Along the Thames

Walking along the Thames was where I felt the most like I was in London.

This is a plaque on Westminster Bridge that is inscribed with the poem by Wordsworth, appropriately titled "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge":

    EARTH has not anything to show more fair:
          Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
          A sight so touching in its majesty:
          This City now doth, like a garment, wear
          The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
          Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
          Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
          All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
          Never did sun more beautifully steep
          In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;            
          Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
          The river glideth at his own sweet will:
          Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
          And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Well Wordsworth, I can't say I know exactly what you're talking about, because every time I was on Westminster Bridge it was teeming with people, and the city was alive and bustling. 

But pausing every so often and gazing at some of my favorite sites along the Thames, I think I can see what you mean.

Evensong

 

The last full day I was in London (Thursday, June 7th) one of the things I absolutely had to do was go to Evensong at Westminster Abbey. (*Note: I would have done the tour, probably, but at this point I had all of 7 pounds that had to get me through that day and up until I boarded the airplane the next. Thus, the price of going inside the Abbey for Evensong--free--was something I could afford.)

Thus, at 5 pm KayCee and I made our way via the Tube system to Westminster Abbey--one of the most well-known cathedrals in the world, I think, where both the high and mighty and the humble have worshipped the Lord for centuries.

 Though I am a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I believe that people of all faiths can learn and gain perspective from each other, because that's what happened to me during the Anglican service that day.

In that beautiful, historic cathedral with its vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows was a sense of profound sacredness for the Divine--it was a place where people from all over the world and from different faiths could come together and worship Christ. There is real beauty in that.

The Very Reverend Don Hall, Dean of Westminster (at least, I'm pretty sure it was him), gave a sermon on the idea of presence--how we as human beings, even in our world of technology, crave a sense of presence, of being in the same place at the same time with other people and the Divine to experience a kind of connection that cannot be experienced through other means. 

It was a lovely sermon, and I thought about how that is why we travel--that is why I was sitting there in Westminster Abbey thousands of miles from home and anything I'd ever known. There is a kind of sacredness in physical, personal experience. You learn things by going places that you can't learn any other way. You learn things that are impossible to explain to other people, because you had to have been there to understand. There are some things you must learn on your own, without anyone else, because there is no other way. One of those things you have to learn for yourself is how to feel the presence of God in your own life. No one else can do it for you. But we are promised that if we seek diligently, we shall find Him.

I truly believe that.

 

Inside, I was sitting in the wing opposite the large rose window. It was a cloudy day, but at one point the clouds moved away from the sun and light streamed through the window. Nearly everyone looked up at the same instant, and you could feel the collective intake of breath in awe.

One of the few things I remember from my art history/architecture class my freshman year of college is that in the Gothic cathedrals, more windows were put in because light signified the presence of God.  Such an idea was familiar to me, because I've been taught all my life that Christ is the light of the world, but sitting there in that sacred structure watching the light stream through that window, I think I understand what that means in a new way.

In that moment I experienced beauty, glory, and light.

And as the service ended and we walked outside, the bells were ringing their rejoicing.

MIA

So in case you're wondering, my plane did not, in fact, crash into the Atlantic on my way back to the States from London.

I just made a little detour to paradise.

Last bits from London coming soon!

Truth and Beauty

On our grand tour today, I turned a corner and saw this--it literally took my breath away.

I have seen St. Paul's Cathedral from a distance many times since I've been here, but I've never seen it up close and personal before. And it was beautiful. So beautiful that it literally brought tears to my eyes. I can't even put it into words. I am reminded of the lines by Keats:   

When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

Head Over Heels

Saw them.

LOVED them.

Had to buy them.

The most insensible pair of shoes I've ever bought? 

Perhaps. 

But get this--they were FIVE POUNDS. At a little shop near Portobello Road and Notting Hill Gate.

My bliss is complete.

The Grand Tour

Today KayCee and I took our own grand tour of some of the greatest sites in London. KayCee wanted some specific pictures for a kind of art project she has in mind in front of places like Big Ben, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Our trek took over four hours, and even though we got soaked by the occasional bursts of rain and were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got back to our flat, it was so worth it. Just walking around was a great kind of last hurrah for my final days in this historic city.

Of course, me being me with irritating lack of foresight sometimes, I didn't get any pictures for today of some of the classics like Big Ben and Westminster. I attribute this to my state of damp exhaustion.

The only picture I got close to Westminster was by the only statue in the quad of a person from the other side of the pond: Abraham Lincoln. A man worthy of veneration, to be sure.

Supreme Court building

There were policemen on horses (see the neon yellow vests?), and I tried to get a picture of them, but obviously I only caught the tail end.

Tower Bridge. It was rather wet. Walking across this was on my list of things to do before I leave London, and it did not disappoint.

London City Hall

Classic view of the Tower of London

HMS Belfast

I'm sure this must have been an ominous view at certain points in history, but it was certainly lovely today.

Yesterday

Slept in.

Tate Britain.

(Art museum in south London)

Glimpse of flypast for the Queen's Jubilee near Buckingham Palace.

Chocolate muffin from a patisserie. (I'm kind of addicted...)

Twelfth Night at the Roundhouse Theatre with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Good day.

Jubilation

We are in the midst of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee here in London, commemorating her 60-year reign. Now, the queen is only the second British monarch to make it to Diamond Jubilee (the first was Victoria, of course), and so this is an all-out, full-blown, no-holds-barred par-TAY. Bigger than the royal wedding last year, even. I mean, we're talking FOUR bank holidays here, and the Brits don't close the banks for just anything, so you know this is a big deal. There are all sorts of things going on, like horse racing and boat parades and concerts and other exciting stuff.

The Queen is a big fan of horses and horse racing, so the event that kicked off the weekend on Saturday was the Epsom Derby.

Photo from this site

Please use proper British pronunciation and say it "DAR-bee." Thank you.

A couple of the girls, Megan and Becca, actually went to the event, but I was one of the ones who went out and bought snacks and then came home to watch the fun on the telly. And it was so exciting!! Maybe it's because my mom's family loves horses, but I've always loved watching horses and rodeos and things like that. Can I ride a horse very well? No. Not really. But like I said, I love watching them. It sounds cheesy, but they really are beautiful, majestic animals, and there's something mesmerizing about watching them in motion. I feel like being here I have gained more of an appreciation and a love for beauty--beauty in nature, beauty in architecture, and beauty in people.

Anyway, the DAR-bee was exciting. And there was much screaming and yelling, "Go, horse, GO!" and, "Wow, look at him! He's really doing it!" and all sorts of other silly things. This must be how some people feel when they watch football on TV. And it was so funny in between races to listen to the commentary and see drama among the jockeys and watch the moments when the camera was on the commentators and they didn't know it... British television has some interesting differences from American television. It's slightly more...idiosyncratic in a way. Funny.

After church yesterday KayCee and Jocelyn and I headed down to the Thames for the grand flotilla down the river. As expected, the crowds were huge, but perhaps not as huge as they might have been because of the weather. It drizzled/misted the entire time we were out. Not ideal weather, but I think I can endure it better now that we've had a good dose of sunshine. As we walked down the road along the Thames, I had to remind myself that no, that song is not "My Country 'Tis of Thee"--it's "God Save the Queen," and it's the national anthem here.

We found a spot near Vauxhall Bridge that had a big screen where you could watch the proceedings, and wiggled our way into the crowd to try to get as close to the bank as possible. We didn't ever make it to the front, but we weren't too far away.

There was a lot of what I call "tiptoe photography": standing on your tiptoes and holding your camera as high as you can in order to maybe get a shot over the crowd of the boats passing by on the river.

A classic example of tiptoe photography. You can't really see anything. But I got some good shots! They're coming up shortly.

Some people employed more creative solutions in order to catch a glimpse of the action. People applauded when these two women made it safely to the top of this signpost.

People got on top of the phone booths too.

I have to admit that it was rather cold and I was rather tired, and after awhile I was beginning to wonder if I should've just stayed home and watched it on the telly. But it was all worth it when the royal barge came by. And I saw it with my own eyes! And I saw the Queen! And Kate and William! Success!

This is also an example of tiptoe photography. It's impressive, I know. Thank you. Thank you.

As soon as the royal barge passed, we hightailed it for home in order to beat the majority of the crowds, but as you can see, it was still a bit crazy. I got home and didn't even make it to my bed--I crashed on the couch and was out in five minutes.

And this evening a few of the girls and I went over to Hyde Park to watch some of the concert on the big screen and take in the festive atmosphere.

All this jubilation can be quite exhausting, but it was energizing as well. I feel in a way even more patriotic about my own country by seeing the pride that the British have in theirs. It's a sentiment a lot of us on this program have felt--not that we feel anti-British (we'll leave that to the Scots--my gracious) but that we admire their patriotism and have increased our appreciation for the country that we call home. And home to the States I go this week! Hard to believe that six weeks are already almost gone. This has really been an unbelievable experience, and one I will treasure for the rest of my life, I'm sure.