Hello there! I've been remiss in keeping you all updated about the goings on in my life lately. My apologies. I'm just going to start with today and go from there.
Church at the Abbey
In my last post I talked about our tour of Westminster Abbey (until I was interrupted by the power outage). Tonight five of us went to the evening service at the Abbey. We got all dressed up and hopped on the tube, it's just a short walk from the Westminster station. We got to the gates with 15 minutes to spare. And the didn't let people in until 10 to so we waited amongst the milling crowd. Mostly sightseers and tourists (you could tell by their backpacks, weather proof jackets or English Flag attire). We, on the other hand felt a little more like Londoners and a little less like tourists in our Sunday best. 
Looking up at the entrance to Westminster Abbey at night alone is almost a spiritual experience. The Abbey is lit up on three sides as well as Big Ben and the houses of Parliament. These iconic structures almost take on an ethereal quality at night, something that has to be seen and experienced and is un-capturable on film.
We file in through the gates and into the Abbey. Passing through the nave with its high arches, walking around the tomb of the unknown soldier and the stands with candles flickering. We pass the priest as we enter the Crossing (where the transepts cross the nave-or the center of the church). We sit in the last row of wooden chairs and read over our bulletins.
Rising for a hymn we all try to sing along with the organ. This is really hard to do. But the organ is so loud that it doesn't matter-no one else can hear you anyway. There were a couple readings about love (in light of Valentine's Day) and some more hymns and then the priest's sermon. The sermon was really interesting and talked about the different kinds of love and that as Christians we should focus on love being self-sacrificing. It was a really beautiful experience to pray in such a place. So steeped in traditions, history and faith.
Day Trip to Stonehenge
On Friday we didn't have class so eight of us decided to go to Stonehenge. Because we're in England and we had to. I was worried that it was going to be to touristy and not measure up to my expectations. We all got on the train at Waterloo for an hour and half train ride to Salisbury. Salisbury is the closest town to Stonehenge. It was a nice ride, the trains in England are nice the seats are rather cushy and there's a sweet cart that comes by with snacks and beverages about every half hour.
It turned out to be really nice out when we got off the train and trouped down to the bus stop where there's a little sign for the Stonehenge tour. We got our tickets and got on the bus and got a little tour of Salisbury on the way. When we came up over that last hill and Stonehenge came into view my breath caught in my chest.
There it was, those ancient stones, standing silently in the middle of miles of open fields with sheep grazing nearby. It was like I hadn't been sure it really existed until that moment.
We got to walk around the henge in awe, half listening to our audio guides that went on and on about how they have no idea why the stones are there. At one point we were only about 15 feet away, just far enough that we couldn't touch it. Thanks to the souvenir hunters and scavengers that came before us. But it was close enough.
We walked around twice. I probably could have walked around it all day.
No comments:
Post a Comment