Spectacular Sunday
A full night's sleep was lovely! I'm lucky enough to have a room to myself and was nice and warm and comfy. The day started out not so well with no hot water for showers. At first we thought it was merely that the water heater had turned itself off and we'd be back in business shortly after turning it back on. No such luck. We waited around a bit but finally had to start getting ready. We washed our hair in cold water and a few of us were desperate enough to brave a full-body rinse. It feels as if we're experiencing a little bit of dorm life, with 2 bathrooms and 7 women! On a side note, it's true that the facilities here are cramped, with piddly showers compared to America. But it's London(!!!) so I can handle some Unpleasantness.
We headed out around 9:00 for a nearby cafe. From what I've seen so far, the food here has a strong multicultural influence and there's no need to eat bland food unless you want to. The cafe was Turkish, but some of our group ordered a full English anyway. I had a delicious spiced chai and tried to order bacon and egg on toast, but apparently toast isn't a thing here? The waiter kept asking if I wanted ciabatta, flatbread, or white even after I said "toast" and "wheat" so finally I said sure, ciabatta.
Next we headed to church with the mission couple (Dallas & Karen Thiessen) and attendees, held at a community center. We were the first to arrive so the attendant took us up to the room where they would gather. It sounded like other church services were taking place in the same building. Dallas soon arrived and didn't seem fazed to walk into a room of 7 strange women! He told us a little about the attendees and soon they started trickling in. Karen came with a Latvian girl they've taken in momentarily, then Sabrina and her girls (8 and 13), and Nigerian sisters-in-law Blessing and Rachel. Sabrina and Rachel are members and Blessing was at one time. The service consisted of several songs and a lively Sunday school discussion that lasted over 45 minutes. It was a wonderful experience to meet these people!
We wanted to partake of a traditional Sunday roast so we turned down Karen's invite to join everyone for lunch at the mission house. There was an Irish pub nearby called The Woodbine where we ordered 3 beef roast platters to share. They came with a hearty helping of beef, roasted vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding. Very tasty and it indeed felt like we were locals. I loved the Irish vibes.
We had to strike Evensong at Westminster off the schedule since we didn't leave church soon enough to get there in time. Gloria was suspicious that would be the case, so that's why we took in Evensong at Southwark yesterday. Instead we spent the afternoon at the mission house getting better acquainted with Sabrina and Dallas's. They have a really cute flat in a nice part of town. The conversation was enriching and we were served coffee and a delectable cake topped with caramel and coconut, with ice cream on the side. It was after 4:00 till we left.
Harrod's was our next stop. That part of London felt almost identical to 5th Avenue NYC with all the high-end shops. According to Google, Harrod's was open till 9:00, but soon after we got there we heard they closed at 6:00, so we only had a few minutes when we'd planned on an hour. It was long enough for me, but some of the girls want to go back. I have some friends here who will seek out another activity with me in that case. 😄 I did manage to score a reasonably-priced container of Earl Gray in a Harrod's tin that I will use to store tea in at home.
Plan B was a walk in Hyde Park. It was getting dark and a hot drink sounded good. We got our coffees/hot chocolates/tea at a stand in the park and strolled around, vaguely heading towards Kensington Palace. Couldn't get the full effect since it was dusk, but appreciated the quaint streetlamps and peaceful setting. We came out at the Prince Albert Memorial, which kind of put into perspective the grandeur of the royal family for me. Intricate carvings and sculptures surround the soaring gilt bronze statue.