London the second!

Hi family and friends! We decided to spend a few minutes writing to you today because it’s Thanksgiving and we miss you. I hope you are all having a good Thanksgiving!
Let me get back to what we’ve been up to! We went to Notting Hill on Tuesday and spent most of the day on Portobello Road. I was thinking the whole time of that little Travel Book Shop that Hugh Grant owned in the movie “Notting Hill” and all the markets that he walks past every season of the year in that movie. And sure enough! The markets are all there. It was fun to see them all… they had the most amazing variety of fresh fruits and vegetables… I wished I was home so I could buy them and incorporate them into my cooking. Of course, lots of touristy stuff, which Jimmy and I almost completely ignored. There were some really pretty cityscapes of London that we thought we might enjoy but we left hurridly when we found out that they were 35 pounds each.
Then, to my amazement, there was the little Travel Bookshop! I couldn’t believe it! We walked in the front door and sure enough… it was the SAME travel bookshop as in the movie. They must have filmed it there… or made a set exactly like it! And to confirm my suspicions, there were several newspaper clippings on a wall nearby with pictures of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant and articles related to the travel book shop… including one rather interesting one about how many people come to the travel book shop looking for love, as if there’s something magical about it because Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts pretended to fall in love there. hehe. And there was also one about how the owner has handled the sudden rise to fame of his little bookshop. As we were walking out a group of American girls walked in behind us and we giggled when we heard them breathe, “It’s the same!” haha! Without us even asking one of the locals asked if we wanted our picture in front of the famous shop, and of course we did. ☺ We had dinner in this cute little Italian place. The guy who owned the place was the exact stereotype of a middle aged Italian man. He was short and balding and a little bit fat. He had a strong Italian accent and he was so jovial that he would break into song in between sentences such as, “Table for two? Da da de dum da da da de… Ok follow me!” There was a very fat Italian chef making pasta from scratch in the “kitchen” which was really just an extension of the dining room. There was a wood burning oven too and Jimmy regretted ordering something that wouldn’t be cooked in it because we had a perfect view from where we were sitting. The little Italian waiter was so funny. He looked like he was about 19, he was a good waiter, but when he wasn’t waiting on us he would joke around with the cook and dance to the music. And they all talked loudly to each other in Italian when they weren’t speaking directly to us. It was delightful! And the food was magnificent! Jimmy and I joked that this was the secret all along… avoid British food and just eat at Italian and French places. Unfortunately we haven’t had much luck with British food. Even expensive British food isn’t always a safe bet. And the cheap stuff is almost guaranteed to be barely digestible. Maybe that’s why they have their “digestive biscuits” haha!
Yesterday we had a “Magic of London” tour of the city. We had a good time although we were disappointed with some of it. For example, the tour boasted a “Thames river cruise.” And its true that we got on a boat and sat there for about 5 minutes while it scooted along the river through downtown London. Then the boat tour guide asked us to pay him. Hmmm… The tour also declared that it included the “Changing of the Guard” but our tour guide told us that there was no changing of the guard that day, it’s only every other day. So that was that. But the rest of the tour was pretty good. We started out just driving around London looking at the sights with our tour guide pointing stuff out. Then we went to the Tower of London. The tower of London is so cool! I got a picture in front of the spot where the three queens of England were executed, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Gray. We also visited the crown jewels which are so fabulous that it defies the mind. The first star of Africa is set in a scepter and it’s over 500 Karats. It was so huge that it looked fake! They had golden spoons and plates and serving dishes etc… diamonds and jewels everywhere. The wealth stored in that room is immense!
I love the history of England. America hasn’t been around long enough to have such a rich history. Though I love American history, it doesn’t hold a candle to English history. Our tour guide repeatedly threw out such phrases as, well she was around about 5,000 years ago, and that battle happened roughly 3,000 years ago, etc… it’s just too long, after awhile the dates get too far back and I can’t even comprehend it!
Then we did our “Thames River Cruise” which I’ve already told you about. Next we went to Buckingham Palace. It was as cool as ever, the Queen was in attendance which was very cool. Our tour guide joked that when he spoke to her this morning she assured him that she would make every effort to be there. ☺ There was no changing of the guard, but we saw the mounted soldiers marching past which was also very cool.
Then we had lunch at a little pub in London. They had vegetarian Lasagna which had spinach and all the regular fixings, but instead of tomatoes it had sweet potatoes. It was weird but I like sweet potatoes so I enjoyed it. Jimmy avoided the sweet potatoes and still managed a lunch that wasn’t too bad.
Next we went to St Paul’s Cathedral. St. Pauls was really a highlight of the trip. It was the church where Diana and Charles were married. And standing there, I could just see her walking through the huge wooden doors in her famous wedding dress, a tiny blushing 20 year old girl marrying into the Royal family. Charles and Camilla, by the way, are extremely unpopular in England. Our tour guide spent the whole time making fun of them and hoping that the queen would live as long or longer than her mother who died at the age of 101. He also said that if Charles is old enough when it’s time for him to become king he might just hand the throne directly to William, although it’s unlikely. The tour guide says that he’s written Charles several letters urging him to do just that but so far it hasn’t had much effect. ☺ St. Paul’s is really spectacular and it also has a rich history. The original St. Paul’s cathedral was destroyed in the London fire and then rebuilt. During World War 2, Winston Churchill urged the people of London to protect St. Pauls because “If St Paul’s falls then we all fall.” So not only did the soldiers and firemen keep constant watch, but the citizens of London took turns in shifts to bring in buckets of sand and water to put out the fires from the bombs. Many lost their lives, but St. Paul’s was saved.
Jimmy’s favorite part was a memorial paid for by the British people for the American soldiers who died in England during the war. It was touching that the people paid for it, and not the government. It somehow meant more. My favorite part was the statue of John Donne which I’ve seen in pictures but there it was in real life, the only part of the original St. Pauls to have survived the London fire. I was shocked and a little insulted when the tour guide said, “This is a statue of John Donne. You probably haven’t heard of him but he’s quite a famous poet here in England.” I wanted to gush at him, “Heard of him? He’s probably my favorite poet of all time! I could recite for you famous lines from at least 5 of his poems off the top of my head!” But by then he had already moved on. And I was severely disappointed that they don’t allow and pictures to be taken inside St Paul’s.
After we left there we went and had tea at Harrods. It was nice but not what I expected. For example, they used tea bags instead of the “real English tea” I was expecting with the floating leaves. They gave us one scone each and when we were done with that, we were done! Oh well… it was fun anyway. Then the tour was over but Jimmy and I decided that we wanted to go on the London eye. So we took the tube over to Westminster and tried to buy a ticket for the eye. Unfortunately the fire alarm went off just as we were buying our ticket so we couldn’t get on it! We waited for about 20 minutes till they started letting people buy tickets again and bought our ticket. The view of London at night from the top of the eye is spectacular! And since it’s getting closer to Christmas there were some Christmas lights as well to add to the grandeur. I felt like Peter Pan flying over London when I looked down on Big Ben. It looked just the same!
They were having another fire drill, if you can believe that, when we got off the eye so we were rushed off. By then I was extremely tired and hungry which is not a good combination for me when I’m pregnant. The trains and busses were so crowded on the way back to the hotel and there were several delays so it took about two hours to get back. I ate wearily at the local pub and then came back to the hotel just long enough to take a quick bath and crash into bed. When I woke up to use the bathroom at 5:30 in the morning I realized that I hadn’t moved a muscle since I went to bed!
Today we’re going to the Globe Theater and then to some museums in London. Tomorrow we plan to do anything else we want to do in London before we go… guess we’ll decide that later. Then Sabbath we’re going to visit Hyde Park and Westminster Abbey. Then on Sunday it’s off back home!
A couple of observations… being pregnant and on vacation has its drawbacks. My feet get tired very quickly, and I have to eat all the time. I also have to use the bathroom all the time which is annoying when you have to pay to use public toilets most of the time. But I am always touched when someone offers me their seat on the bus or the train. Although there are signs everywhere telling people to give up their seats to pregnant women and handicapped people, its not like there’s police there ensuring that this happens. And if the train/bus is crowded enough that there aren’t enough seats and people have to stand then it’s too crowded anyway and everyone’s nerves are stretched. And yet it is in this environment that you get a little glimpse into the unselfishness and kindness of strangers. People ignore each other or glare at each other when they are so crowded, but I have never gotten on a crowded train or bus and not been offered a seat almost right away. Usually if I’m not offered a seat right away it’s because the train is so crowded that the only people who can see that I’m pregnant are the people standing around me. And even then those people will scout out vacant seats at every stop and direct me to them. It restores my faith in human kindness.
Another observation… there is not the same tension here between blacks and whites that there is in America. It is clear from the way they intermingle and the way there is no reference to color at all, anywhere, either positive or negative. However, something that I found very interesting is that there is tension between Catholics and Protestants here that does not exist in America. Both our Irish Guide from Sunday and our English guide from yesterday felt the need to assure us that England is a religiously tolerant nation and that “we accept both protestants and catholics in this country.” An assertion which is so obvious that it doesn’t need to be stated in America. Also, our tour guide from yesterday as he was pointing out various churches identified them as catholic or protestant and he was a little too enthusiastic about how beautiful the Catholic church is in Westminster, as if he needed to prove that he found it just as attractive as it’s protestant counterpart, Westminster Abbey. He also stated several times that St. Paul’s is a protestant, not a Catholic church and he was able to tell us exactly was percentage of England is Catholic (apparently it’s 10%). After visiting St. Paul’s we discovered that really the only difference between the Catholic faith and the English Protestant faith is their belief about the Pope and their belief about communion. Everything else is the same, they have nuns and bishops and there were confessionals and saints and everything! Which leads me to the conclusion that prejudice is all in our heads. What seems like a big difference to me may seem like nothing at all to someone else. The fact that protestants and catholics seem virtually the same to me, at least the way it’s practiced in some protestant high-churches here, may seem like a horrible difference to someone here. And the fact that in my country the color of your skin changes the way I think of you may seem strange to someone who sees that we are all just people, the same people, all Americans. What’s the big deal?
Ok this email is really long now and Jimmy is making fun of me for spending so much time on the computer. I love you all and I’ll see you soon!I hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful and we’ll talk to you on Sunday!