LONDON DAY SIX

Sunday, our sixth day in London, was an early start for us. We’d had the best intentions of going to McDonalds to get online Saturday night, but once we’d gotten back to our room and rested a bit, our laziness got the better of us. So, it was off to McDonalds early Sunday morning to grab coffee and internet before meeting Brad at 8:30 am to start our day.

That was when we really heard about the effects of the snow at home in Maryland. We’d seen a brief piece on the news, and had heard from family and friends of the predictions of snow, but when we got online Sunday morning, we finally got to see the pictures of the crazy snow!

After  a bit online, including sending a message to my brother Daniel to find out how things are at Manidokan, we heard back to drop off the computer and meet Brad.

None of us really had any big plans for the day. By Sunday, Chris and I had hit most of the major points we’d wanted to in London, and Brad simply didn’t know where to start! We decided to retrace some of Chris and my steps from our first day, but this time going Speakers Corner in Hyde Park (where either the cold or the early hour meant no one was, well, speaking). We walked to Buckingham Palace, where we got a glimpse of another random act of Britishness as we saw about a half dozen ceremonial-looking horses and riders came trotting by. We checked out the gift shop for the palace, then continued on toward Westminster Abbey.

Our comfort-stop by Westminster Abbey is the Methodist Center, so we popped into their café again, and also discovered that their main Sunday service was at 11 am. So Chris and I decided to stay for that, and Brad walked down the street to Westminster Cathedral (fortunately he made it just in time for the Gospel, and was able to receive Eucharist).

The service at the Methodist Center was pretty cool. It reminded me of the church I’d attended while in Athens because of its international feel, including a large contingent of Africans (we learned later in the service this was mostly Ghanaians and Nigerians as each nation had a “fellowship” that also apparently gathers after the service on Sundays).

The worship was held in the Great Hall, which is a domed large room on the top (3rd) floor of the building, and something of a mix between a theater and church. Actually without the organ, it could easily be mistaken purely for a theater, with its theater seating on the balcony and empty floor covered with folding chairs. They used powerpoint slides projected onto the walls on either side of the front organ (which was high) and their band was a really cool mix—playing alongside a rather “traditional” Methodist choir, the band included a keyboardist, drums, and several string instruments, including two violins, and a few others still.

We started the service with a Charles Wesley hymn, and during the service sang what was a new piece for them to a reggae tune (the music director did indicate that this was something of an anomaly for them, but people seemed to keep pace well enough.

There was a baptism during the service, just after the readings I think, and it was pretty standard, though at the end they did give the godparents a candle to hold, but I’ve no idea what for. Seems to me it could be used quite well, and was a nice touch, but I just don’t know what it was for. It did find it interesting (and don’t know if this is characteristic of the British Methodist Church or just this one pastor (there were something like four pastors on dias) but the questions about whether the parents reject evil, etc., were asked AFTER the baptism proper.

There was a LOT of music in the service. Probably six or so hymns all things considered, with the sermon nearly the last thing to happen in the service. In fact, since we’d decided to meet Brad at noon, we had to leave early, still we couldn’t get out till just after the sermon (which didn’t even start till ten till noon, and ended ten minutes after). I suspect the service hit about an hour and a half all told, but we didn’t stay till the end. I quite liked the service, though.

After worship, we checked out the gift shop for Westminster Cathedral, and not wanting to pay so much money to tour it, Chris and I decided we would return the following day for Evensong (besides which, if we’re to say a church is not a building than a people, then surely the real way to “see” any church is at least while there is worship).

After that, we strolled around outside the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, then decided to try to grab some food. I’d wanted the whole time in London to try some Indian food, and so Brad was excited when we suggested it. We consulted out tour book, and headed out to Soho in search of a place called the Masala Zone. Once off the Underground there, we got to see all the shops (again, for Chris and me), but also saw a Salvation Army Band marching and playing through the streets, which was cool—both from an historical perspective since I know a bit about their (rooted in Methodism) history and also because of the great song “Life in a Northern Town.”

We did finally find the restaurant, and I must say, it was a great place. We all REALLY loved the food, and their naan is probably unequaled.

After that late lunch, we came back to Paddington and Chris went to grab the laptop to get online to try to find out more about the Superbowl (our goal at this point was to watch it, so we also loaded up on caffeine, since in London, the Superbowl started at 11 pm!). We ended up having a good time checking the internet, Brad got to talk with his girlfriend Pam via Skype, and I even chatted on Skype briefly with my sister Liz.

But activities at the station exhausted, we headed back to our hotel room where the three of us watched TV for a couple hours. A little after 9, we headed back out to grab some food, then headed to Brad’s hostel where, based on a positive response he’d gotten in the morning, we thought we’d all be able to watch the Superbowl despite the fact they normally kick out non-hostel folks out of their bar at 11pm. Unfortunately, as 11 pm approached, and with a different person on duty, we were told Chris and I would have to leave, so all three of us headed back to our room (BBC 1 was airing it live).

It certainly was a good game, and we watched ALL of it (okay, I dozed in and out of sleep a bit). The play-by-play was the US broadcast, but instead of commercials (sad) we got to hear rather lame commentary by a current quarterback and some guy we haven’t figured out why he was even on there.  But yeah, definitely a good game. Of course, as soon as it ended, tired as we were, Brad headed out and we headed to sleep.