London–First Impressions

See, it’s only been two days, and I’m blogging again! I really am going to blog. 🙂
We are leaving for Rome early tomorrow morning, so I thought I’d blog a couple of my thoughts on London before I leave. Since we’ve been here four days now, I’ve had plenty of time to form my “first impressions”… A lot of them are things I was surprised about actually.

London is what a lot of people say it is when talking about the weather–it IS very dark, cold, and wet. But I will say, to me anyway, it isn’t dreary. There is SO much going on, so much life and business, that it doesn’t come off gloomy. If maybe I was somewhere all by myself on a deserted street it might be, but I have yet to come upon that situation. I will also add, with my family, things are never dreary or gloomy. I mean, when you have a mother who marches up and down the empty metro car–singing. It really can’t be. 🙂

The typical, “London” things are all here, as promised… Double-Decker buses, red telephone booths, lots of people wearing black (although they often have colorful scarves or hats on…). But, aside from that… There are quite a few things that I haven’t expected.

I had heard that London was international, but when I heard international, I thought “this side of the world international”… But it really is literal! There were Chinese and Japanese people at church! (And we’ve seen them everywhere). It just kind of through me for a loop. It was so fantastic though on Sunday morning in church, praising my Lord, with people of every nation! Literally. As a side note, the building was old and BEAUTIFUL… I’m sure I’ll take pictures of it and post it here eventually. The service was wonderful as well, and the church may very well be the one we go to. Which would be a first, as we tend to pick a church, oh, half a year after we start looking for one.

And speaking of the beautiful church reminds me of the architecture… It’s fabulous! Hardly an ugly building in the city. I knew there were old and beautiful buildings in certain parts of the city, but I had not expected the whole city to made up in them! I’m not sure exactly why I’m surprised, considering how old London is.

And the rumour that food is bad in London is completely untrue. We’ve eaten three meals out, and though eating out isn’t cheap, the food has been fantastic thus far. We’ve had Italian pizza (pietsa 😉 at a place called Pizza Express (it’s a chain apparently) and it was WONDERFUL! We also ate Burgers and Chips (well, my parents got Nachos and pork loin) at a local pub, which was quite tasty as well. At this particular pub, children were allowed, but parties with children under fourteen have to eat in a certain part of the restaurant away from the bar. Speaking of the bar–that’s where you order! The menus are on the table, and then once you know what you want, you walk up to the bar to give them your order. The bar tender then hands you a tin pail with silverware and condiments, and some sort of marker with a number on it, so they know which table to deliver the order too. I wonder how long they’ve had that sort of system.
And while I’m onto food, I really like Tesco! It’s a grocery store here, we’ve seen both big and small ones. They’re prices are very reasonable, and they have lots of fresh food, whether it be produce, fruit, or bread. 🙂 This evening I grabbed an delicious Gala apple and a small French baguette for 61 pence. (The “penny” for the pound).

A couple small bits and pieces and then I’ll wrap up… 🙂
It has gotten dark very early, but four the light is dimming, by 4:30 it is gone.
I’ve heard Ambulance sirens constantly… Probably an average of five or six a day. I hadn’t expected that at all. Good chance to pray for people though.
The people have been extremely nice. Often they are very busy, but if you stop them to ask a question, they are more than happy to help. Tonight when I was purchasing some groceries at Tesco with Kate, I was short two pence due to tax… I wanted to use a debt card, and had to explain that I was an American, and didn’t have any more change as I had just arrived in the city. The man smiled and said, “No, no, it’s fine, I’m sure you’ll come back to the store. I’ll take care of it, because you are an American.” (He said this with an Indian/British accent).
Oh, and we found out yesterday, that in the tube tunnels, if you feel a sharp turn, it’s because of the Plague pits from the 1300’s. When they were originally digging the tunnels, they had to dig around them as to not to disturb them. Kind of a weird thought that they are still there, but yet they are.

Anyway, that’s my “first impressions” of London. Hope you enjoyed, or at least endured them. 🙂 As I said at the beginning, I’m leaving for Rome in the morning. Which means that I won’t have internet access for at least the next couple days. Which means no blogging. But it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten. =P I’m not sure whether or not I’ll have internet on the cruise. We shall see. But even if I do, there won’t be a huge amount of time to write, as we will be with our friends the Shaws! 🙂

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas! Remember that JESUS is the reason for the season. AND that it’s a great time of year to share with people about Him. People seem to be in a better mood at Christmas in general. 🙂

We get back to London on the 27th, so you CAN expect to hear from me sometime after that.

Merry CHRISTmas!
Caroline Ann