Another Day in a Church (London, UK)

Here I am, back in the same day so I can catch up on my daily posting.  My last word was about going to The Ledbury.  It lived up to its 2 star rating!  It is only fitting to feast like a king in England!  I got back to my room late in the evening, so I started the day later than usual.  I woke up to snow.  The entire day has been a mix of snow and rain, mostly rain, as the attached pictures will tell.  And because of the rain, there are fewer pictures to show.  I decided to walk to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.  I spent more than 2 hours in the abbey, partly because of the rain, but I also did the audio tour which I had not done before.  It was excellent.  I also wanted to take full advantage of the admission price of 15 Pounds, reduced from 20 Pounds because I received the Senior (60 and over) discount!  I also prayed for the parishioners in Medfield, MA, as I visited the tomb of Edward the Confessor.  I also had lunch in the abbey restaurant.  When I left the abbey, the rain was quite heavy so I quickly meandered my way back via another short visit to The National Gallery, the more extended visit was yesterday.  Now I am about to pack.  I leave by train tomorrow morning for Edinburgh.  Next posting from Scotland...

Royal Horse Guard

Horse Guards Parade

Side Entrance of Westminster Abbey

Abe on Parliament Square

Sacred to Secular - From Church to Palace (London, UK)

[Written yesterday, and posted today.  My battery needed to be recharged.]  

I cannot remember the last time I was at a Mass which was entirely in Latin.  It brought back memories of the "good ole days," and, if truth be told, I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying it.    The music was so good, it was like attending a concert.  The presider was a Jesuit who studied at Boston College 10 years ago.  For those of you who do not know, there is a Jesuit church, Immaculate Conception, which is on Farm Street in the Mayfair section of London.  After Mass I did some sightseeing, as you will see from the attached pictures.  I got as far as Buckingham Palace.  I knocked on the front door, but the queen is still away on her Christmas holiday.  And finally, later this evening I am going to The Ledbury Restaurant, thanks to a gift certificate given to me by my former treasurer/assistant treasurer colleagues at the last meeting of the group I attended.  Michelin has awarded The Ledbury with a 2 star rating!  Bon appetite to me!

Side church entrance on Mount Street

Alas, no nightingale was to be found in Berkeley Square.

U.S. Embassy

Buckingham Palace

St. James Park with London Eye in the background

Elizabeth II and her father, George VI

Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Frozen in time!

Mr. Beau Brummell, of course!

The adventure continues...

British Museum and More (London, UK)

I started the day at the British Museum and spent close to 3 hours there.  Saturday is a busy day at the museum, as it is in most of London.  There were masses of people walking the streets, especially in the shopping and tourist areas.  I explored the center of London during the afternoon and got lost twice, having gone in circles in both instances.  Either they changed the streets since my last visit, or my memory is failing me! The weather has been quite cold and damp.  Typical weather for this time of year!  Snow is in tomorrow's forecast.  It is a good thing I packed for 3 seasons.  As promised, I called Mairead's cousin, John, but he was "under the weather" and could not visit.  I had dinner at Bill's in SoHo and highly recommend it.  I was unsuccessful in getting to see The Mousetrap in yet another of its anniversary years.  It is hard to believe the play is almost as old as I am! 

The British Museum

The museum's front courtyard.

Part of the Elgin Marbles.

More Elgin Marbles.

A close up view of the Elgin Marbles.

An original ancient Greek Temple in the museum.

The museum's "new" interior lobby.

Piccadilly Circle

Some local color at St. James Church in Piccadilly.

The legend itself!

In Jolly Old London (London, UK)

I arrived in London this afternoon.  Heathrow Airport was bustling, so it took quite a while to get through immigration.  I took a short walk after I unpacked and explored some of my old haunts from over forty years ago.  It is amazing how so much has remained the same, even in the midst of so much new construction.  It is now early evening, and I am about to go to dinner.  Tomorrow will be devoted to museums and galleries and hopefully more pictures other than of me arriving in London.  Cheers!

Taken at Blooms Hotel near the British Museum.

It looks like I am the first to arrive for sherry!

Greetings from Germany (Frankfurt, GER)

I arrived in Frankfurt at 5:30 AM (right on time!) after a very relaxing flight on Lufthansa.  Thanks be to God, when I arrived at the desk of the hotel around 6:00 AM, I was able to check in without any delay. The Hilton Garden Inn is located inside the airport complex.  I slept for 4 hours, then decided to explore the airport (not enough time to take the train into the city itself for any sightseeing).  The airport is a huge complex of offices, conference centers, hotels and stores.  The photographs which are attached are from my exploration "inside the airport."  I am here just for the night.  I have a morning flight to London, again using Lufthansa.  Auf Wiedersehen for now!

I have a room at the inn!

My arrival at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Checking in.

Frankfurt Airport on a rainy day.

As you can see, a very friendly airport!

Lobby of train station inside the airport.

Lufthansa check in.

Destination, the world!

Where I enjoyed some apple strudel.

Sometimes life can be a bowl of these!

My Bags Are Packed (Boston, MA)

As you will see in the picture which is attached, I have successfully packed 2 suitcases for six months on the road.  Now that is an accomplishment!  The next trick will be to see if they meet the weight restrictions for luggage when I check in for my Lufthansa flight.  I leave in 2 days for Frankfurt en route to London and Edinburgh.  My dear friend Mairead has already informed her sister in Edinburgh and her cousin in London of my travel plans, so I will call them while I am in their respective cities.  I was surprised to learn how many of my friends have relatives all over the world, especially in cities I intend to visit.  Like Mairead, they have already made introductions for me.  I look forward to meeting all of them.  I am also delighted with the number of my friends here in Boston who intend to visit me along the course of my journey in favorite destination cities for them.  The most popular is, as you might suspect, Rome.  I will obviously document their visits with photos I will post on this blog.  That is, unless they are fugitives from the law or in the witness protection program and do not want their pictures posted online!!

All my worldly possessions...well, maybe not!