I was able to spend this past weekend with Tiffany, a
missionary in London who got connected to my family through some members at
Shades Mountain Baptist. I rode the train from Stafford to London on Friday
morning, which took about two and a half hours because of all the stops it
makes. Tiffany met me at London Euston station and we rode the tube for about
30 minutes to get to her flat. After dropping off my things and relaxing for a
little while, we headed into the heart of the city to see Evensong Choir at
Westminster Abbey. I hadn’t heard of them until Tiffany asked if I’d be
interested in going to see them, but thanks to Google, I learned that they are
a choir that sings in the evening services at Westminster Abbey. The service is
very structured, which was not something I was used to. The experience was
interesting and I absolutely loved listening to the choir. The sound of
delicate voices singing melodies and harmonies together for the Lord is
extremely moving. After the service, which was over around 5:45, we went on a
mission to find Chipotle. My parents had told Tiffany that I would love to have
Mexican food if we could find any and some of Tiffany’s friends had told her
that they had been to a Chipotle a month before, so we were bound and
determined to find it. It was kind of hidden and tucked in to a corner, but
thankfully we found it and we enjoyed some very delicious Mexican food. I think
Tiffany enjoyed it even more than me, saying that she thought she could now
continue living in London thanks to this discovery. :)
On Saturday morning, we ventured down to Portobello Market
and Notting Hill. It was only a few blocks from Tiffany’s flat and the market
itself went up and down several blocks after that. I honestly don’t think I had
ever heard of Portobello Market but I know I definitely want to go back.
Basically, over the weekend the roads are blocked off so these little street
market stands can be set up. There’s everything from food to vintage clothes to
antiques – books, stationary, and the like. If you’re ever looking for
something unique and for sale at a reasonable price, that’s your place. Towards
the end of the market is The Notting Hill Bookshop. I had never heard of this
movie but Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant is based on this
bookshop. I was in my happy place there. The inside of the shop is so quaint,
cute and cozy. If too many people are there it can get a little crowded, but
it’s still a really nice shop. We stayed for quite a while and I ended up
buying Mary Poppins, which I didn’t realize was a children’s chapter book until
I found it in the shop, and a book called A Reader’s Guide to a Writer’s
London. As a child, I was absolutely obsessed with Mary Poppins so it only
seemed right that I finally purchase and read the original book in London,
where the story takes place. The Reader’s Guide to a Writer’s London caught my
eye and after flipping through several pages of it, I was in love. My inner
English nerd was so intrigued with all the stories inside of where classic
authors have lived, written some of their stories, or what some of their
stories are based on. The book is really more of a “coffee table” book than a
regular reading book, but I’m really excited that I found it.
After leaving the bookshop, we went over to the Cath Kidston
store, which is basically like a British version of Vera Bradley but they also
sell things like baby clothes, aprons, teasets, postcards, mugs, and all other
kinds of things. I got a really cute tea mug there with most of London’s famous
landmarks on it (Big Ben, Tower Bridge, The London Eye, etc.). We stopped for
lunch at a Gourmet Burger Kitchen and I actually had breakfast for lunch – hot
chocolate and a toasted sandwich with fried eggs, bacon and cheese on a sesame
bun. It was brilliant, as a true Brit would say :) We then headed back to Tiffany’s flat to drop off the things we had purchased
that morning and got directions to go to the original Twinings Tea Shop. This
was the one thing I absolutely wanted to do before leaving London and I was
definitely not disappointed. We rode a double decker bus for about an hour to
get there, and although it was super crowded with the weekend tourists, I
enjoyed getting to see the new decorations for the Olympics on the way.
The tea shop is just lovely. Really. The store is just one
narrow sort of hallway and in the back, there is a small kitchen type area
where the workers will make you a fresh cup of any tea you want to try – for
free! I really enjoyed looking at all the different kinds of teas you don’t
usually find in the grocery store. I originally wanted to buy a tea cup there,
but since there weren’t any for sale that I could find that actually said
“Twinings,” I decided to buy a gift box instead. The gift boxes are wooden and
come in all kinds of sizes but I got one that has two compartments inside to
put tea in. When you buy the box, you can fill it with 20, 40, or 60 teabags
depending on what size box you get. Since I got the smallest box, I got 20
teabags, which was honestly plenty for me. I got two of just about anything I
could find that looked worth trying. White tea, green tea, some fruit teas, a
special Winter edition tea that I’m looking forward to trying around
Christmastime, and of course some of my favorite – English Breakfast :) After the trip to the
tea shop, we were both pretty tired so we rode the tube back to Tiffany’s flat
and we ate salads and sausage rolls for dinner. She then started baking some
cookies and cupcakes for a bake sale her church was having the next day while I
watched What A Girl Wants. It was fun to watch that movie after spending a day
around London :) If you’ve never seen it, the movie an American teenager living in NYC who tries
to go find her dad, who is a British politician. There are lots of scenes
around London in the movie and it was cool to see some of the places in the film that I had been
to.
On Sunday, I went with Tiffany to the church where she works
with the children and youth. The style of the service was different than
anything I had ever been to, sort of similar to the Evensong Choir service, but
not quite as structured. It was definitely a neat experience to see a different
style of worship. After the service, one of Tiffany’s friends, Polly, joined us
for lunch at a local pub where I had a British Sunday lunch of roast, carrots,
green beans, roasted potatoes, and Yorkshire Pudding. I wasn’t able to finish
all of it but I at least tried a little of everything and really enjoyed all of
it! I loved the cultural experience and was honestly pretty surprised that I
liked the meal as much as I did. Maybe I really am British after all. :) haha
I rode the train back that afternoon and got back to
Stafford around 6:15. I had a really great time and I fell in London even
more. It’s funny, I’ve heard a saying that people who travel always hold the first place
they go to in a really special place in their heart, and although I went to
other countries before going to London in my 10th grade, London
was the first big city outside of the U.S. that I went to and I really do
think I love it the most of all the places I’ve been to. Cape Town is a close
second. Despite the crazy traffic, insane amount of people, dirty and
unreliable public transportation, I still absolutely love it. I seriously think
I could live there, but I guess I’ll have to just see what God’s got in mind :)
Currently Reading: I finished reading Kisses from Katie last
week, which I highly recommend. It is a very humbling and inspiring read. I
started Same Kind of Different as Me this week, so I’ll post about what I think
about it once I get a little farther into it. I’m also reading through Mary
Poppins, which is just adorable. A little different from the movie, but still
just as magical :)
I apologize that I never finished my posts about our Rome
trip. When I have time to sit down and remember all the things we did, I’ll be
sure to put them up. :)
Grace and Peace.
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