London Day 1

Best discovery of the day: Diet Coke with Citrus Twist (it's Lime and Lemon!) Those of you who know me well will appreciate how significant this is.



Today's itinerary:
--grocery shopping
--St. James's Park
--Buckingham Palace
--the Queen's Gallery
--church at All Souls
--dinner out

Today was pretty packed, even though we didn't really plan it and just kind of wandered into things. We spent the morning walking through little shops in the neighborhood hotel searching for grocery supplies we needed for the week. It's funny what you can find here and what you can't. For instance, I found a grocery store with Krispy Kreme donuts--including the Maple Frosted flavor that my dad loves but that is no longer on sale in the U.S. However, I spent 30 minutes walking through the largest grocery store and could not find any peanut butter. Go figure. In addition to my amazing Diet Coke, I also found jars of Uncle Ben's prepared sauces that Beth and I used to eat all the time in Romania and have been missing. (Actually, I probably have more than she has; she can really cook, but I am not yet that proficient, and those things were my staple for Friday night dinners at the apartment. It's just not the same without them.) Again, you would think that would be easier to find in the States, but we never have yet. I have found them now, though, and several jars will be packed away in my suitcase for a reprise of Friday-night-Romanian-dinners with my former roommate when I return.

After a quick return to the hotel, I suggested we try to see Buckingham Palace in case it was all decorated for Christmas. So Andy found our way through St. James's Park, which was lovely and had some of the most gigantic "waterfowl," as the sign called them, that I had ever seen. We're still not totally sure what some of the birds were--we think pelicans--but we have pictures. We got to the Palace and found out that they only let tourists in for about 2 months out of the years, i.e. not now. So instead we spent a little time peering through the gates at the marching guards, and then walked around back to the Queen's Gallery, which has a large collection of Renaissance Italian Paintings as well as some jewels and other personal heirlooms of the British monarchy. I am not a huge art buff, but there was a very helpful and complimentary audio cassette and it was fun to hear how all of the various paintings were collected and refurbished. We had a funny chat with the attendant on the way out, who, after hearing we were from Boston, demanded that we "give that tea back!" We then took a little tour of the gift shop where I found some hilarious and not-too-overpriced knicknacks to bring home (be excited!) and then walked around some more before heading back to the hotel to get ready for church.

Church was at All Souls Church, an Anglican Evangelical Church where John Stott used to be
Rector. It was really wonderful--we sang all these great Christmas hymns (which sound SO much better with a British accent) and heard a really lovely sermon on 2 Corinthians 8:9: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." My only complaint about this fabulous family adventure has been that it's hard to feel like it's Christmas when we're in a hotel, in a foreign city, away from our home and decorations and friends and traditions. So it was so nice to be reminded of the beauty of Christ's gift to me--His riches in exchange for my poverty. While all the other things about Christmas are nice, they are not ultimate, while this gift is. It was also really wonderful to realize that, while I am separated from my home and friends and culture, I was able to walk into a church and immediately be united to these people and celebrate with them because of our union with Christ. On a completely different note, I enjoyed the service because it was probably the most diverse group of people I have ever seen in one church at once. I really got a sense of being part of a larger body of Christ. They are having a Christmas morning service that I think I'm going to go back to with whatever family members I can drag out of bed.

Dinner was just a cheap little pizzeria near the church. The only special thing about it was that it reminded me of the pizza places in Romania much more than the ones in the U.S. I'm not totally sure why: a combination of what was on the menu (basically pizzas with Italian names), the soda in a bottle, and the REALLY slow service I think. :) Then back to the hotel, where I've been trying unsuccessfully for the last hour to find us a semi-nice-but-not-too-expensive restaurant to eat at on Christmas Day. So far, everyone is either not open or already booked (sigh) but I'm going to keep trying tomorrow.

Random note: I cannot figure out the toilets in this country. All the ones I've encountered are water-efficient, which means that it only flushes for as long as you hold down the handle. Which is great, except I can't figure out the right amount of handle-holding to guarantee that everything necessary is washed down. Gross.