St. Martin’s and Environs

London

I think I figured out the way to do it.

I woke up at 8 o’clock (which I hadn’t planned on), took my medicine, and took a shower. I lied back down thinking, “Oh, I could just close my eyes for a few minutes.“

I woke up at 11:45.

Downed a double espresso and flew out the door feeling great! After I got back at 6:30 tonight, I realized I had taken 156 photos! It’s going to be a big photo day, but I’ll whittle it down a bit!

I caught the Route 15 bus on the corner at noon. It was packed, hot, and noisy. I don’t know why the air conditioning wasn’t on, other than British people tend to be like, “Oh my God, the sun is out and it’s hot! Isn’t it wonderful?!” I would’ve taken a cab, but when the bus goes door-to-door for £2, it’s hard to turn down.

I headed over to Saint Martin’s in the Fields. The church itself is a favorite spot. There’s an awesome café, education center, and shop in the crypt, so I always stop. The café was packed, but there’s a side hallway that no one knows about that leads to a seating area that’s always completely empty.

*I’d like to solve. It was Mr. Phill, in the crypt, with his hair.*

Heading up Saint Martin’s Lane, I passed a few familiar sites and the notable Brydges Place, but I was particularly headed for a few sights I hadn’t visited in a while — Cecil Court for great shopping and Goodwin’s Court, for a great photo.

*Brydges Place, purportedly the most narrow alley in London.* *I don’t believe it. It’s not **that** narrow.*

I stopped in Mark Sullivan Antiques, where I’d been a few times before. Mark is very friendly and likes to answer questions and talk, and he always remembers me. We had a nice chat. I looked for something I might like to buy, but didn’t find anything quite right. I headed over to Goodwin’s Court for a photo op.

*Cecil Court, Mark’s shop is on the left.*

*Goodwin’s Court, always good for a photo*.

I bought a little collapsible stool before I left, and I love it! Super-light, and folds up to about the size of a large Whitman’s Sampler. As I headed over to Covent Garden, it proved itself.

People everywhere, difficult to even walk, no seats available, like a packed day at Disney World. But. I could sit down wherever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. I was under a shady tree for a good 15 minutes. The seat probably doubled the time I was out enjoying myself, being able to rest whenever I wanted.

Covent Garden had an exhibit of painted gorillas happening, and there were plenty of other things to take pictures of (following). I thought Audrey Hepburn should be there in her proper location, so I added her.

*“Two bunches of lovely violets trod in the mud. A full day’s wages!”*

*The nice new shady pedestrian plaza in front of St. Mary le Strand*!

I saw the following two ladies on the walk back to my hotel. I’ve noticed that modern office buildings often incorporate sculpture or busts from the before-building that was torn down. After I saw this, I realized it must be a law that doesn’t state where the salvaged art needs to be.

These poor ladies are on a short retaining wall at the back entrance/loading dock of an office building that is ironically … derelict and empty.

Have a good sleep!

Coffee & Tea

London

I’d planned on taking my coffee down to the garden this morning, but it was raining. Ah, well. I felt like I wanted a nap anyway. And the coffee was still delicious. =)

After the rain had cleared, I headed off to the Royal Exchange by way of St. Magnus the Martyr.

Very handsome atmospheric church. They were piping in recorded monks chanting, which irritated me. In the large echoed space, I’ll admit I did wonder for a few seconds, and I followed the sound … to a circa 1974 speaker.

As is frequently the case in this neighborhood, the original church was founded in the 1100s, built of wood, and was later replaced with a stone version. The portico served as both the entrance to the church, and the entrance to the medieval London Bridge. The stone church was destroyed by what? Yes, of course. The Great Fire of London. It was rebuilt in stone to a design by Sir Christopher Wren, who must’ve been a very tired man in 1667.

*St. Magnus in 1616, at the far end of London Bridge*

In 1831, the new London Bridge was opened further upstream and the medieval bridge demolished. The medieval bridge was a sight to behold — It was covered with homes and businesses hanging off both sides. There is a model of what the medieval bridge looked like inside St. Magnus.

I grabbed a cab up to Fortnum & Mason at the Royal Exchange for my lunch reservation. I hesitate to call it a posh classical-looking shopping mall, because there really aren’t that many stores, and it was entirely filled with tourists. Office workers came and went from upstairs.

The original was opened by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571 … Great Fire, etc, etc, rebuilt, burned down again, new one opened by Queen Victoria in 1844.

My lunch was okay. Bit too much food for me, but it was decent. I believe my tiny sandwiches were coronation chicken, a fancy egg salad, salt beef with tarragon something, and cucumber with cream cheese. Pastry sweets arrived as well as scones with clotted cream & jam. I didn’t eat much of the sweets, but I had one scone and tasted the others.

It was neither the best nor the worst Afternoon Tea I’ve ever had. It was fine, the staff was fine. Honestly, I expected more out of Fortnum & Mason.

I stopped at the neighborhood Sainsbury’s for some drinks and such, which was coincidentally the former site of Lloyd’s Coffee House — the 1600s forerunner of Lloyds of London as well as the original stock exchange.

On my walk, I encountered this sculpture — some sort of weird winged-lion-native-maiden-without-arms standing on a ball. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s some sort of obnoxious colonial thing.

And suddenly, it’s already after six and I’m sleepy. I haven’t decided what I’ll do tomorrow. Maybe a nice long boat ride on the Clippers, maybe the St. Martin’s in the Fields area.

Have a good sleep!

*I think that’s a young Neptune with “dolphins.”*

World Weary

London

This is my first time publishing from the app rather than the website … so we’ll see how that goes. Ha!

A travel day. JFK lived up to its reputation — I arrived at 4:15pm, didn’t get to the gate until 6:00. There were no ugly surprises, just slowness. My row-mate and I got very lucky though — no one in the middle seat! We were coming into London just as the sun was rising.

I took the Gatwick Express to Victoria station, and a black cab to the hotel. I sat down in Victoria for a while here and there for a rest (and because I was super early). Fourteen hours of travel door to door!

The hotel allowed me to check in at 10:30 AM! Now that was awesome! I unpacked and took a nap, took a few walks and I enjoyed St. Dunstan’s Garden — A favorite, and it’s immediately outside the hotel. You can see the steeple from my windows.

St. Dunstan’s in the East was founded c.1100. A stone building replaced the wooden original, and additions continued through the 12th to 17th centuries until it was seriously damaged by the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Rather than being completely rebuilt, it was patched up 1668-71. In 1817, the church wardens discovered that heavy roof had pushed the walls seven inches out of plumb on each side. The damage was too severe to correct, so it was pulled down and rebuilt in the same style.

The rebuilt church was all but destroyed by Hitler’s bombs in 1941 — only the tower, steeple, and north and south walls survived. The ruins sat for sixteen years until in 1967 the City of London decided to turn the site into a public garden.

But now, the sun is setting behind The Monument to the Great Fire of London, and I’ve got The Globe’s production of Twelfth Night with Stephen Fry and Mark Rylance all cued up.

Tomorrow — the alleys and courts in the oldest part of the city, then tea at Fortnum & Mason at the Royal Exchange.

Have a good sleep!

Sit Still Phill

Incidents involving antiquity, travel, renovation, and music.

London

St. Martin’s and Environs

Coffee & Tea

World Weary