Last Night with Students

Most of our college students went home on Friday.  A few have headed out to see parts of Europe over the next week or two.  We're headed home on Monday morning.  The trip is coming to an end.

In the stairs at the Strand Hotel

For our last night together, we took the students out for dinner and to the final show.  Dinner was at the Strand Carvery in the Strand hotel.  The Carvery served roast beef, lamb and turkey all carved to order, along with a host of fresh vegetables.  And cheesecake for desert.

At the theatre

Hope and her friend Claire

Just a few doors down was the Adelphi Theatre, where we saw Andrew Lloyd Weber's play "Love Never Dies"  LND is the sequel to Phantom of the Opera.  I'm still not sure what I thought of the show.  The music was, at times, sensational.  The two leading guys had wonderful, powerful voices.  But the story just didn't match up to the music.  The Phantom isn't a very sympathetic figure in this story and it was hard to see how the story could come to anything but a tragic ending.

Texas and London--some of the differences

We're winding down in our trip to London.  Tonight is our last night with the students.  I've been thinking some about how things are different here:

Getting around

In London, travel begins with a lot of walking

Have not had a day in 3 months without at least 30 minutes of walking

Public transportation is very good

The Tube (subway system) is primary for longer distances

Buses are good for shorter trips and for seeing the city

Easy to walk in the central areas

Sidewalks are everywhere

People walk until late at night—it’s generally safe to walk almost anywhere in central London until around midnight

Very little violent crime

People cannot own guns and cannot carry knives

I’m guessing the NRA would have a meltdown

There are video cameras filming most public areas—it’d be easy to get caught on tape committing a crime

Which would probably cause US privacy advocates to meltdown

The Tube doesn’t close until midnight, and I’ve never felt unsafe in it

The primary crime you have to worry about is petty theft—pickpockets and brazen thieves are relatively common

Coffee shops often display signs to beware of people trying to steal your bags—because it happens so often in them

Though, so far, only one of our group has lost anything—and that was in Paris

Groceries

Food tends to be much fresher

Very few preservatives in the food

Very little frozen food available in the heart of the city

Most people buy for just 1-2 days at a time

Means the food doesn’t keep long, but tastes better

Pre-prepared meals are WAY better

Usually can tell exactly what you’re getting (they’re refrigerated, not frozen so you can see them in the packaging—no tiny little shrimp compared to the big prawns on the package)

Store brands, especially Marks & Spencer, are very good

For some reason, almost all packaging is difficult to open

Hard to get it open, and nothing recloses

Even things that come in jars can be difficult to reseal

Best guess—attempt to be environmentally friendly with packaging

One of my favorite differences is fresh bacon—which looks more like ham and tastes wonderful

Restaurants

The experience at British restaurants is different

There is no rush

Americans sometimes see this as poor customer service, but—for the most part—the assumption is that they are giving as long as you want to eat and socialize

In truth, it feels more genuine than a lot of American restaurant service that is geared around getting people out of the place as quickly as possible

A good dinner can last 2 1/2 hours, though

There is a lot of variety—mostly authentic dishes from various countries, especially ones that were once part of the Empire

Generally, the food is good

Traditional British food tends to be a bit bland for American (or at least, Texan) palates

Other nationalities have some very spicy food, though

I have gotten close to finding things too hot—not an easy accomplishment with a boy who grew up in Louisiana

My favorite British dish—roast lamb

I have enjoyed most of the national foods: Chinese, Turkish, Indian, Brazilian, etc.

Restaurants tend to be very expensive

Difficult to eat for less than $10 a person at anything other than very light “grab and go” sandwich places

The “pubs” are considered some of the best priced sit-down places, but even at them, if there is no special, dinner tends to run over $10—and that’s drinking water

Soft drinks are incredibly expensive

At almost any sit down restaurant, a soft drink will cost about $3, and usually that’s for a small bottle with no refills

Only a handful of places give unlimited refills

Also seldom more than 2-3 pieces of ice

I have yet to see “iced tea” on a menu—which is probably OK, since English teas are made to be brewed and served hot

Actually, since I wrote this originally, I have seen iced tea once—but it was twice the price of a Coca-Cola

American fast food comparisons

McDonald’s here is considerably worse than it is in the states—and yes I know that’s saying a lot

Subway is about the same—though I really miss PepperJack cheese

Pizza Hut is quite a bit better; actually a very good pizza

     I have no explanation for this other than that Pizza Hut apparently bought out a local chain and kept their recipes

People

Londoners tend to be very cold to strangers

No one makes eye contact anywhere—especially not on the Tube

Few people speak or are friendly in any way

This isn’t as true when you get outside of London—the people are considerably more open and friendly

OTOH, even Londoners tend to be very friendly toward someone to whom they have an introduction

Either a personal introduction from a friend or some reason to do business will usually generate a much different attitude

Londoners tend to be indirect in their approach to things

They don’t tend to say things straight out—especially if it’s a request or a concern

They expect you to read through their self-depreciating humor or their “it’s all right” politeness

They are extremely polite in conversation, sometimes in odd ways

Today I had a Starbucks employee go out of his way to help me make a connection to the Internet and then walk over to me a minute later and tell me the shop was closing

In most cases, lines (called queues) are very orderly and handled fairly

They tend to be scrupulous in making sure that whoever got there first gets served next

Cut in line and you’ll get some very angry reactions

Two places where politeness doesn’t apply: waiting for the Tube or crossing the street

The law of the jungle applies in those areas

You can get pushed aside or run over if you don’t hold your own

Recycling, safety and obeying the rules all seem to be important

One thing that is noticeable is that the filters people put on themselves are different. 

Language can be much more coarse. 

Some of the T-Shirts we’ve seen are far more vulgar than you’d see in the states.

We’ve seen some public displays of affection that got rather out of hand as well.

Good weather brings people out to the parks in droves.  Even a small park will have a couple of hundred people in it for the afternoon when the weather is nice

Smoking

This one is a bit odd. 

The anti-smoking crusade has been strong here.  It’s banned in all public buildings and most private ones (maybe, you can smoke in your own house).  The messages on the boxes look to be as tough as they are in the states.  I even heard about a law that would make the people selling cigarettes place them where they can’t be seen.

Despite all this, people smoke like crazy

The outdoors in the area are a danger to your breathing

There are a lot of outdoor areas for cafes and restaurants, but you can sit at them if you’re at all sensitive to smoke

People stand outside almost every building smoking it seems; along with people wandering around

I noticed the other day that there was a small group sitting outside on the church steps smoking after church—something you never see in Texas anymore

It’s as bad as being in North Carolina in the 70s—smoke all over the place

Not sure how to account for the difference between England and the states on this—for some reason the social pressure hasn’t changed things here

History

There is a real sense of living in the midst of history

You can visit a pub that is 500 years old—and that’s actually fairly routine

Today I went into a building that was 400 years old when the first settlers arrived in Jamestown

This seems to lead to more of a sense of patience than Americans

Though this doesn’t apply to traffic

Still, they are long-suffering with difficulties, queue up quietly and orderly whenever there’s a need for a line and are generally slow to get angry

Living areas

Most housing is much smaller than in the US

In fact, that’s true even of new housing and of housing that’s out of town

One noticeable difference in hotels and apartments where we’ve been is the difference in baths

Tend to be poor water pressure

Often limited or erratic hot water

A lot of places still have separate hot and cold spigots in the sink

OTOH, toilets generally flush powerfully

There are few public restrooms

Even large department stores may not have one

Often a shopping area will have one public restroom area that costs about 20 pence to use

Banking

Don’t get me started here

Even coming into a bank to try to open a checking/savings account for a corporate account with a good bit of money, we found the rules and bureaucracy to be a nightmare

One example: we applied to get a debit card on January 20.  We finally got a working card on April 4.

Rules trump customer service in a lot of places in London; the banks are the most extreme example

One Last Trip

Our travels are slowing down a bit as it is, and this weekend was our last real trip outside of London.  We took the opportunity to travel up to Garstang (just north of Liverpool and Preston at the southern edge of the lake country) to visit a friend.  Sherry, Hope and I boarded an early train and headed up to Preston.  Our friend Marcie is a minister at the Free Methodist church in Garstang.  She's been on the mission field for quite some time and we hadn't seen her since she came to help us do a drama revival when I was pastoring in Louisiana (1993, we think).

Sherry and Marcie on the obstacle course

Traveling by train is quick and pleasant, though it did get a tad crowded on the way home.  The short range trains are willing to overbook and allow people to board without a seat.  So there were people sitting on the floor around the edges of the coaches on the way home.  Still, we had a comfortable seat, so it wasn't a problem for us.

Garstang was beautiful.  We got to meet Marcie's new husband Clive and stayed with them overnight.  We spent Saturday seeing the sights in the area, including the farm that Clive's daughter's family helps run.  That brought the opportunity to feed the baby lambs and pet the calves.  We also toured the area by car (our first time in a car since January) and climbed the "big rock" -- a huge boulder apparently randomly distributed by a glacier sometime in the past.

On top of the big rock

You know you're on a back road when there are buffalo in the way

On Sunday morning we visited Marcie and Clive's church, then had a traditional English roast for lunch (wonderful).  We followed that with a walk down to feed the ducks before catching the train back to London.

A not so lazy Sunday

Our Sunday began as most of them have with a visit to All Souls Church in Langham Place, London.  I know I did a post on the church earlier, but it's pretty much become our church home while we're here.  Hope has enjoyed the children's program on Sunday morning and Sherry and I are energized by the great music, the incredible multi-cultural atmosphere and the solid biblical preaching.  So we've basically been Anglicans for our time here in London.


After church we made a visit to the Spitalfields Market.  It's yet another of the many street markets that show up in London (think mini-versions of Canton, Texas but with more emphasis on clothing and food).  We ate crepes at a cool little cafe right on the edge of the market and then spent a couple of hours looking around.  Sometimes there are some real deals at these places (Hope actually found a London T-Shirt for one pound), though there's also a lot of junk available.

By the way, the Spitalfields area was the hangout of a rather famous Londoner--Jack the Ripper.

Spitalfields Market

After the market, we hopped the tube back across town to wind down in the park.  However, Sundays are often difficult days to get around in London by tube--they do a lot of their maintenance work on Sunday.  We were headed to St. James Park, but we had to get off in Green Park--which is adjacent to it.  This led us to an extra visit--in between the two parks is Buckingham Palace.  I think we have now established our credentials as non-tourists.  This was our first visit to BP since we arrived.  We probably will have to come back and catch a changing of the guard ceremony before we leave, though.

The Queen Victoria Monument in the background

After our visit to the palace, we slipped into St. James Park, bought some ice cream and joined the throngs of Londoners on the grass.  Sunny days bring Londoners out to the parks in droves.  We've seen that in the small parks around us and in the larger parks like Green Park and St. James.  There were a lot of people around the park, mostly just soaking up the sun and enjoying a lazy day.

 The pictures below give an idea of just how beautiful St. James park is.  The London parks are all brilliant with flowers of all kinds of colors and arrangements.  They also use the combination of green space, water and flowers to create beautiful settings, often with the iconic pictures of London in the background (note the London Eye showing up below).

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court in the Early Morning

Saturday, April 9

On Saturday morning, we took the train to Hampton Court to see Henry VIII's former palace.  Hampton Court was built by Cardinal Wolsey (Henry's chief advisor until he fell out of favor because he couldn't arrange the divorce from Katherine of Aragon).  Henry basically took it from him later.  Henry built up the palace, and then it was rebuilt by William and Mary, who hired Christopher Wren to do the work.  A lot of the older parts of the palace disappeared during Wren's reworking of the place.  The Court hasn't actually been used as a palace in quite a while.

Hampton Court is an interesting palace; it has been kept more like it was in the times of William and Mary, and they use actors to play the roles of characters like Henry VIII,  but the most beautiful part of it was the gardens.

We toured the Tudor part of the palace in the morning with our regular British Life and Culture guide Molly Rumbalo.  The clock dates from the Tudor times.  It tracks time, the phases of the moon, the signs of the zodiac and the months of the year.  Quite an accomplishment for the 1500s. Then we had lunch down in the kitchens.  They've tried to make the dining area feel a bit of the way that the old court might have felt.  After lunch we looked at the new sections of the court that William and Mary built and then moved outside.

The Lunch table--note the wood plates and old fashioned bowls

Standing in front of the fireplace in the kitchen

Hope liked the dragons in the garden

Did you know that Henry VIII played tennis?  The game is a bit different.  It's hard to see through the screen, but the court is thinner and has a series of lines that provide different scoring.  It's also walled in on three sides and plays a bit more like squash.

Outside, the grounds are just beautiful.  The arbor above seemed to go on forever and there were gorgeous flowers everywhere.  We told Hope these could count as her bluebonnet pictures for the year.

Finally, there is the famous maze.  Hope's pondering which fork to take here.  We found that this maze (one of the largest in existence) was not simple to solve.  The final picture shows the group after we conquered it.  You can get a bit of an idea of what it looks like.  The maze was taller than any of us, very thick and had quite a few places to choose directions.  It could have been worse, but it wasn't easy to be in the middle of it trying to figure out which way to go.

We conquered

Brighton Pier and the Royal Pavilion

Friday, April 8

Our last "coach trip" was down to the coast at Brighton.  We visited the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and spent a good bit of the day relaxing around the water at the Brighton Pier.  Brighton is a resort town where a lot of Londoners go to relax and enjoy the sunshine.  The Pier is an entertainment venue complete with carnival rides and games, shopping and the kinds of foods you get at a fair.  

The beach is actually rock, and rather large rock at that.  It was not easy to walk on the rocks and wouldn't be any fun at all barefoot.  We did walk down close to the water and take off our shoes to get our feet wet, but we didn't want to stay in the water long at all--it was ice cold.

By the middle of the day, the beach was covered with people.  It was interesting the contrast.  There were people in bathing suits (it was warm, but it wasn't that warm), people dressed about like we were (short sleeves and jeans), and even some nicely dressed people who'd probably just come down from their office for a break.  I guess that's an advantage of the rocks--you'd never see someone lying on the sand at Destin, Florida, wearing business clothes.  But you did see that at Brighton on the rocks.

The Royal Pavilion was built by George IV as a kind of vacation home.  It is not exactly a typical English house, as the pictures show.  The outside theme is clearly based on India.  The building was put together in several stages, but the final stage tied all the buildings together with the "Taj Mahal" look.

Inside, the building is even more extreme.  It's a mixture of Indian and Chinese themes, but not necessarily perfectly done ones.  After all, in the early 1800s, how many people had actually been to India or China?  So many of the decorative elements aren't quite right--there are dragons, but they are English dragons rather than Chinese dragons.  There is oak and elm made to look like bamboo.  It is a 19th century British picture of a far away world.  The inside decorations are impressive.  They really look like they belong somewhere like Las Vegas.  There is one gorgeous chandelier in the main banqueting hall that cost--in modern dollars--about half a million dollars.  George IV was not overly popular as a king--he was seen as spending significantly on himself without caring about his people.

 As seems to happen a lot with the Brits, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.  This one was a bit annoying because I think the only reason was to be able to sell pictures.  If you want to get an idea of the opulence inside, check out the website:

Brighton Inside


Be sure to look at the banqueting room and the music room.

Rides on the pier

Looking over the beach from the pier

Looking through the "Big Green Doughnut" on the pier that turned out to be an abstract globe

Walking through Westminster

Westminister Palace, aka the Houses of Parliament

Westminster is the heart of England's government.  We'd already been to the Abbey, but on Monday we took a walk around the area to see the Houses of Parliament and the rest of the government.  The group also saw the changing of the Horse Guards, but our family had snuck off to take more pictures before they got over there.  It gave us the opportunity to take pictures from the front of the Houses. As an added bonus, I got to take my leadership class into the House of Lords for the afternoon session.

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We all tried to get a picture of the red bus in front of Big Ben, but Hope got the good one.  It's tough to get really good pictures of Parliament because it is just so large and there is very little open space in the area.

In the 1700s, the Crown Jewels were moved to the tower of London, but before that they were kept in the Jewel Tower.  The tower dates from around the 1400s.

During the 14th century, Edward III beseiged the French city of Calais.  When the city finally reached the point of starvation, they asked for terms.  Edward promised to spare the city if the six leading citizens would give themselves up--expecting to be killed.  But according to the story, Edward's wife asked him to spare the burghers to bring good luck to their new son.  Rodin created the sculpture below to honor the burghers.  It sits in the park in front of the palace.

The view from the bridge:



I took my leadership class (and a few extras) back to Parliament on Monday afternoon.  We had the opportunity to go to the House of Lords.  Unforunately, the only place we could take pictures was in Westminster Hall, which was historically cool but not nearly as gorgeous as the rest of the building.  Westminster Hall actually the oldest part of the Houses of Parliament.  It was the only part not destroyed in the fire in the 1800s.  The House of Lords was pretty interesting.  It began with what they call 'question time' where the members can ask pre-arranged questions and then follow-ups of the government officers.  This was the time where events looked a lot like movies--cries of 'hear, hear' or grumblings when someone said something the other side found unbelievable.  After question time, they moved into discussion and debate related to the details of amendments to the new national health care bill.  That was much harder to follow because of the narrowly defined elements of the bill. 

Westminster Hall

Big Ben from inside the Parliament grounds

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