In London Town

What an awesome day!
Pictures should be on facebook soon...
First, I went to breakfast, then class. Both good, but fairly standard.
Then, I went to the afternoon Eucharist at St Martin in the Fields church in Trafalgar Square. It was great.

Then I explored Trafalgar a little more. I didn't get to go into the National Gallery (soon!) but I did take a look at Allison Lapper Pregnant, the statue that is currently on "the empty plinth". (For the record, I have never seen, heard, read, or thought combined the word plinth half as many times as I have used it this past week.) That was cool.

Then I was supposed to meet some people at Harrods. It's nearly a 3 mile route directly, but I didn't go directly. And I got lost. So lost. No streets are straight, and despite my three excellent maps... well, I got lost. So I missed my appointed time to meet my friends there. It took a long time. But on the way there, I walked past Buckingham Palace, as well as these awesome people with insane hats.





Also, I went through Belgravia, which is where most of the embassies are. As well as these signs.



And then I finally made it to Harrods. Where I saw:


I would seriously kill for this lamp. Whoa.
And from there, I took the bus to Picadilly. (Close to Trafalgar, where I started.) From there, I explored a lot. I visited St James' church, and found a nice little market, where I happily bought a watch and a sweatshirt.

I also stole sugar for my tea from several coffee shops. (One opened in my bag. It was the karma price, I think.) I wandered around, eventually finding dinner (fish and chips), Covent Garden, the LSE, the BBC, theatreland, Drury Lane, and some armed dudes in bearskin hats.
I kept walking, with the vague notion of going home. I didn't end up in the direction of home (north and a little east), but ended up on the Strand/Fleet Street (a lot east and a little south). I ended up walking to St. Paul's again to catch a bus home. But while I was on Fleet Street, I found the Twinnings HQ (amazing sign!)

and St. Bride's. St. Bride's was very cool. The site it occupies has been a site of Christian worship since there were Christians in Britain. There are visible old Roman foundations in the basement! And a great crypt. They were also having a festival, which I stopped at. And of course, the modern church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren (architect of St. Paul's) and damaged by the WWII bombings of the area. John Milton also lived in the courtyard. Sweet!

Again, the direct route (which I most certainly did not take) was about 2 miles. Then I actually did make it home, to write this and upload my photos.
Hurray. I love cities. They're so great. London especially, since that is where I am.