stood, thoroughly soaked and soggy as a wet dog, now telling myself such stupidity didn’t deserve an umbrella, so I could just suck it up & take it like a woman.
Sliding around on my wet flippity, floppity sandals, I decided I’d just take them off & go barefoot. After all, I am still a Southerner. Sandals in hand, my first barefooted step stretched out way more than I meant for it to: slick cement sidewalk! That rain laid me out flat on my backpack. I jumped up and started off again, hopefully before anyone could see what happened. A few steps down the way I realized something was wrong. No glasses! Had to return to the scene of the slide. After a brief investigation, I realized I was too blind to locate the spectacles (no wait, I was the spectacle). Looking as lovely as a last week’s lettuce, I was reduced to asking a Londoner for help. Normally, these folks will not look you in the eye and if you try to force them to with a big smile, they avert their eyes, since, at best, smiling may be contagious, and, at worst, you may just have escaped from the looney bin with that big stupid grin on your face! Anyway, Mr. Faceless (he was tall; that’s all my nearsighted self could notice) quickly located my missing specs. After politely thanking him, off I stomped.
As I came in my apartment door, it occurred to me that I must look so pathetic, I should share the pity, so I got out my camera. First picture, too old & saggy-jawed looking. Had to take about a thousand more photos trying to get a funny, but flattering drowned rat picture. Without much photographic success, I decided that the old saggy picture was the funniest, so I’m sharing it with you as I sit here on my sore butt (backpack not big enough to cover that part) and dry out!
Other sights (than the ones for sore eyes): Pretty curb near Paddington Basin. Did you know that London has canals? Not a well known fact. And the train station, so innocent looking this morning, heckled me all the way home for not having enough sense to get in out of the rain!

Church Today

Visited St. Marylebone (mar y le bone) church today. Unfortunately, I've been lazy & this is my first service since I've been here. The church is across the street from the Royal Academy of Music & some of the choir are students there. Gorgeous music including Dvorak's Mass in D and Cantique de Jean Racine by Faure. The choir is professional and, although it has only 10 members, it sounds quite full. The service lasted from 11 to after 1:00; it was a special service since the rector was retiring. The rector's wife writes music & quite a lot of her music was sung, including music to "How Do I Love Thee" and "Grow Old Along With Me" by the Brownings who were married in this church. Charles Wesley is buried on the church grounds & the church has connections to many other famous people including Charles Dickens, Lord Byron & Lord Nelson. Here's a link for more information: http://www.stmarylebone.org.uk/history01.htm (7/12/09)

Borough Market & Fireworks

Had a burger (beef, not kangaroo!), sangria & homemade ice cream at Borough Market on the 4th of July. Also bought a carrot cake to take to our 4th of July party that night at a coworkers home. The photo doesn't do justice to the fabulous fireworks display we had. (7/4/09)

Greenwich

Went with friends from work to the village of Greenwich. We took a boat down the Thames to Greenwich & took a train back. Sort of like New Years at Times Square, the large red ball starts its way up (on its way up in the first photo) at 5 minutes until 1:00 daily & drops at exactly 1:00. The stainless steel sculpture points out the line of the prime meridian. Ever indecisive, here I stand with one foot in the Eastern hemisphere & one in the Western! (7/3/09)

Street Scenes

Check out the mirrors on the bus that look like "feelers." Many of the cabs have very cool paint jobs advertising everything! I've seen Jack Daniels, Memphis, Elvis. The one pictured is rather sedate -- I intend to get some more interesting cab pictures.

Gardens at Work

Some of the gardens at work that make me look for excuses to go outside!

Kensington & Gardens

A quick look at Kensington Gardens and outside the palace. Statues are Queen Victoria and William of Orange. There's a very nice restaurant beside the palace called the Orangery where we had lunch. 6/27/09

Covent Garden Market

Fine fun music at Covent Garden Market on a Saturday. The musicians were quite talented, played a number of mostly classical pieces, and were very energetic, especially the bass player who hauled his instrument all through the audience trying to sell CDs. I was amazed at how the cello player never sat to play his instrument. The flute player was lovely and moved very balletically (may not be a word, but you know what I mean) to the music. 6/29/09