A Pilgrimage

I spent the morning close to "home"' attending Mass at 10:00am. The rest of the morning was spent showing Fr. Milby the wonders of his new IPad.  

After lunch I started out on my pilgrimage to 221b Bakers Sreet, the place where Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes living with his partner, Dr. John Watson.  We arrived there by the Tube at the same station Sherlock would have used 150 years ago.

Outside the station is a large bronze statue of the man himself.

When we headed toward the corner we saw a black street sign directing us to 221b Bakers Street.

Along the way I saw this sign which I thought to be very clever.

My first view of 221b was from across the street. You can see a few people standing outside the door but that is the tip of the ice berg.  There was a long line of people waiting to get in to see the museum. I was told it would be a good 45 minute wait, so I opted instead to go into the store .

Above the store is a blue sign with "221b"

The inside of the store has a lovely Victorian flavor.  I picked up a couple things to take back as a reminder.

I always wondered what Mrs. Hudson did after Sherlock died.  Apparently she started a restaurant next door.

We took the tube back and stopped by Sainsbury on the way, their version of Wegmanns.  I pick up a few things so I could make dinner Fr. Milby and myself.  I enjoy cooking for him because he is such an enthusiastic eater.  There are never any leftovers.

Last Sunday in London

I had a quiet morning preparing to celebrate the High Mass at noon. It was another good experience with the people being very warm and welcoming.  All four of us priest ate lunch togther in the rectory.  I then went to the convent to relax.  I think I failed to mention that when I first arrived at the rectory on October 9, I discovered that my room was five floors up and without a toilet or shower.  When I returned to the rectory after my time in Wales, the Pastor suggested I moved next store to the convent.  The convent is quite nice and I have room and bath on the second floor.

Here are a few pictures of the area.

The street sign "Duncan Terrace"

The row of houses leading to the rectory.

The front door of the rectory .

The church next door to the rectory.

During the afternoon I visited with Sr Kathleen who entertained with many stories about Ireland.  Then I went to pick up Fr. Milby at rectory so we could go to Evening Song at All Saints Church. On the way home we picked up a few things at the store and I  put togther a light supper.

Saturday, a day at home

I don't have any pictures to show you.  We stayed close to home today.  In the morning I helped Fr. Milby make his way into the 21st century.  Yesterday I took him to the Apple Store to buy an IPad Mini.  We also stopped at another store to buy a trac phone. So I spent most of the morning setting up these devices and giving him some tutorials.  I rather enjoyed doing all that. We went out to lunch at a local restaurant.  Believe or not I have yet to have a bad meal here. The story of poor English cuisine is a myth, but it also may something to do with the availability of many foreign restaurants.

In the afternoon I spent some time preparing a homily.  The Pastor asked me to take the Saturday evening Mass and the High Mass at noon on Sunday.  The Saturday Mass went very well and the people were very warm and welcoming. 

After Mass I cooked supper.   I made pasta with aglio-olio sauce with anchovies and peas.  It was delicious if I say so myself.  After dinner Fr. Milby and I watched some TV and then I went to bed, looking forward to an extra long sleep since we turn the clocks back tonight.

A Day of a Walking

I had a quiet morning trying help Fr. Milby set up his IPod.  This lead into a discussion about IPads and cell phones neither of which he had.  So after lunch we went off into the city to find an Apple Store.  Here are a few pictures of what I saw along the way.

The Convent Garden area where My Fair Lady was filmed.  Here you can see a magician performing for the crowd.

In the same area you can find guys posing as statues that come alive and interact with you.  Notice how he is sitting without any visible support.

Some views of the side streets off of Convent Garden

This was a street of traditional book sellers.

On this street a saw this marker.  Mozart lived here on his European tour.

The famous Big Ben clock tower.  It struck 4:00pm when we were there

These pictures are of the area around Parliment.

We also strolled by Westminister Abbey.

The bells in the tower of Westminter were ringing to mark the graduation of students from some girls school.  You can see them wear red capes.

This is the entrance that was used by Kate when she arrived for her wedding to William.  It seemed much smallest in real life.

Westminister Abbey was originally a Benedictine Monastery until it was dissolved after the English. The next few pictures show buildings that would have used by the monks for various purposes.

After an exhausting afternoon of walking around the city, Fr. Milby and I made our way back the rectory.  Since Friday is observed as a day of abstinence in the UK, I made a nice frittata off our dinner.

From the waterside to the Theater.

Believe it or not I slept 10 hours last night...and I enjoyed it.  I went to Mass at 10:00am and then went for a walk with Fr Milby along the canal.  The canal runs for miles and passes within 500 feet of the rectory.  Here are some pictures of the canal.

Fr. Milby

The canal is filled with boats that can be used for site seeing but they are also serve as homes for the owners.

In both of these pictures you can how the boats also serves as home.

We had lunch in the rectory and then went to visit Sr. Kathleen in the convent next door.  She is a lovely sister with an Irish accent so heavy that could not really understand much of what she said.  But I did enjoy the glass of sherry she offered us.

Around 6:00pm we headed out for a Beethoven concert at the Royal Festival Hall.  I am posting some pictures from the bus ride there.

Saint Paul's Cathedral

A little bit of home in London.

Some of the Theater District

Waiting for the concert to begin.

We took the bus home and picked a pizza on the way since we missed supper.