Sun. Apr. 17: Palm Sunday. After another hearty Continental Breakfast, our plan was to get to Westminster Abby, which is closed to tourists on Sunday, in plenty o time to make the 10:00 Matins Service. But they had a new schedule up by then and directed us to the smaller St. Margaret’s church next door for what had been changed to a 9:30 service. So we attended it with a small group of worshippers and enjoyed the cozy service but thought it would have more music than it did. We regretfully decided we didn’t have time to wait for the big West Minster Abbey Palm Blessing and Processional at 11:15 and went to Westminster dock to take in our ”free” boat ride on the Thames. It proved to be interesting with some new information and some new views of London from the top deck, sitting in the sunshine. They were holding the London Marathon (after the Paris Marathon last Sunday!) and things were pretty crazy with streets cut-off by crowds and the race path. We got off at the Tower of London and decided not to spend the £40 (over $60) to tour the Tower. Marv had seen it and I didn’t care that much, especially since there were other things we wanted to see on such a beautiful day. In effect, we traded his not seeing Versailles for my not seeing the Tower of London and we’re both okay with that. After wandering around St. Katherine’s Dock area, looking for a “loo” and trying to get a good shot of the Tower Bridge in the sun, we fought the Marathon crowds and got to the starting point of our final Rick Steves Podcast walking tour, “Historic London”. This took us through the square mile of twisting streets and alley ways of the true, 2000 year old, City of London, which has only about 7000 residents! The area had been devastated in the 1500s by the Black Plague, in 1666 by the Great Fire, and in the 1940s bombing raids of the German Blitz s, but it has always come back, bigger and better. A highlight of the tour was when he led us to “Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese” the favorite haunt of Dr. Johnson, the eccentric who wrote the first English dictionary, and Charles Dickens, who described the tavern on page 147 of A Tale of Two Cities, an original copy of which they have on display. That seemed the perfect place for us to have a Sunday midday dinner. Marv had Bangers and Mash and I had a buttery sauced chicken breast. We each had a pint and for dessert we shared warm pudding (Butterscotch and Ginger, not Dickens’ favorite Spotted Dick) with custard sauce. The whole experience was just perfect!! We finished in time to dash to the nearby St. Paul’s Cathedral for the 3:15 Evensong, which was quite simply spectacular. It was a Stations of the Cross service with the full choir, many clergy carrying a 20 foot rough hewn wooden cross to the four points of the nave and the amazing organ playing with all the stops out, quit literally. The leader of the processional was swinging a large incense ball and the fragrant smoke floated ethereally up towards the towering dome. Part of the time the sun shone through the windows, showing its rays through the smoke. As we all faced west for the beginning of the Processional, a full length purple cloth was suspended over the railing of the whispering gallery 30 meters above our heads, reaching to the floor behind the altar. It hung there waving slightly in the air currents during most of the service. The service was a mix of readings, anthems, hymns and prayers that took us through Passion Week until the crucifixion, with a “glimpse” of the joy of Easter Sunday. During the part of the crucifixion, the purple cloth was released, so it fell with a loud whoosh to the floor of the nave. Later it was draped all over the cross that was now leaning on the later, so that it covered the cross, strongly invoking the image of a covered body. The choir was amazing, with their beautiful sound echoing through the cathedral. It was a very moving and powerful service that ended with a thundering organ postlude. I thought of how much my dad would have enjoyed the postlude and hope that at some point he had a chance to listen to that organ. Back out in the sunlight we completed the Historic Walk, ending with a visit to Christopher Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire. The fire had destroyed more than 70 churches in London and he had designed 50 churches to replace them, 23 of which remain today. Enough time remained for us to find our way back to the Cartwright Garden area where Marv lived the summer he studied Humanities in London with Maury Crane, who told them, “You might as well study Humanities in London because the English have stolen all the artifacts and brought them there.” Much had changed but Marv managed to recognize the dorm where they lived and a bit of the neighborhood. It was getting cooler but was a nice evening so we bought a sandwich (again at Pret) and a salad to share and took them to eat on a bench in Green Park. There were many people enjoying the end of the day, lots of soccer balls being kicked, and even a football being tossed around. The sun was setting as we made our way back to Earl’s Court to buy Cadbury Fruit & Nut Bars (Don Filcek’s recommendation) and pack for our 5:50am pick-up Monday Morning
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