Books, books, books! One of the things that Kathy most looked forward to on this trip was visiting the used bookstores here in Europe. When Tuesday dawned bright and sunny (and before 5:30 am!) and Kathy, Debbie and I caught the DLR and we were off to Book Aid.
Book Aid is a Christian ministry that collects old Christian books and distributes them where they are most needed (often to Africa). In addition, they have a huge warehouse where they collect and sort the books. They put a selection out in their shelves, and visitors can browse through them and purchase the ones they want.
Here's a picture of the warehouse. The plain boxes in the picture are donations that have yet to be sorted, while the pallets wrapped in black plastic are ready to be put into a container and shipped.
We spent some time picking out books for presents. I got myself a first-edition Dorothy Sayers book that I'd never seen in the states. We had too many to carry with us on the plane, so Malcolm helped Kathy weigh and ship a box back home.
Before we left, Ada Hiley sat down for a picture with Kathy and Debbie. Then, because we were late for our train, she put us in her car and ran us down to the station.
At the station, Debbie headed home, but Kathy and I decided to see a little more of London. But first, lunch! We really liked our lunch yesterday at the Cafe in the Crypt, but didn't want to head all the way back to St. Martin's. Instead, we decided to try the Crypt Cafe at St. Pauls. We both had some soup and split a sandwich and salad. It was pretty good.
St. Pauls is Christopher Wren's famous cathedral right in the heart of London. The facade is huge and absolutely awe-inspiring. This is where Charles and Diana got married.
Inside, you can take a tour. We saw several groups of grammar school children passing by on field trips, each in their different uniforms. Instead, we just poked our heads in, and took a few pictures. Kathy is telling me, "The guide just said you're not supposed to take pictures." Too late.
Outside on the steps and in the church yard it looked like much of London was having its lunch as well. We had one last sight we wanted to see, though. When we were at Book Aid, Kathy had picked up a "Methodist Sights in London" pamphlet, and so we wanted to head out to John Wesley's Chapel, house and grave, and also see the Bunhill Cemetery across the street where the non-conformist English Christians were buried.
Having learned our lessons from previous trips, I decided to rely on my sense of dead-reckoning to find the location. Instead, we found the remains of the earliest Roman wall from AD 200, that had been discovered as a result of the WWII bombing destroying the buildings in this area.
Eventually we found Wesley's chapel and house. A very nice docent took us around the chapel and explained all of the various features.
Next door to the main chapel was a smaller prayer room that housed one of Charles Wesley's original organs.
Back, behind the Chapel was the grave of John Wesley, surrounded by the glass office buildings of modern London. The Chapel had sold off this land and the proceeds help to support the church.
Because of the time, we weren't able to visit Wesley's house. At the Chapel, though, they gave us a map to the graves in Bunhill Cemetery across the street. This is where the non-Anglican Protestants were buried.
One of the most famous graves is John Bunyon's, the author of Pilgrim's Progress. On the side of the grave is a relief of Pilgrim laying down his burden at the Cross.
Before we left London, we wanted to go out to dinner with the Alnutt's. They suggested an Italian restaurant in Canary Wharf, where we saw a tall ship that the US Coast Guard Academy sophomores had sailed over to Germany for its 75th anniversary.
Tomorrow we're returning to California, so here's our last memory of London.
Books, books, books! One of the things that Kathy most looked forward to on this trip was visiting the used bookstores here in Europe. When Tuesday dawned bright and sunny (and before 5:30 am!) and Kathy, Debbie and I caught the DLR and we were off to Book Aid.
Book Aid is a Christian ministry that collects old Christian books and distributes them where they are most needed (often to Africa). In addition, they have a huge warehouse where they collect and sort the books. They put a selection out in their shelves, and visitors can browse through them and purchase the ones they want.
Here's a picture of the warehouse. The plain boxes in the picture are donations that have yet to be sorted, while the pallets wrapped in black plastic are ready to be put into a container and shipped.
We spent some time picking out books for presents. I got myself a first-edition Dorothy Sayers book that I'd never seen in the states. We had too many to carry with us on the plane, so Malcolm helped Kathy weigh and ship a box back home.
Before we left, Ada Hiley sat down for a picture with Kathy and Debbie. Then, because we were late for our train, she put us in her car and ran us down to the station.
At the station, Debbie headed home, but Kathy and I decided to see a little more of London. But first, lunch! We really liked our lunch yesterday at the Cafe in the Crypt, but didn't want to head all the way back to St. Martin's. Instead, we decided to try the Crypt Cafe at St. Pauls. We both had some soup and split a sandwich and salad. It was pretty good.
St. Pauls is Christopher Wren's famous cathedral right in the heart of London. The facade is huge and absolutely awe-inspiring. This is where Charles and Diana got married.
Inside, you can take a tour. We saw several groups of grammar school children passing by on field trips, each in their different uniforms. Instead, we just poked our heads in, and took a few pictures. Kathy is telling me, "The guide just said you're not supposed to take pictures." Too late.
Outside on the steps and in the church yard it looked like much of London was having its lunch as well. We had one last sight we wanted to see, though. When we were at Book Aid, Kathy had picked up a "Methodist Sights in London" pamphlet, and so we wanted to head out to John Wesley's Chapel, house and grave, and also see the Bunhill Cemetery across the street where the non-conformist English Christians were buried.
Having learned our lessons from previous trips, I decided to rely on my sense of dead-reckoning to find the location. Instead, we found the remains of the earliest Roman wall from AD 200, that had been discovered as a result of the WWII bombing destroying the buildings in this area.
Eventually we found Wesley's chapel and house. A very nice docent took us around the chapel and explained all of the various features.
Next door to the main chapel was a smaller prayer room that housed one of Charles Wesley's original organs.
Back, behind the Chapel was the grave of John Wesley, surrounded by the glass office buildings of modern London. The Chapel had sold off this land and the proceeds help to support the church.
Because of the time, we weren't able to visit Wesley's house. At the Chapel, though, they gave us a map to the graves in Bunhill Cemetery across the street. This is where the non-Anglican Protestants were buried.
One of the most famous graves is John Bunyon's, the author of Pilgrim's Progress. On the side of the grave is a relief of Pilgrim laying down his burden at the Cross.
Before we left London, we wanted to go out to dinner with the Alnutt's. They suggested an Italian restaurant in Canary Wharf, where we saw a tall ship that the US Coast Guard Academy sophomores had sailed over to Germany for its 75th anniversary.
Tomorrow we're returning to California, so here's our last memory of London.
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