I guess keeping track of the day when you fly through time zones is always going to be a little messy but the first day was kind of long. The flight to Abu Dhabi was around 12 hours of dark as we were following the night across the globe, but it was pretty good. The second leg was a little harder even though it was around half the time - mainly due to three crying babies and the fact that Id had my pick of the inflight movies by that time.
Its been around 18hours that Ive been in London now and its really quite an amazing place to be for the first time. Everything is very familiar (the iconic taxis, buses and phone boxes) and the backpackers Im staying at is as can be expected very international. Im really looking forward to getting into deepest darkest England and into places that tourism isnt that obvious (if that is possible).
Last night I walked for an hour or two around the Bank area and St Pauls Cathedral trying to extend the day to fit in with the local time - for the most part it worked quite well and I managed to take in some astonishing architecture and walk through what I assume were pretty quiet streets given that it was Easter Sunday.
I spent some time in a small chapel called St Agnes where there was a string quartet and a singer producing some amazing medieval music - haunting. I then went and had Eucharist at St Pauls Cathedral. Its been a long time since Ive been to a church that has been so focussed on father, heavenly father, lord and jesus that it was quite a shock. I found myself actually not joining in with much of the prayer - because it was so absolute, so male, so external.
The building itself is really phenomenal. The mosaics are all so complex and rich and yet the power of the place is incredibly simple. An immense amount of space to feel small, humble but heard and held. The incense was particularly helpful in transporting my senses beyond the still moving sensation of still being on the plane.
Today Ive got around 5 hours of London before I jump on the train to Taunton to attend the conference …. hmmm what am i going to see?
#1 by Dom at April 14th, 2009
Three crying babies, hey? Ominous portent…. Happy travels, friend.
#2 by Forest at April 15th, 2009
Thanks for the ride, mate. I’m armchair traveling with you
Looking forward to seeing some pics of these places.
Hope you get some sleep and get synced up with the time change.
ciao,
forest
#3 by Roland at April 19th, 2009
Brings back many experiences of mine. I worked at Nat West Bank in the London Bank district for 10 months. You did very well to see and do so much in such a short time. (Marina & I stayed at a pub in Kangaroo Valley 1982 where there were Australians who had only seen the inside of pubs!) London has a life time of riches to explore let alone all the live concerts and theatre.
#4 by nushnu5h at April 19th, 2009
Totally agree I ended up just walking around what I could of London - the Strand, the Thames, St James Park, Buckingham Palace. Each corner had more and more things to see so I had to stop myself from walking off everytime I saw something of interest.