Viennese Journal 10.0 - A Day in London

We woke up in London at Gatwick Airport. I was excited to get a London Times. I really like to have time read a newspaper. We jumped on a train to London, which took about a half an hour. We were entertained by a toddler who “re-organized” my newspaper several times.  We found a funny article about a bear asleep in a tree. Officials shot him with a tranquilizer dart and he fell on a cushion and was well cared for.  The toddler and I really enjoyed this story and picture very much.

We lugged our suit cases all over the London subway, and this was no small task. Some of the subways are not made for people with disabilities, and so we managed several long stair cases with some really hefty luggage.

Once we checked into our place, we went to see some London sights. We saw Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palance (or the “Queen’s House” as Genevieve says), Big Ben, and Parliament. We took a ride on the London eye and saw several other striking buildings from above. 

In the evening we went to the Church at St. Martin in the Fields and heard the Cambridge Chorale perform Vespro della Beata Vergine 'Vespers' (1610) by Claudio Monteverdi at a candle light service. The Cambridge singers were accompanied by the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists playing on period instruments.  We had tea and ice crème in the crypt of the Church during intermission.

This chorale music contained a wide variety of musical configurations, full ensemble, solos, duets, with full symphony, or just a lute player. I enjoyed most the duets where the voices supported each other as they flew and floated together in holy church space. As a guitarist, I particularly enjoyed the lute which was a center piece of the performance.

Afterwards we dropped by the Westminster Friends Meeting, and ate dinner at an incredible French café called Cote. We were served by a kind waiter from Mexico who enjoyed speaking Spanish with me. (I think). He took very good care of us.  We got back to our hotel, our feet were tired but our souls were rested.