SGEC Trip Day 3

July 25, 2008 – 11:26 Local Time

Well, today has been a fantastic (though not overtly “touristy”) day in London. We started the day with a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel. While sitting there, I still hadn’t decided what I wanted to do in my free time today – Tower of London, Globe Theatre, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Eye? I had basically decided to go to Westminster Abbey in the morning, then buy a Tube pass and head over to the Tower of London for a 1pm tour with our guide. This would end just in time to get to St. Paul’s Cathedral for the Choral Evensong we were participating in. However, Stephanie mentioned that she was going to the British Museum, and that the Westminster Abbey folk had already left. Oops! Well, that made up my mind – the Museum it was! Altogether, for where I am in life, this was the best decision I could have made. We had such a good time looking through the artifacts from ancient Egypt, China, India, Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia, etc. Some of the highlights were the Rosetta Stone, the actual mummies (including those of calves) and the archaic instruments. It was amazing what England (among others) decided to just steal at certain points along the way, haha!









After losing track of time and spending over four hours there, we didn’t have enough time to do anything else (like the Tower), and Stephanie mentioned that she would like some lunch. I wasn’t hungry at the time, so we parted company. I had every intent of getting a Tube pass and at least taking pictures from the outside of some major attractions. However, I apparently walked past the Tube station and wound up in Covent Garden – what a pleasant surprise! This was a lovely area with shops everywhere, street performers on nearly every corner, and just an overall energy that really helped to boost my spirits while *technically* lost. Eventually, I found a station, bought a pass and simply made my way on to St. Paul’s.







I was an hour and a half early, but that gave me and Trisha (who I met up with at the Underground station) an opportunity to explore the church some on our own. As guests singing a service there, we were allowed to walk around more freely and access more areas than the general public. However, we still were not allowed to take pictures inside the church. However, I would highly suggest going to their site and looking around – truly beautiful. Trisha and I made the hike up the 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery and the 119 steps to the Stone Gallery. *Whew!* Due to time, we couldn’t make the additional climb of 152 steps to the very tip-top. Darn! (My legs were burning so badly that I was thanking Jesus we were out of time!) At 5pm we sang a beautiful Evensong there, which seemed to be very well-received. The vergers were all genuinely helpful and friendly, and the Dome itself leaves want wanted to sing for hours, but too tired to be capable. This will definitely go down as one of the most memorable choral experiences of my career.









After Evensong, we (Rachel, Megan, Stephanie, and I) came back to the hotel to freshen up, and then headed out to Covent Garden for dinner. What should have been a quick bite to eat followed by some shopping turned into a more-than-two hour meal at a quite fine Mediterranean restaurant. Following the meal (and the bill *cringe*), we decided to go to King’s Cross Train Station to see if the rumors were true about them having hung a Platform 9¾ sign for a photo opportunity. It was true! We got some amusing pictures there, grabbed a soda for the bus ride tomorrow, and walked back to our hotel – tired, full, slightly less wealthy, and all the better for it.







Tomorrow we’re up rather early, and hopping on the bus for the monstrous (six hour) trek to York. We’ll check in to our hotel there, tour York Minster, and then have the evening free to explore, so I’m rather looking forward to it. As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll keep posting as long as I have an internet connection wherever I go, haha! ~AJR