When I was young, my mother often served LeSeur canned English Peas with dinner. I hated them. When I told her that I hated them, she said that she did too, and that, in fact, we all hated them. When I asked her why we continued to eat them when we all hated them, she really wasn't able to give a very good answer. I don't know if she still eats canned English Peas, but I know that I don't. In England, though, English Peas are often served alongside your dinner. I had them Sunday night with my fish and chips, and then last night in a wonderful pub called the Black Friar. They accompanied a very good chicken, ham and leek pie that I had with chips and several pints of ale. Luckily, the peas that are served here bear little resemblance to canned peas. They're somewhat fresher, although I'm sure they've been frozen. They are at least green, unlike the olive drab of canned peas. They even have some taste! I'm glad to say that they don't cook them to death, something that somewhat betrays my innate Southern tendencies, but rather serve them just cooked through. I'm finding that I'm warming up to peas. Despite the truth, universally acknowledged, that English Cuisine is an oxymoron, I've yet to have a bad meal here. I've only had fish and chips once, but Indian food at least twice. Supposedly curry takeaway places outnumber fish and chips now. I like both, so I've been happy.
I catch a train from Paddington station later today to head out to Oxford. My paper is tomorrow afternoon at 4. Cross your fingers!
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Monday, June 28, 2004
Sunday
For the most part, I spent yesterday in church. The English are, supposedly, the least likely of all people to go to church on Sunday, so I expected empty pews and "bare ruined choirs." Instead, I found quite the opposite. On Sunday morning I went to one of the great "shrines" of Anglo-Catholicism, All Saints' Margaret Street.. It's one of the most beautiful church buildings I've ever seen, very dark and shadowy on the inside, with glorious paintings of the saints along the walls and above the altar. It was a nice service, with wonderful singing (the Mass setting was Mozart, and the choir pulled it off magnificently). After Mass I went over and saw the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden . I suppose what All Saints' is to churches, the ROH is to opera houses. They completed a rather sweeping expansion and restoration of the buildings a few years back, but they all fit in quite nicely. I also walked through the market behind the opera house, but it's largely inhabited by tourists, so I quickly ducked back out. I really don't have much desire to see tourists while I'm in another country. All tourist traps, ultimately, are the same...nothing but T shirt vendors ("My brother went to England, and all I got was this stupid T-shirt), ice cream carts, and street performers. It felt just like Underground Atlanta, and I don't go there either!
At 3:30 I went to the London Oratory for Vespers and Benediction. This was one of the congregations that Cardinal Newman helped to find, although he's more associated with the one in Birmingham, and apparently he's not very fondly remembered in London. The church is magnificent, supposedly modeled on the Gesu in Rome. The priests and brothers, though, are relics of a past age. The liturgy, while beautiful, was cold and off putting, although splendidly sung by a choir up in a gallery. The Oratory is worth a visit, yet it seems more like a dusty memoir of a forgotten age...
I'm off to Oxford tomorrow to give my paper at St. Peter's College.
At 3:30 I went to the London Oratory for Vespers and Benediction. This was one of the congregations that Cardinal Newman helped to find, although he's more associated with the one in Birmingham, and apparently he's not very fondly remembered in London. The church is magnificent, supposedly modeled on the Gesu in Rome. The priests and brothers, though, are relics of a past age. The liturgy, while beautiful, was cold and off putting, although splendidly sung by a choir up in a gallery. The Oratory is worth a visit, yet it seems more like a dusty memoir of a forgotten age...
I'm off to Oxford tomorrow to give my paper at St. Peter's College.
Saturday, June 26, 2004
Rain....again
Yesterday was sunny and warm, but today the rain has returned. The bad thing about rain here is that it it more often a drizzle than a downpour, making it too much not to use an umbrella and not enough to warrant having it out the whole time. One spends a tremendous amount of time putting the umbrella up, and taking it down. There's probably a trick here that I've yet to totally figure out.
Thursday was the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, so I went to mass at St. Mary's Bourne Street . Frightfully high church with bricks that positively reeked of years and years of incense. Nice, but a bit much. This church is distinguished by OWNING a pub. Frequently mass will be advertised as "with drinks afterward." I think that the Anglican church throughout the world might gain new members with an advertising campaign like that.
On Friday I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It's a magnificent museum, but like all here, it's best done in chunks. One can't do all of it in a day. I went until I couldn't walk anymore, then headed out. With time, I'll go back, or else save it for the next trip!
This afternoon I took in the Imperial War Museum. I don't normally go in for this sort of thing, but it was fascinating. I went as much for the building as the exhibits, as it's housed in the former Bethlehem Lunatic Assylum (aka "Bedlam"). When it no longer became fashionable to go and gawk at the lunatics (as they were then called) and all of them were moved out to nicer, more sanitary quarters, the two wings were demolished leaving the central space with its distinctive dome. In time it was converted into the IWM. Definitely worth a look. I didn't finish all of it either, but there's always tomorrow.
Tonight the Olympic flame will be relayed up to Buckingham Palace. There's a huge concert, for which 70,000 tickets have been distributed. I would like to see the relay, but the thought of going near 70K+ people has me a bit turned off.
More soon!
Thursday was the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, so I went to mass at St. Mary's Bourne Street . Frightfully high church with bricks that positively reeked of years and years of incense. Nice, but a bit much. This church is distinguished by OWNING a pub. Frequently mass will be advertised as "with drinks afterward." I think that the Anglican church throughout the world might gain new members with an advertising campaign like that.
On Friday I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It's a magnificent museum, but like all here, it's best done in chunks. One can't do all of it in a day. I went until I couldn't walk anymore, then headed out. With time, I'll go back, or else save it for the next trip!
This afternoon I took in the Imperial War Museum. I don't normally go in for this sort of thing, but it was fascinating. I went as much for the building as the exhibits, as it's housed in the former Bethlehem Lunatic Assylum (aka "Bedlam"). When it no longer became fashionable to go and gawk at the lunatics (as they were then called) and all of them were moved out to nicer, more sanitary quarters, the two wings were demolished leaving the central space with its distinctive dome. In time it was converted into the IWM. Definitely worth a look. I didn't finish all of it either, but there's always tomorrow.
Tonight the Olympic flame will be relayed up to Buckingham Palace. There's a huge concert, for which 70,000 tickets have been distributed. I would like to see the relay, but the thought of going near 70K+ people has me a bit turned off.
More soon!
Friday, June 25, 2004
Look Left, Look Right
London is, to put it mildly, an all out assault on the senses. It's a very busy city, and when you attempt to enter the Tube at rush hour in the afternoon, especially at a stop where everyone is getting off rather than getting on, it can be a bit much.
I've been adjusting slowly to life here in the city. Trying as much as possible to blend in. However, as soon as I open my mouth, I'm immediately known as an American. I went to the drug store to buy some benadryl to help me sleep. They only had the brand name. I wanted generic. I wound up leaving in frustration with sleeping pills (which, what do you know, have benadryl!) The clerk asked me, without any prompting "So, do they sell benadryl for help with sleep in America?" Was it George Bernard Shaw who said that America and Britain are two countries "divided by a common language?"
The weather has been nice, after the first day, when it was COLD and windy and rainy. There was some sun out yesterday, and it was cool, but quite comfortable. Nonetheless, one keeps one's umbrella at hand at all times!
What has amused me the most has been the simple things. In one of the above ground tube stations a sign read: "Please do not feed the pigeons. They are a health hazard and a nuisance." At home you get "Don't feed the pigeons." You get the same here, but it's much more polite, and there is an attempt at explaining the reason why! The other sign that makes me laugh is the one painted on the curb at each street crossing. It tells you "Look Left" with an arrow, or "Look Right." I determined that they were fed up with wiping up smashed American tourists, so they painted them there. No idea whether it works or not. I instinctively look in the opposite direction. There's something extremely disconcerting about crossing the street and having traffic come from the right. There's no chance I'll attempt to drive here.
Now that I've found a place to connect to the internet, I'll try to post more often.
Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here!
I've been adjusting slowly to life here in the city. Trying as much as possible to blend in. However, as soon as I open my mouth, I'm immediately known as an American. I went to the drug store to buy some benadryl to help me sleep. They only had the brand name. I wanted generic. I wound up leaving in frustration with sleeping pills (which, what do you know, have benadryl!) The clerk asked me, without any prompting "So, do they sell benadryl for help with sleep in America?" Was it George Bernard Shaw who said that America and Britain are two countries "divided by a common language?"
The weather has been nice, after the first day, when it was COLD and windy and rainy. There was some sun out yesterday, and it was cool, but quite comfortable. Nonetheless, one keeps one's umbrella at hand at all times!
What has amused me the most has been the simple things. In one of the above ground tube stations a sign read: "Please do not feed the pigeons. They are a health hazard and a nuisance." At home you get "Don't feed the pigeons." You get the same here, but it's much more polite, and there is an attempt at explaining the reason why! The other sign that makes me laugh is the one painted on the curb at each street crossing. It tells you "Look Left" with an arrow, or "Look Right." I determined that they were fed up with wiping up smashed American tourists, so they painted them there. No idea whether it works or not. I instinctively look in the opposite direction. There's something extremely disconcerting about crossing the street and having traffic come from the right. There's no chance I'll attempt to drive here.
Now that I've found a place to connect to the internet, I'll try to post more often.
Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here!
Monday, June 21, 2004
Packing
Lew's Travels: Packing: A friend asked me how one packs for five weeks away from home. I wish I knew! This is easily the longest trip I've taken, and I'm not sure exactly what one should take. For years I've preached packing light. I've not checked a bag on an airplane in ages. This time I'm taking it to new extremes.
I've followed Rick Steves' travel programs on PBS for a while now, and I bought a couple of his guidebooks in preparation for this trip. Rick comes off as extremely geeky on TV, leading me to question why HE gets such a cool job and not me. He writes much better. Rick claims that he packs the same for two weeks as he does for two months. I'm stepping out on faith and trying his system. He packs no more than about 4 days worth of clothes, and does a little laundry in the hotel sink as needed. My clothes are boring enough that no one will notice that everything pretty much looks the same (khaki pants, variations of the basic blue or green T shirt, etc.) Less clothing means I have extra room to carry things like books, a digital camera, and a few electronic gadgets that I've bought to pass the time on the plane. It also means I'll have room to buy things...like books.
I've followed Rick Steves' travel programs on PBS for a while now, and I bought a couple of his guidebooks in preparation for this trip. Rick comes off as extremely geeky on TV, leading me to question why HE gets such a cool job and not me. He writes much better. Rick claims that he packs the same for two weeks as he does for two months. I'm stepping out on faith and trying his system. He packs no more than about 4 days worth of clothes, and does a little laundry in the hotel sink as needed. My clothes are boring enough that no one will notice that everything pretty much looks the same (khaki pants, variations of the basic blue or green T shirt, etc.) Less clothing means I have extra room to carry things like books, a digital camera, and a few electronic gadgets that I've bought to pass the time on the plane. It also means I'll have room to buy things...like books.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Planning
By temperament, I'm a planner. I rarely leave for a trip without meticulous planning mapped out far in advance. Normally I go to New Mexico each summer for a few weeks, attending a conference in Santa Fe. Since we normally plan about two weeks of vacation around the conference, each night of the trip is planned out, reservations are made and confirmed, and everything runs with the precision of a Swiss watch. So when a friend asked me how I plan to spend five weeks abroad, I admitted that I had no idea. Quite frankly, I'll be flying by the seat of my pants, and that's very new for me. If the truth be known, I have few things planned. I leave on Tuesday, I arrive in London on Wednesday. The following Tuesday I leave for Oxford, and give a paper at St. Peter's College on Wednesday. After that, it's off to Bath, then up near Shrewsbury for a weekend. I return to London, then head northward, stopping in Norwich, to pay my respects to Dame Julian of Norwich, Walsingham and Durham, to visit the Venerable Bede. From thence, it's up into Scotland for research at the National Library of Scotland and Pluscarden Abbey . Where shall Lew lay his head? How long will he spend in each place? Will he get his money's worth out of his BritRail pass? Stay tuned true believers...
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